Nexus Venture Partners Secures $700 Million Fund VIII, Balancing AI and India Startup Investments

Nexus Venture Partners, a prominent venture capital firm, has successfully closed its eighth fund, Nexus Ventures VIII, at $700 million. The firm announced its strategic decision to allocate approximately half of this new capital to Indian startups, while the remainder will focus on artificial intelligence (AI) investments globally, including in the U.S. This balanced approach reflects the firm's long-standing integrated U.S.-India investment strategy.

The $700 million fund, consistent in size with its predecessor Fund VII from 2023, aims to back early-stage companies in AI, enterprise software, consumer, and fintech sectors. Jishnu Bhattacharjee, a managing partner at Nexus Venture Partners in the U.S., stated, "AI is a huge inflection point, and we are anchoring on that." However, he also emphasized the firm's view that "crowding into a single, overheated category carries its own risks," according to TechCrunch.

This deliberate split underscores Nexus's belief in India's burgeoning digital economy as a vital counterbalance to the global AI investment surge. The firm, founded in 2006, operates with a unified team across Menlo Park, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, investing from a single capital pool. Its portfolio spans over 130 companies, with notable investments in Indian firms like Zepto, Delhivery, and Rapido, and U.S.-based software and AI companies such as Postman and Apollo.

Managing Partner Abhishek Sharma highlighted that the firm’s sweet spot remains inception to seed and Series A stages, often with initial checks ranging from a few hundred thousand dollars to around $1 million. The decision to maintain the fund size at $700 million for Fund VIII, as explained by Bhattacharjee, is rooted in the belief that it is the optimal amount for their early-stage strategy, avoiding pressure to deploy excessive capital. India's large talent pool and growing digital infrastructure are seen as key drivers for AI adoption and innovation within the country.