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𝗜𝘀 𝗦𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗼𝗶𝗮 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝗱𝗳𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽𝘀? If there’s one name that dominates India’s startup funding scene. It’s 𝐒𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐨𝐢𝐚 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚 (𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐏𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐗𝐕 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬). For nearly two decades, Sequoia has shaped the Indian startup ecosystem. 𝐅𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐤𝐚𝐫𝐭, 𝐙𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐨, 𝐎𝐥𝐚, 𝐁𝐲𝐣𝐮’𝐬, 𝐎𝐘𝐎, 𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐃, 𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐨, 𝐑𝐚𝐳𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐚𝐲—𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐩 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐒𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐨𝐢𝐚’𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭. But here’s the big question: 𝐈𝐬 𝐒𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐨𝐢𝐚 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞? Sequoia doesn’t just invest in startups—it builds, influences, and sometimes even destroys them. • It 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲, forcing them into aggressive price wars. 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞: Sequoia backed both Zomato and Swiggy, fueling an intense battle that led to massive cash burn and deep discounts. • It 𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 (often from the Flipkart Mafia), making it harder for outsiders to raise money. 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞: Kunal Shah of CRED easily raised funds due to his previous success with FreeCharge, while new fintech founders struggle to get funding. • It 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐮𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐩𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐨 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝, leaving founders scrambling. 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞: Sequoia exited several struggling startups abruptly, including Trell and GoMechanic, after governance issues surfaced. When Sequoia backs a company, 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐞𝐝. But if you’re not in their good books? 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠. Sequoia’s dominance comes down to 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬: 1. 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 – Sequoia entered India in 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟔, much earlier than most global VCs. They spotted winners early and 𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 (e-commerce, fintech, SaaS). 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞: Sequoia was one of the first investors in Byju’s, which later became India’s most valued edtech startup. 2. 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 & 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸– They have 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐩𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐬 and control India’s top funding rounds. If Sequoia invests, 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐕𝐂𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰. If they don’t, 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲. 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞: Startups backed by Sequoia (Peak XV) often get easy follow-on funding, like Meesho raising $570M from multiple investors after Sequoia’s backing. 3. 𝗔𝗴𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 – Sequoia doesn’t just fund startups—it 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭. Many Indian unicorns 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐲 because investors wanted rapid scaling. When the bubble bursts, 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐭, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐕𝐂𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐧. 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞: Byju’s aggressive expansion and heavy ad spending were fueled by Sequoia, but when things went south, the burden fell on the company, not the investor. So, is this a 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠? Some argue Sequoia helped build India’s startup ecosystem, creating billion-dollar companies and 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐣𝐨𝐛𝐬. Others say it 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞, favoring insiders while shutting out fresh talent. If Indian startups want to 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥, they need: • 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗩𝗖 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗺𝘀 that back new founders, not just repeat players. 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞: Blume Ventures and Elevation Capital are starting to challenge Sequoia’s dominance by funding first-time founders. • 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘀, so businesses don’t rely on aggressive VC money. 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞: Zoho and Zerodha became profitable without external VC funding. • 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴, so no single investor controls the market. What do you think? 𝗜𝘀 𝗦𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗼𝗶𝗮 (𝗣𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗫𝗩) 𝗮 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗿? Drop your thoughts below. I hope you've found this helpful. Follow Vishu Bheda for more such detailed insights!