SAIF partners keeping aside $400m worth of funds for India

SAIF Partners, which was an early investor in leading Indian mobile payments and digital wallet player Paytm, has started raising India-dedicated fund of about $350-$400 million for the third time. This round would take its assets under management to over $1 billion.

The last time it closed an India-dedicated fund was about over two years ago.

"They have already started the process and will (raise capital) primarily from the same investors, which are endowments in the USA," people in the know told ET.

After this round, SAIF Partners will become one of the largest venture funds in India, following Sequoia Capital, Accel India and Nexus Venture Partners. All the above venture funds have over $1 billion in assets under management.

"SAIF will make a partial exit on its nine-year old investment in Paytm as part of SoftBank's investment," one of the sources added. "SAIF Partners has invested a total of $70 million in Paytm till now, and in terms of returns this will top Tiger Global's investment in Flipkart as well."

Despite a slump in investments and returns in India, SAIF Partners has been able to have earned more than $400 million on its investments in MakeMyTrip, a 16-fold return on its investment.

Some of its other Indian investments are in BookMyShow, FirstCry, PropTiger, Rivigo, and Swiggy.

(Image source LiveMint)