US-based venture capital firm Lightspeed Venture Partners has opened its second India office in Bangalore as it seeks to deepen engagement with startups in the city often referred to as the country's Silicon Valley.
The new office will help the VC firm engage with entrepreneurs in Bangalore and better serve its existing portfolio companies in the city, Lightspeed said in a statement. “With this new office, we are excited to align ourselves more closely with the Bangalore startup ecosystem,†said Bejul Somaia, partner at Lightspeed India.
Lightspeed, whose first India office is in New Delhi, has been investing in Bangalore-based companies since 2007.
It has backed at least eight firms in the city including ed-tech firm Byju's, business-to-business marketplace Udaan, regional language social networking app Sharechat, and online food-tech venture FreshMenu.
Dev Khare, partner at Lightspeed India, said the new office will also help the VC firm engage with entrepreneurs based in neighbouring cities like Chennai, Hyderabad and Kochi.
Lightspeed India's most recent investment was in home rental startup FastFox. Prior to that, it backed Gurgaon-based micro-lending startup RedCarpetTech Pvt. Ltd, leading a $2.5 million round.
The venture capital firm's major portfolio companies include budget hotels marketplace OYO Rooms, and electricity and renewable energy exchange Indian Energy Exchange Ltd (IEX).
Earlier this year, multi-stage private investment firm Matrix Partners opened its third India office in Delhi.