Mumbai-based Nexus Venture Partners has closed its seventh fund at $700 million. This is the largest closed fund for the venture capital (VC) firm since its inception in 2006. 

With this capital, the company plans to invest in start-up sectors including fintech, consumer, SaaS (software-as-a-service) and artificial intelligence (AI), in India and the US. Till now, Nexus Venture Partners has backed multiple unicorns like Delhivery, Rapido, Zepto, Postman, Druva and Hansura. Till now, it has backed 200 companies and invested in multiple SaaS platforms. 

The latest fund makes Nexus Venture Fund VII the second-largest fundraiser, a year after Sequoia announced its $2.85 billion fund in June 2022 for India and Southeast Asia.

Founded in 2006 by Suvir Sujan, Sandeep Singhal and Naren Gupta, Nexus Venture Partners is one of the earliest indigenous VC firms in India. 

Addressing the latest development, Nexus Venture Partners said in a statement, "With one of the largest developer bases in the world, India is emerging as a key innovation and talent hub for global companies driving AI and software revolution. India is also amongst the fastest-growing economies on the planet, with accelerating digital consumption powered by the best-in-class mobile data networks and advanced payments infrastructure."

The fundraising news may bring some good news to the Indian start-up ecosystem. Since the middle of 2022, start-ups have been struggling to generate funds in a proper valuation. According to a PwC report, VC investment dropped by 42 per cent to $4 billion in November 2022. Late-stage funding also dropped by 52 per cent last year.