Norwest Venture Partners, a venture and growth capital firm, on Friday said it has closed its $2 billion global fund – its 15th and largest so far- targeted at consumer, healthcare and enterprise sectors in North America, India, and Israel.
The fund continues Norwest’s strategy of raising a single fund to be deployed globally, as opposed to the practice of some venture firms such as Sequoia and Accel, and private equity firms such as Blackstone and KKR, which raise region-focused funds – either country wise or continent wise.
“The launch of Norwest Venture Partners XV, which brings the firm’s total capital commitments to more than $9.5 billion, closes on the heels of a record two years, as 23 of the firm’s portfolio companies achieved notable liquidity events,” it said in a statement.
Over the last two years, Norwest saw nearly 50 new investments, 23 initial public offerings and portfolio company acquisitions including in companies such as Uber and Spotify.
Norwest has also been an active investor in India both in private equity and venture capital, with investments in lender Five Star Finance, food delivery startup Swiggy and the National Stock Exchange.
Mint reported on September 23 that Norwest Venture Partners India will double its investments in the domestic market and add more senior executives, including a managing director. The investment firm is scouting for opportunities across sectors, including financial services, technology, internet, consumer, healthcare and logistics.
Norwest, which typically invests about $75 million a year in India, will henceforth write a minimum cheque of $7-8 million, which could go up to $50 million, a top executive said. “We will invest more in what has worked for us, and stay away from what has not. So, we will not do infrastructure deals, PIPE (private investment in public equity) or pre-IPO (initial public offer) deals,” Niren Shah, managing director at NVP India, told Mint.
Source: Mint