Investment firm Omidyar Network, which has backed over 70 Indian startups, including the likes of 1mg, Bounce, Indifi, Dealshare, Healthkart, Vedantu among others, is exiting India.
According to a Techcrunch report, the company has taken the decision “after several months of deliberation” and will completely look to transition out of the market by the end of 2024. The firm’s board and leadership will assess over the next two months on how to best manage the portfolio startups going forward.
According to the company’s global website, the social impact investment firm, which is backed by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, had committed over $1.86 billion in investments since inception which includes both for profit investments as well as non profit grants. The company has invested over $500 million in India, according to its country website.
Recently in India, Omidyar Network led the series A funding round of $6 million for dairy fintech startup Digivridhhi Technologies. Last month, fintech startup Kiwi raised $13 million in series A funding round led by Omidyar Network India.
But there has also been reported hiccups in some its portfolio companies. BNPL startup ZestMoney, which was valued at USD 450 million decided to shut down. Another portfolio company Doubtnut, which has raised of USD 50 million was acquired by Allen Career Institute for USD 10 million.
While no official reason has been stated for withdrawal from India, the company has reportedly achieved its primary objective of catalysing impact in India.
The company’s India team is looking at reuniting and raising money externally to start a new fund but cautioned that the plans may change and deliberations may fail.
The development also comes at a time when external factor have led to a slowdown in deals and investors struggling with lower than expected returns on their portfolio. The industry is also undergoing internal churn both globally and in India where fund managers and partners are branching out.
On the deals side, data from Grant Thornton Bharat LLP shows that in the year to date period of 2023, 1321 deals were recorded amounting to USD 45.9 billion, reflecting a significant decline of 62 per cent in value and 29 per cent in volume compared to the same period in 2022.
