Erasmic, Accel merge to form India fund

Bangalore-based early-stage investment firm Erasmic Venture Fund has merged with Silicon Valley based Accel Partners, whose portfolio includes companies like Brightcove, Facebook and WalMart.com. The merged entity represents Accel’s strategy for India, and will be raising a new US$60m fund later in the year. In Prashant Prakash’s own words, their “early stage focus will remain, but (we will have) more money at our disposal.” More on the story here.

I had received a surprise call on the merger from Gagan, one of the partners over at Erasmic last Friday evening. The first-hand news really excited me – Erasmic was the lead investor for my first-ever investment into Sconce Solutions. I learnt a great deal going through the entire process with Mahendran and Gagan, and those guys were just phenomenal at the recent Board Meeting.

I knew these guys were good, but boy, they’re now top-flight! It’s always nice to know your first deal was with Accel India . My well-wishes will probably not help much either – I’m sure the Accel name and India angle will probably get them plenty of moolah when they go into fund-raising mode.

Related posts:

1. Six winners for NRF Early Stage Venture Fund
2. Andreessen Horowitz raises US$300m in bleak times
3. Cut that Middleman Out!
4. Doom and Gloom across the Pacific: from Singapore to Silicon Valley
5. Early-stage Capital Crunch: Chicken or the Egg?

Tagged as: Accel, Erasmic, India, sconce