Venture Capital Firms in India Bolster Corporate Development Teams Amid Funding Challenges

Facing a tough funding environment, venture capital (VC) firms in India are beefing up their corporate development teams to navigate successful exits and manage capital distribution to investors.

In the past two years, prominent firms like Lightspeed, Accel, and Matrix Partners India have been hiring professionals with backgrounds in investment banking.

According to Anuj Bhargava, managing director at Lightspeed and former Deutsche Bank executive, as portfolio companies mature, the focus shifts to monetizing investments strategically and exiting at the right time.

Matrix Partners India recently hired Vijay Pillai, who has investment banking experience at ICICI Securities and o3 Capital. Accel recruited Alok Bathija, a former UBS executive, as partner and head of corporate development. Lightspeed also brought in Bhargava in 2021.

Chiratae Ventures and Peak XV (formerly Sequoia Capital India) have made similar hires to bolster their strategic development teams.

Executives in these roles are responsible for guiding portfolio companies through financing rounds, mergers and acquisitions, secondary market transactions, and preparing for initial public offerings (IPOs).

However, funding for Indian startups has been sluggish, with just $7.5 billion raised in 2023 compared to $24.3 billion in 2022, according to data from Venture Intelligence. Professionals in corporate development roles often participate in investment committee decisions, assessing startups’ potential for follow-on funding and successful exits.