Index Ventures has raised a total of $2.3 billion across two new funds: $800 million for its 12th venture fund and $1.5 billion for its seventh growth fund.
It is an impressive fundraising feat, but both of the funds are smaller than their predecessors. The venture fund is $100 million smaller than the firm’s 11th VC fund, and the growth fund is $500 million smaller than its sixth growth vehicle, according to fundraising data from affiliate Private Equity International (registration required).
Index, which is co-located in London and San Francisco, raised the new vehicles in one of the toughest fundraising periods in recent history. Venture funds worldwide raised $15.03 billion in the first quarter, a 53 percent decrease from the first quarter of 2023. It was the lowest quarterly fundraising total since Q3 2017, according to Venture Capital Journal‘s Q1 fundraising report. (VCJ‘s Q2 fundraising report is expected to be available the week of July 22.)
Index did not respond to a request for comment as of press time. In an interview with TechCrunch, partner Nina Achadjian downplayed the smaller size of the new funds. “We were very intentional about the size,” she said. “I think it would be very easy to just continue raising larger funds. And we had a bottom up approach and looked: ‘What are the sizes of growth rounds happening right now? Where are the opportunities in venture?’”
Achadjian also noted that the new funds were “raised in a few weeks from existing LPs mainly, and we’re really oversubscribed.”
Index did not disclose the names of investors in either of the new funds.
The firm’s 11th venture fund closed on $900 million in July 2021 and included commitments from Alaska Permanent Fund, the John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation, KLP Insurance, Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board, MetLife, the Heinz Endowments and University of Minnesota Foundation, PEI reported.
Index’s sixth growth fund closed on $2 billion in July 2021 with support from Alaska Permanent Fund, the MacArthur Foundation, MassPRIM, the Heinz Endowments and University of Minnesota Foundation, according to PEI.
In a statement, Index said it will invest the new funds at a time when the rise of AI, a growing pool of tech talent and globalization of entrepreneurship “are laying entirely new foundations for the next generation of entrepreneurs, making it easier than ever before to create and scale iconic companies.”
Index partner Shardul Shah noted: “Even though technology has transformed our daily lives, the reality is that it has so much further to go. AI alone will revolutionize virtually every sector of the economy and open up whole industries to venture that have remained virtually untouched. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people have worked in hypergrowth start-ups globally and can transfer those lessons to the next generation of companies. We’re energized by the unique opportunities that this historical moment presents and excited to partner with founders to solve the world’s trickiest and most consequential problems.”
Since its founding in 1996, Index has invested in 108 start-ups that have reached a $1 billion valuation, 23 that have surpassed a $10 billion valuation and 57 that have become publicly traded, the firm said.
Iris Dorbian contributed to this report