Lightspeed targets $250M for new India fund, focusing on early-stage AI
10:00 PM PDT · September 24, 2026
Lightspeed is sharpening its India strategy around AI, targeting $250 million for a new early-stage fund as the venture firm bets the technology will drive the next wave of startups in one of the world’s largest markets.
The Silicon Valley venture firm is already a major investor in AI companies including Anthropic, xAI, and Databricks. In India, it has backed Sarvam AI, one of the country’s leading large language model developers and a startup selected by the Indian government to help develop sovereign AI models.
The new fund, Lightspeed India Partners V, will be half the size of its $500 million predecessor, raised in 2022, and has already secured commitments for 80% of its $250 million target, according to a letter sent to investors on Thursday and seen by TechCrunch.
In late April, Lightspeed disclosed the new fund in a U.S. regulatory filing, though the filing did not specify its target size. Indian media had previously reported that the firm was looking to raise between $300 million and $350 million for the vehicle.
Lightspeed plans to begin investing from the new fund within two months and has designed it around an investment period of roughly two and a half years, per the letter. Until then, it will continue making its final investments from the existing fund.
A Lightspeed spokesperson declined to comment.
Starting with the new fund, Lightspeed is also moving its India funds onto the same fundraising cycle as its global funds for the first time, per the investor letter. The change brings a regional business it established nearly two decades ago more closely in line with the rest of the firm.
The move follows a similar shift by rival firm Accel, which in August raised its latest $550 million India fund alongside new U.S. and Europe funds and a global growth vehicle as part of a coordinated $3.5 billion fundraising effort. It was the first time Accel had raised all four funds simultaneously.
The $250 million fund is sized to match how quickly Lightspeed is currently investing and its shorter investment period, according to the letter. Lightspeed suggested to investors that the smaller size lets it focus on individual deals rather than fund size, and raise its next fund sooner.
The new fund also marks a sharper focus on AI for Lightspeed’s early-stage investment strategy in the region. The investment thesis outlined in the letter anticipates AI creating more value in India than the internet did, with the fund seeking out AI companies across India and Southeast Asia.
India has yet to produce a major frontier AI model developer on the global stage and has attracted far less investment in AI than the U.S. and China. Investors, nonetheless, increasingly see an opportunity for India in the application layer, drawing on the country’s large pool of software developers and its decades-long history as a hub for software and technology services.
The new $250 million India vehicle is a fraction of the capital available across Lightspeed’s global platform. The firm, which manages more than $65 billion in assets globally, raised $9 billion across several new funds last December, the largest fundraising haul in its history. The total included a $980 million early-stage venture fund.
Lightspeed’s dedicated India and Southeast Asia funds represent only part of the capital the firm has put to work in the region. Those funds have deployed roughly $900 million, while Lightspeed’s global funds have invested another $1.6 billion to support companies from the regional portfolio, according to the investor letter.
The decision to dedicate its newest regional fund entirely to AI also marks a sharper thematic focus for Lightspeed in a market where it has historically invested across sectors. Its India portfolio spans businesses including quick commerce, consumer internet, software, and household services.
Lightspeed’s bets in India have included companies such as quick-commerce startup Zepto, audio platform Pocket FM, house-help startup Snabbit, rooftop solar startup SolarSquare, and a range of enterprise software businesses.
The same team that led Lightspeed’s previous four India funds will manage the new fund, per the letter.
Meet the next wave of VCs judging Startup Battlefield 200 at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026
9:03 AM PDT · September 24, 2026
For founders, Startup Battlefield 200 is one of the biggest moments of their careers. For everyone else in the TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 audience, it’s one of the best ways to learn how great companies are actually evaluated by VCs.
This startup pitch competition is as intense as you’d expect. From October 13–15 at San Francisco’s Moscone West, every hand-picked founder has six minutes to make their case, but the most revealing moments often come after the presentation ends. That’s when the judges start asking the questions every investor, customer, and future employee will eventually want answered. Can this team execute? Is the market big enough? Why now? What’s defensible? Those conversations are as valuable for the thousands of founders watching from the audience as they are for the companies onstage.
That’s why we’re continuing to build one of the strongest judging panels in Startup Battlefield’s history. Today we’re excited to introduce another group of five top-tier investors who’ll help identify the companies with the potential to become tomorrow’s breakout success stories.
Join the Startup Battlefield contenders and VC judges on the main stage, alongside 10,000+ tech leaders attending Disrupt, and watch the next generation of startups compete for their place in TechCrunch history. Register now to save up to $200 on your pass before prices increase on September 25 at 11:59 p.m. PT.
The next five VCs deciding which Startup Battlefield contenders advance
Without further ado, meet the next batch of investors who will judge which early-stage founder walks away with the $100,000 prize. Get to know these judges, along with the first 10 already announced on the Disrupt agenda.
Vaibhav ‘Dr.V’ Agrawal, Co-Founder and General Partner, ODDBIRD VC
Dr.V is the co-founder and general partner of ODDBIRD VC, a pre-seed fund he founded in 2024 to back AI companies reindustrializing the West — with a focus on health and bio, critical supply chains, and real-world automation. A trained physician with an MBBS degree, Agrawal also holds an MBA from Stanford and previously served as a general partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners India, where he backed early-stage startups beginning in 2016. His current portfolio includes Anterior, a healthcare AI company that has raised $64 million from NEA and Sequoia.
Anu Bharadwaj, Partner, ICONIQ
Anu Bharadwaj is a partner at ICONIQ, where she focuses on enterprise software and AI companies. Before joining ICONIQ, Bharadwaj served as president and COO of Atlassian for nearly 12 years, where she led the product, engineering, and enterprise business across Jira, Confluence, and the Atlassian Cloud platform as the company scaled to billions in annual revenue. She previously held leadership roles at Microsoft and holds a bachelor of engineering in computer science from R.V. College of Engineering.
Sho Sho Leigha Ho, Partner, General Catalyst
Sho Sho Leigha Ho is a partner on General Catalyst‘s seed team, where she invests in early-stage founders. She serves as a board observer at Together AI. She joined General Catalyst in 2024 as its youngest partner. Her public investments include Graylark, Autoscience, Standard Kernel, and The Interaction Company of California (Poke), which Cognition acquired in July 2026. She holds an AB from Harvard and is based in San Francisco.
Miloni Madan Presler, Partner, IVP
Miloni Madan Presler is a partner at IVP (Institutional Venture Partners), where she partners with first-time founders building inflection-stage technology companies in enterprise software, healthcare, and security, from Series B through pre-IPO. She brings a disciplined growth equity and private equity perspective to company building, shaped by earlier roles at Summit Partners and Warburg Pincus. Presler holds a degree in Economics and Finance from Johns Hopkins University and speaks four languages.
Aidan Madigan-Curtis, Partner, Eclipse Ventures
Aidan Madigan-Curtis is a partner at Eclipse Ventures, where she invests in AI, IoT, computer vision, and software solutions for manufacturing, logistics, supply chain, and climate transition. Named one of Business Insider’s 22 Investors to Know in Robotics and Physical AI, she leads Eclipse’s Carbon Optimization framework to track real emissions reductions across the firm’s portfolio. Before venture, Madigan-Curtis was a senior executive at Apple — scaling Apple Watch manufacturing from zero to millions of units per week — and a VP and general manager at Samsara, where she helped grow the company from pre-revenue to over $1 billion in ARR. She holds a BA from Harvard University and an MBA from Stanford University.
Grab your Disrupt ticket savings and don’t miss Startup Battlefield 200
TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 is happening October 13-15 in San Francisco, bringing 10,000+ tech leaders, VCs, and founders together to meet the next generation of breakout startups, connect with the leaders who could change their startup’s trajectory, and get a front-row seat to where the industry is headed. Save up to $200 on your ticket before prices increase on September 25 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Save an additional 30% when you register as a group.
StrictlyVC at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026: Inside the changing rules of venture capital
7:30 AM PDT · September 23, 2026
Thanks largely to AI and the rate at which startups are scaling, venture capital is in a state of flux, from who provides the money to how it gets deployed and what happens when companies are finally ready to go public. StrictlyVC at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, happening at San Francisco’s Moscone West on October 13-15, will bring together investors, institutional LPs, family office managers, and market experts for an afternoon of candid conversations about where capital is moving, how the money managers behind those venture dollars feel about the feverish dealmaking out there, and what founders and VCs need to understand about the new funding landscape.
The only way to lean into these exclusive deep-dive sessions is with a Disrupt Investor Pass. Built for investors, the StrictlyVC sessions offer a closer look at the fast-changing landscape and the forces shaping what’s next. Register by September 25 at 11:59 p.m. PT to save $200 on your Investor Pass.
Explore the StrictlyVC agenda
October 14
3:00–3:45 p.m. PT | Networking, Drinks & Light Bites
3:45–4:50 p.m.PT | StrictlyVC Conversations
4:50–6:00 p.m. PT | Drinks & Networking
Start with networking
Join us at 3:00 p.m. PT for drinks and light bites, with 45 minutes to connect with fellow investors, founders, and venture leaders before the conversations begin. After the program wraps, stick around for more drinks and more mingling.
Dive into the candid sessions
Visit the Disrupt agenda to learn about all the sessions and speakers for StrictlyVC, plus the 200+ sessions across all six industry stages, roundtables, and breakouts.
The New Rules of Going Public
Ryan Flanagan, ICR
The IPO window is reopening, but the playbook has changed. Founders and investors face a tougher path to the public markets, with higher expectations around growth, governance, and credibility. Join ICR's Ryan Flanagan for a candid conversation on what makes a company IPO-ready today, the decisions that matter years before a listing, and how to position a business for a successful exit in a more disciplined market.
The New Power Players: How Family Offices Are Reshaping Venture Investing
Bruce K Lee, Keebeck Capital Management; and Dave Sachse, Sachse Family Fund
Family offices have become one of the fastest-growing sources of startup capital, often moving faster and investing with greater flexibility than traditional institutions, but also, at times, piling in at the wrong times. Join prominent family office investors as they discuss how they’re approaching venture today, where they’re placing long-term bets, how they work alongside VCs, and why founders increasingly see them as strategic partners.
What Limited Partners Want Now
Amit Bhatti, TrueBridge Capital Partners; and Beezer Clarkson, LGT Capital Partners
Venture firms are competing harder than ever for institutional capital, while limited partners are rethinking everything from manager selection to concentrated AI exposure and liquidity expectations. Hear from leading LPs as they discuss what they’re looking for in today’s market, how they’re evaluating emerging managers versus established firms, and where they believe the next generation of venture returns will come from.
Secure your Investor Pass and $200 savings
TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 brings together 10,000+ founders, VCs, and operators from across the global tech ecosystem to make connections that can shape what’s next, discover emerging breakthroughs, and hear from leaders driving the industry forward. This is where big ideas converge and new opportunities take shape. Register for your Investor Pass now to save up to $200 before September 25 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Join Disrupt in San Francisco on October 13-15.
