Accel’s Return Test, Astrotalk Joins Unicorn Club, and Ola Electric Eyes Incentives

Accel has raised a $550 million ninth India fund just 19 months after closing its previous $650 million vehicle. The fund was oversubscribed and closed within weeks. What makes the timing unusual is that more than 55% of Fund VIII is reportedly still available for investment. Add that to the new fund and Accel will have close to $900 million of India-focused dry powder before considering capital available from its global funds.

On the surface, raising another fund this early looks unnecessary. Accel itself does not expect to start deploying Fund IX meaningfully until 2027. But the structure of the fundraise gives a better explanation. Accel simultaneously raised $3.5 billion across four vehicles, including a $1.35 billion growth fund that can invest in winners emerging from India, the US and Europe. LPs also preferred evaluating the global platform through one fundraising process.

For India, this is actually a useful discipline. Accel could have followed other large VC platforms and kept increasing the size of its domestic fund. Instead, Fund IX is $100 million smaller than Fund VIII.

Its own history explains why that matters.

Accel’s best Indian returns came when the funds were much smaller. It invested $800,000 in Flipkart in 2008 and $1 million in Freshworks in 2011. Its first Swiggy cheque was also $1 million, when the company was doing roughly 100 deliveries a day. Flipkart eventually returned about 56 times Accel’s investment. Swiggy generated an estimated $500 million-plus in value from roughly $20 million invested.

The larger funds have found that mathematics harder. Fund-return data reported from Accel’s LP materials showed DPI of just 0.15x for its 2014 vintage and 0.13x for the 2017 vintage as of late 2024. That means only 15 cents and 13 cents respectively had been returned in cash for every dollar contributed by LPs, even though significant portfolio value remained.

That is the uncomfortable part of scaling venture capital. A $70 million fund can be transformed by one Flipkart. A $650 million fund needs several very large outcomes to produce the same multiple.

Accel’s answer appears sensible: keep the India early-stage pool around $550-650 million, enter companies early, and use the separate global growth fund when a winner needs hundreds of millions more. Around 80% of Accel’s portfolio companies still receive their first institutional cheque from the firm.

The $550 million raise therefore says less about India needing more venture money and more about Accel trying to preserve the economics that made its early India funds successful.

The next test is whether these much larger funds can eventually return cash at anything close to the multiples produced by the small funds that backed Flipkart, Freshworks and Swiggy.

Let’s go through what else is happening in Indian startup world - Grab your simmering cup of StartupChai.in and unwind with our hand-brewed memes.

“I’m The Best”: Astrotalk Joins Unicorn Club

AstroTalk has joined India’s unicorn club after an ESOP buyback valued the Delhi NCR-based astrology platform at $1 Bn.

Over 100 employees reportedly sold shares in the exercise, marking a big payday for its team. With this, AstroTalk becomes India’s 133rd unicorn.

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“Sab Paise Ka Khel Hai”: Ola Electric Eyes Battery Cell PLI Incentives

Ola Electric could now unlock up to ₹7,240 Cr in PLI incentives after the Centre extended the timeline for its battery cell unit through CY2031.

The revision gives the company more time to meet milestones and potentially claim incentives across its full 20 GWh allocation.

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“Bhaari Mistake Ho Gaya”: Zepto Faces Fresh Regulatory Heat

Zepto is facing fresh regulatory heat after Karnataka’s Food Safety Division sealed its Hoskote warehouse over labelling violations, misbranding and unhygienic food handling.

Authorities have also issued a notice and recommended legal action against the facility.

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“Waah Kya Scene Hai”: Shiprocket IPO Subscribed 35% On Day 1

Shiprocket’s IPO was 35% subscribed on day one, with investors bidding for 3.29 Cr shares against 9.44 Cr on offer.

Retail investors led the rush, subscribing 1.35X and fully booking their quota.

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“Abhi Toh Aur Chalega”: Uber Expands Bike to More Indian Cities

Uber has expanded its Bike service to 100 more Indian cities, taking its footprint to over 220 cities across 18 states and a Union Territory.

New additions include Jammu, Tirunelveli, Silchar and Jamnagar, among others.

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“Modi Hai Toh Mumkin Hai”: PM E-DRIVE E2W Subsidy Extended Till March 2028

The PM E-DRIVE scheme’s outlay has been raised by ₹1,000 Cr to ₹11,900 Cr, while e2W subsidies are extended until March 2028.

The move keeps demand support alive as electric two-wheelers continue to build adoption.

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“Meri Baat Maan Le”: Maharashtra Makes Marathi Mandatory For App-Based Drivers

Maharashtra has made working knowledge of Marathi mandatory for app-based cab drivers working with platforms such as Ola, Uber and Rapido.

Drivers who fail to comply may face license suspension or cancellation.

1. August AI is reportedly in talks to raise around $4 Mn from Peak XV Partners, as investor interest in AI-powered healthcare continues to heat up.

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2. Accel has closed its ninth India-focused fund with a $550 Mn corpus, targeting AI, deeptech and other early-stage startups.

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3. Yulu has raised $93 Mn in a Series C round led by GEF Capital Partners, comprising $63 Mn in equity and $30 Mn in debt.

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4. Bengaluru-based kids’ tech startup Wippi has raised $1.2 Mn in seed funding led by 12 Flags, with three other investors joining.

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5. Lane has raised ₹8.5 Cr in pre-seed funding led by Kae Capital, with DeVC, Antler India and others participating.

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6. Chennai-based deeptech startup, Quarkitech has raised Rs 2 Cr in pre-seed funding from Artha Access and Finvolve.
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