Sequoia Capital splits into 3 entities; rebrands as Peak XV Partners in India

Venture Capital firm Sequoia Capital has split into three separate entities into the United States, China and India & Southeast Asia markets, the company said Tuesday. All three entities will work independently from March 2024. While the US/Europe entity will continue to remain as Sequoia Capital after the split, Sequoia Capital India & Southeast Asia has been rebranded as Peak XV Partners. Sequoia China will adopt the name HongShan in English, however, will continue to operate as Sequoia Capital China in Chinese. At the same time, Sequoia Heritage and Sequoia Capital Global Equities will operate with the Sequoia banner.

According to the company, the decision has been taken owing to the complexities to run a decentralised global investment business. "Each business has evolved to meet the opportunities in their markets across a wide range of sectors. This has made using centralised back-office functions more of a hindrance than an advantage. Additionally, as each entity’s portfolio has expanded to include companies that are becoming global leaders, we’ve seen growing market confusion due to the shared Sequoia brand as well as portfolio conflicts across entities," the company said.

With the split, each entity will become a market leader with a local-first approach, according to the venture capital firm. 

"We are excited to share that Sequoia India & Southeast Asia (SEA) will rebrand to Peak XV Partners and will operate as a fully independent firm. Our new name, Peak XV was the original name given to Mount Everest. To us, it signifies the relentless pursuit of audacious goals by our founders, while overcoming challenges along the way," said Shailendra Singh, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital India.

"It's a new beginning for us as Peak XV, but unlike most beginnings, this is an opportunity for us to build on top of the foundation laid over the last 17 years. Our firm will continue to be managed by the present leadership team and will continue to invest from the most recently raised set of funds focused on India and SEA," he added.

Sequoia Capital India & Southeast Asia has raised $9.2 billion across 13 funds, and invested in over 400 start-ups in the region including BharatPe, Uber India, Zomato and Zilingo. "We have seen over 50 companies cross $1 billion in value already, celebrated 19 IPOs (initial public offerings) and multiple successful M&A events, resulting in $4.5 billion of realized exits so far. Our investment team is led by 11 Managing Directors with an average tenure of over 12 years at our firm," said Singh.

"As Peak XV, we are excited to have ₹2.5 billion of uninvested capital to continue our mission of supporting outlier founders and doubling down in our region and beyond. In terms of strategy, we will continue to focus on all of our existing sectors, including SaaS, AI, developer tools, cyber security, cloud infrastructure, fintech, climate tech, healthtech and consumer. We will double down on our startup programs like Surge and Spark that are loved by founders," Singh added.