Nexus Venture closes $700 million fund to double down on AI and tech bets

Nexus Venture Partners has announced the close of its latest fund at $700 million, as it looks to back startups in artificial intelligence (AI), enterprise technology, as well as consumer and fintech sectors in India and the US.

Since its founding in 2006, the Delaware-headquartered venture capital firm has invested in over 130 companies and made more than 30 exits, some of them through initial public offerings. Over the years, the firm has invested across the technology stack, ranging from open-source infrastructure and developer platforms to the more recent agentic AI companies, and consumer and fintech companies.

“From infrastructure to applications, every layer of the tech stack is getting rewritten by AI. Agentic AI is transforming how work gets done, bringing a whole new wave of augmentation and automation across industries,” the firm said in a statement. “With Fund VIII, we’re doubling down on visionary entrepreneurs solving the hardest problems and shaping the next wave of global innovation.”

Many unicorns

The firm, which has offices in San Francisco's Menlo Park as well as in Mumbai and Bengaluru, has backed several startups that have gone on to become unicorns, firms that are valued at over $1 billion. Some of their portfolio companies include quick-commerce player Zepto, ride-hailing platform Rapido, business-to-business marketplace Jumbotail, maps data company MapmyIndia (which was later acquired by Flipkart), test-prep edtech Unacademy as well as SEDEMAC Mechatronics, a control systems maker that filed its draft papers with the market regulator in November for an IPO.

The firm is an investor in some fast-growing sectors as well, such as quick-delivery fashion, with a $10 million investment in Slikk, as well as quick-maid service Snabbit, which raised $1 million in seed money from the venture capital fund.

Nexus was also a part of AI infrastructure company Neysa's $20 million seed round last year, which was led by Z47 (formerly known as Matrix Partners India). It was also part of the startup's $30 million Series A, which it co-led alongside NTTVC and Z47. Neysa is again looking to raise funds, and has reportedly been in talks with Masayoshi Son's SoftBank and American investment firm Blackstone, as reported by the Economic Times.