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Article: Scoop: Sequoia alumni’s Ambition Capital set to raise $250 million for early-stage investing

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https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/funding/scoop-sequoia-alumnis-ambition-capital-set-to-raise-250-million-for-early-stage-investing/articleshow/129594297.cms

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2026-03-16 00:30

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Former managing directors at Peak XV Partners (formerly, Sequoia Capital India), Shailesh Lakhani and Harshjit Sethi, have launched an early-stage fund Ambition Capital with a target of $250 million, according to people in the know. This latest initiative adds to the crop of a new generation of venture capital funds coming up locally.
Lakhani and Sethi have teamed up with Mayank Porwal, who left Peak XV Partners in 2023. âThey have begun early discussions with potential limited partners ( LPs) who are likely to sponsors the fund. Their focus will largely be on early-stage investments across seed and series A rounds,â said a person in the know. ET was the first to report, in September last year, that Lakhani and Sethi were coming together to start a fund amid a broader churn in the venture investing industry.
Bengaluru-based Ambition Capital will back startups across consumer, AI, deep tech, fintech, areas familiar to the trio. âThe broad themes that the firm will target include sovereignty, where it will back startups building India-specific solutions, artificial intelligence and evolving consumer preferencesâ¦it is expected to make around 25-30 investments from the fund,â another person in the know said.
Lakhani spent 17 years at Sequoia and his portfolio included the likes of Minimalist, which was acquired by Hindustan Unilever, Ixigo, Truecaller, Zetwerk, OneCard, Polygon, CoinSwitch, among others, Sethi, led the firmâs artificial intelligence (AI) investments and served on the boards of various companies, including Sarvam AI â prior to which heâs made investments in fintech and software companies such as Darwinbox, Turtlemint and BharatPe.
Over the past week many international LPs including university endowments, pension funds and large family offices have been in Bengaluru and Mumbai on their annual trips and are scoping out these independent funds as they decide on allocations, according to multiple people in the know.
Separately, Ashish Agrawal, Ishaan Mittal and Tejeshwi Sharma who exited Peak XV in January are also working on launching an early-stage venture fund which will invest across series A and series B rounds.
Queries sent by ET to Lakhani and Sethi did not elicit a response.
A new wave of VC funds
The top-deck departures at Peak XV following its split from Sequoia Capital in 2023 sparked widespread discussion within the venture capital ecosystem about internal dynamics at funds, particularly around distribution of carried interest or carry, in industry parlance for partners.
In an interview with ET on February 4, Peak XV managing director Shailendra Singh said the exits of Agarwal, Mittal and Sharma had stemmed from disagreements over the economics of the venture partnership, particularly around how profits from exits would be shared between partners at the firm.
âFor many senior venture investors, launching an independent fund often becomes the natural next step once they have built a strong exit pipeline and facilitated cash distributions to LPs,â said another person from the industry.
For Agrawal, the big win from Groww where Peak invested $30-35 million and is currently sitting on nearly $2 billion was a big confidence booster and aided his ask for better economics in the fund, as per multiple people in the know.
âNow that India is seeing a bunch of IPOs and exits, investors are able to show liquidity⦠this is changing the dynamics at funds as VCs build their track records. What will be key is that there needs to be clear differentiation and focus areas for LPs to get on independent, first-time general partners (GPs),â said another investor who branched out from a fund.
Sameer Brij Verma, who left venture capital firm Nexus Venture Partners in 2024 raised $150 million for his new solo partner fund Northpoint Capital, as ET reported in July last year.
Other spinoffs from Sequoia Capital India include A91 Partners founded by Abhay Pandey, VT Bharadwaj and Gautam Mago in 2018; and WestBridge Capital, founded in 2011 by Sumir Chadha, KP Balaraj, SK Jain and Sandeep Singhalâthe founding partners of Sequoia Capital Indiaâwho left the global venture capital firm and revived their original fund, WestBridge Capital.
Another former Peak XV MD Piyush Gupta launched a secondaries-focused investment firm Kenro Capital in 2024.
Lakhani and Sethi have teamed up with Mayank Porwal, who left Peak XV Partners in 2023. âThey have begun early discussions with potential limited partners ( LPs) who are likely to sponsors the fund. Their focus will largely be on early-stage investments across seed and series A rounds,â said a person in the know. ET was the first to report, in September last year, that Lakhani and Sethi were coming together to start a fund amid a broader churn in the venture investing industry.
Bengaluru-based Ambition Capital will back startups across consumer, AI, deep tech, fintech, areas familiar to the trio. âThe broad themes that the firm will target include sovereignty, where it will back startups building India-specific solutions, artificial intelligence and evolving consumer preferencesâ¦it is expected to make around 25-30 investments from the fund,â another person in the know said.
Lakhani spent 17 years at Sequoia and his portfolio included the likes of Minimalist, which was acquired by Hindustan Unilever, Ixigo, Truecaller, Zetwerk, OneCard, Polygon, CoinSwitch, among others, Sethi, led the firmâs artificial intelligence (AI) investments and served on the boards of various companies, including Sarvam AI â prior to which heâs made investments in fintech and software companies such as Darwinbox, Turtlemint and BharatPe.
Over the past week many international LPs including university endowments, pension funds and large family offices have been in Bengaluru and Mumbai on their annual trips and are scoping out these independent funds as they decide on allocations, according to multiple people in the know.
Separately, Ashish Agrawal, Ishaan Mittal and Tejeshwi Sharma who exited Peak XV in January are also working on launching an early-stage venture fund which will invest across series A and series B rounds.
Queries sent by ET to Lakhani and Sethi did not elicit a response.
A new wave of VC funds
The top-deck departures at Peak XV following its split from Sequoia Capital in 2023 sparked widespread discussion within the venture capital ecosystem about internal dynamics at funds, particularly around distribution of carried interest or carry, in industry parlance for partners.
In an interview with ET on February 4, Peak XV managing director Shailendra Singh said the exits of Agarwal, Mittal and Sharma had stemmed from disagreements over the economics of the venture partnership, particularly around how profits from exits would be shared between partners at the firm.
âFor many senior venture investors, launching an independent fund often becomes the natural next step once they have built a strong exit pipeline and facilitated cash distributions to LPs,â said another person from the industry.
For Agrawal, the big win from Groww where Peak invested $30-35 million and is currently sitting on nearly $2 billion was a big confidence booster and aided his ask for better economics in the fund, as per multiple people in the know.
âNow that India is seeing a bunch of IPOs and exits, investors are able to show liquidity⦠this is changing the dynamics at funds as VCs build their track records. What will be key is that there needs to be clear differentiation and focus areas for LPs to get on independent, first-time general partners (GPs),â said another investor who branched out from a fund.
Sameer Brij Verma, who left venture capital firm Nexus Venture Partners in 2024 raised $150 million for his new solo partner fund Northpoint Capital, as ET reported in July last year.
Other spinoffs from Sequoia Capital India include A91 Partners founded by Abhay Pandey, VT Bharadwaj and Gautam Mago in 2018; and WestBridge Capital, founded in 2011 by Sumir Chadha, KP Balaraj, SK Jain and Sandeep Singhalâthe founding partners of Sequoia Capital Indiaâwho left the global venture capital firm and revived their original fund, WestBridge Capital.
Another former Peak XV MD Piyush Gupta launched a secondaries-focused investment firm Kenro Capital in 2024.