Tag: bessemer venture partners

Report focuses on how e-commerce, content plays, and consumer discernment will continue to fuel the rise of a $1 trillion dollar digital opportunity 

The India practice of Bessemer Venture Partners today released a report titled ‘Click, Watch, Shop: the consumer opportunity in India’. The report outlines the tech, demographic and policy tailwinds from the past decade that have fueled the rise of a $1 trillion digital opportunity and also talks about the user behaviours that will shape consumer offerings in the future. 

A tailwind trifecta of internet penetration, evolving demographics, and policy changes is among the trends that have enabled the rise of new age consumer companies such as Swiggy, Urban Company, Boldfit, Vetic and more. Going forward, it is the evolution of commerce marketplaces, content platforms and changing consumer aspirations that will power newer companies to win in the Indian context. 

Commerce will become quicker, better and more aspirational across channels

India’s burgeoning online commerce sector has witnessed an extraordinary expansion in recent years. Starting from a base of $30 billion in 2020, and is expected to get to $300 billion by the end of the decade in 2030, contributing to a $1 trillion digital opportunity. This demonstrates it is no longer a niche phenomenon catering to a small segment but has firmly established itself as a dominant force within the Indian retail landscape for a significant and growing share of the population. 

In addition, the recent rise of quick commerce (q-commerce) has introduced a new dimension to the online retail ecosystem, further revolutionising the way consumers access goods. Platforms such as BigBasket, Blinkit, Swiggy, and Zepto have spearheaded this movement, demonstrating the viability and consumer appeal of rapid delivery services. This segment is seeing the further trend of verticalised q-commerce emerging, with startups like Snabbit, Swish and Slikk catering to niche needs. 

Lastly, D2C brands are increasingly catering to an aspirational mass-premium audience – an audience characterised by the demand for newer, better-priced, higher-quality products.

What is Quick Commerce? | Features of Quick Commerce

Quick commerce creates a better customer experience by helping businesses connect with their customers more quickly than the traditional methods.

StartupTalkyBharat L. Vora

Content: Entertainment comes home 

India is experiencing a content revolution driven by consumers’ diverse appetites for entertainment, education, and gaming. Characterised by short attention spans and a multitude of accessible platforms across interests, languages, and budgets, user engagement is rapid, facilitated by frictionless microtransactions or autopay-led subscriptions.

Platforms are adapting to these shorter attention spans with quick and engaging content. Over the past five years, short-form video platforms in India have witnessed a 3.6X growth in daily active users, competing with mainstream digital platforms. Moreover, the rise of virtual tipping, UPI autopay and other micro-transactions is expected to reach $1.5 billion by 2029 and exemplifies the growth of UPI-enabled microtransactions, which allows companies to experiment with diverse monetisation models beyond just ads.

The rise of new lifestyle and consumption habits

The modern Indian consumer’s choices increasingly prioritise what was previously seen as lifestyle spending. These include previously thought “non-essential” spending in areas such as physical and mental health, financial wellness, and pet care. This expenditure has moved from being a good-to-have to a must-have for Indian consumers.

For instance, there is increased spending on organic food, protein, fitness gadgets, preventive healthcare, and wellness services.) Health-focused food and beverage (F&B) as a category has expanded from ~11% to ~16% of F&B spend and is expected to continue to increase as brands have been quick to adapt to this trend.

Similar trends can be seen in segments such as financial services (eg, personal finance offering such as Groww) and petcare. 

Anant Vidur Puri, Partner, said “India presents a $1 trillion dollar digital opportunity. The emergence of multiple consumer marketplaces, platforms and new-age brands in the past decade are a testament to the growing aspirations of an emergent India. This makes us exceptionally optimistic about the potential for many more consumer plays to emerge in the coming years.”

Bessemer Venture Partners Raises $350 Million India Fund to Back Next-Generation of Startups

Bessemer Venture Partners announced the close of $350 million in capital for its second dedicated India fund, reinforcing the firm’s long-standing commitment to backing founders in the region as they build enduring companies.

StartupTalkyMuskaan Kapoor

• Second dedicated India fund builds on Bessemer’s nearly two-decade-long presence in the country and reinforces its commitment to supporting technology and innovation-driven businesses
• The fund will focus on early-stage startups and support them through subsequent growth stages
• Bessemer will focus on investments across AI, SaaS, fintech, digital health, consumer, and cybersecurity

Bangalore, 12^th March 2025: Bessemer Venture Partners today announced the close of $350 million in capital for its second dedicated India fund, reinforcing the firm’s long-standing commitment to backing founders in the region as they build enduring companies.

The new fund will enhance the firm’s focus on early-stage investments across AI-enabled services and SaaS, fintech, digital health, direct-to-consumer brands, and cybersecurity. Bessemer has a long-standing history of partnering with companies early and supporting them through their growth. More than 80 percent of its investments in India over the last five years have been in early-stage companies.

Speaking on the fund raise, Vishal Gupta, Partner and Managing Director of the firm’s Bangalore office, said, “This fund deepens our commitment to India’s startup ecosystem as we continue backing the next generation of entrepreneurs building technology-led businesses. We remain focused on identifying and investing in founders who are driving innovation, solving complex challenges, and building market-defining companies. Beyond providing capital, we bring deep sector expertise, a global network, and hands-on support to help founders navigate their growth journeys and scale sustainably.”

Bessemer Partner Anant Vidur Puri added, “India is at the forefront of the AI-driven transformation, with founders building domestic as well as globally-competitive businesses across enterprise software, fintech, and consumer technology. As AI adoption accelerates, we see immense opportunities for innovation, and this fund allows us to back entrepreneurs shaping the next phase of India’s digital economy.”

Bessemer first established its India presence nearly two decades ago in 2006 and has since invested in more than 80 startups in the country. The partnership’s strategy centres around being patient, long-term partners to visionary founders from the early stages. The firm has a history of taking a roadmap-driven investment approach that enables its investors to build conviction in emerging areas across industries before they become obvious and better help founders navigate evolving industry landscapes. This approach has led Bessemer to invest early in shifts in the market ,like the onset of the mobile revolution, India’s digital infrastructure, and its healthcare revolution, resulting in investments such as Urban Company, Perfios, and Medi Assist.  

The firm’s first dedicated India fund backed notable startups including Boldfit, MoveInSync, Pepper Content, Shopdeck, Vetic, and Zopper, while its broader portfolio includes category leaders like BigBasket, Livspace, Perfios, Swiggy, and Urban Company. The firm has also seen nine IPOs within its India portfolio.

With investment teams positioned across five countries, Bessemer is a globally integrated platform that is committed to supporting innovative startups and fostering the next generation of industry leaders.

About Bessemer Venture Partners

Bessemer Venture Partners helps entrepreneurs lay strong foundations to build and forge long-standing companies. With more than 145 IPOs and 300 portfolio companies in the enterprise, consumer, and healthcare spaces, Bessemer supports founders and CEOs from their early days through every stage of growth. Bessemer’s global portfolio has included ServiceTitan, Pinterest, Shopify, Twilio, Yelp, LinkedIn, PagerDuty, DocuSign, Wix, Fiverr, and Toast and has more than $18 billion of assets under management.

Bessemer has teams of investors and partners located in Tel Aviv, Silicon Valley, San Francisco, New York, London, Hong Kong, Boston, and Bangalore. Born from innovations in steel more than a century ago, Bessemer’s storied history has afforded its partners the opportunity to celebrate and scrutinize its best investment decisions and also learn from its mistakes.

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Financing your business idea is an important step for entrepreneurs to kickstart their startups. We have described some of the best ways to raise funds for your startup or business idea.

StartupTalkyRishita Jain