Sequoia Capital India and SEA's managing director Shailendra Singh remained confident over VC prospects in India, adding that "In the long term, we are all underestimating the market."
Sequoia, which raised $2.85B worth of funds in July, said that the capital allocation strategy has changed slightly, with the firm now focused more on seed-stage investments. Late-stage investments have taken a hit, with the firm making limited investments while taking up more concentrated positions.
When asked about governance breaches in portfolio firms, Singh said that individual VCs are unable to push governance efforts in portfolio businesses unless all investors act in harmony and urge the founders to make the required adjustments.
- He added that the firm intends to address the governance issue with the Indian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association and other VCs in the region to build pragmatic governance processes.
- Singh said, "If you are pre-IPO, $50M plus revenue, you should have more independent people, internal and external auditors."
Sequoia received flak recently after reports of suspected financial irregularities emerged at a few of its portfolio startups, namely BharatPe, Zilingo, Trell, and GoMechanic.
- Indian car servicing platform GoMechanic was one of the recent startups embroiled in the controversy.
