Venture capital firm Accel on Wednesday announced its ninth India-focused early-stage fund, with $550 million in commitments, less than 18 months after closing its previous $650 million vehicle.
The new fund is part of a $3.5 billion global raise across four funds, including a $1.35 billion growth fund, as Accel positions itself for the next cycle of startup creation around artificial intelligence (AI), deep technology and advanced manufacturing.
The quick return to the market comes at a time when investor sentiment around India’s startup ecosystem remains cautious. Funding activity and large late-stage deals have yet to regain momentum after a prolonged correction from the highs of 2021, widely seen as an outlier year for venture funding.
Fresh conviction
With its latest vehicle, Accel has raised about $1.2 billion for India over the past 18 months. The firm said it will continue to write early cheques for startups across AI, consumer internet, financial technology, manufacturing and deep technology, while increasing its focus on companies using AI to build for Indian as well as global customers.
Accel announced its eighth India fund, with $650 million in commitments, in January 2025. Its ninth fund, at $550 million, is $100 million smaller than both the seventh and eighth vehicles and the same size as its sixth India-focused fund, which closed in 2019.
The smaller corpus comes even as Accel has returned to the market within about 18 months of closing Fund VIII, the shortest interval between two large India vehicles for the firm.
Shekhar Kirani, partner at Accel, told Mint that the firm’s decision to retain a relatively restrained fund size was shaped by the availability of capital across its existing and new vehicles, rather than a need to raise the largest possible corpus.
“India is in a phenomenal IPO market right now. A significant number of companies are able to list around a billion dollars and compound over time,” Kirani said.
“The question is not whether the fund should be $1 billion or $550 million. It is whether we have enough capital to meet demand in the categories we understand and believe can produce large companies. With the capital remaining in our existing fund and the new $550 million vehicle, we believe this is the right number”.
Fund VIII is still being deployed, with more than 50% of its capital remaining, according to a person familiar with the matter. The new fund will give Accel fresh capital to make early-stage investments while it continues to back companies from the previous vehicle.
“Based on the current pace, we will likely start dipping into the new fund sometime next year, hopefully in the second half,” Kirani said, adding that Accel does not plan to change its cheque sizes.
Growth capital
The global fundraise also includes a $1.35 billion growth fund, allowing Accel to continue backing portfolio companies as they mature from early-stage startups to public companies and beyond.
Accel has increasingly used this pool to participate in larger, later-stage rounds involving Indian companies.
In April, for instance, Accel Growth led online broking platform , contributing about $20 million. Accel India and Elevation Capital also participated in the financing, which valued Sahi at about $200 million.
The firm has typically invested at the seed and Series A stages, when startups are beginning to build products and establish a business model. It says it writes the first institutional cheque into about 80% of the companies it backs.
Its Indian portfolio includes Flipkart, Swiggy, Myntra, Freshworks, BlueStone, Zetwerk and Infra.Market.
Exit engine
The firm has also generated liquidity from some of its older investments, though Kirani said Accel continues to view public listings as the most meaningful test of a venture-backed company.
“While secondaries and acquisitions can provide liquidity, an IPO remains the ultimate test for both founders and investors,” Kirani said. “It shows whether a company can create lasting customer value, withstand public-market scrutiny and continue to grow after listing.”
Flipkart, one of Accel’s earliest Indian bets, was acquired by Walmart in 2018. Accel subsequently sold its remaining holding, with public reports estimating cumulative proceeds of $1.5-2 billion from the investment.
Freshworks’ Nasdaq listing in 2021 created another major liquidity event. Accel sold more than $300 million worth of Freshworks shares in the 12 months through April 2024.
More recently, Accel has realised partial returns through the public listings of Swiggy, BlackBuck, Urban Company and BlueStone.
Accel’s multi-stage model is similar to that of other large venture capital firms operating in India.
Bessemer Venture Partners, which closed a $350 million second India fund in March 2025, has said its India investments can also draw on its global venture and growth funds for follow-on rounds.
across India seed, India venture and Asia-Pacific funds, while retaining significant uninvested capital in an existing growth fund.
Nexus Venture Partners, meanwhile, closed a $700 million eighth fund in December to make early-stage investments in India and the US across AI, enterprise software, consumer and fintech.