Neeraj Bharadwaj to Steer Accel India Growth Investments

Palo Alto, California-based Accel Partners is spreading its wings in India. The venture and growth investor, which manages a $6 billion global capital pool, has hired Neeraj Bharadwaj to steer its growth investments here. Bharadwaj moves from private equity major Apax Partners after an eleven year stint, which included leading the firm’s India investments from late 2006. In a press statement, announcing his new assignment, he says that high-growth sectors such as media, technology and retail will be among his areas of focus.

Accel will invest between $10 million and $50 million in mid-sized companies, as part of its growth investing strategy, said the press statement. It is the latest in a growing line of venture capital investors who want to straddle early stage and growth opportunities here with equal focus. Others in the mould include Norwest Venture Partners, Matrix Partners and Sequoia Capital.

Since July 2008, when Accel acquired Bangalore-based seed-stage investor Erasmic Venture Fund, the firm has raised a $60 million India-specific fund, dubbed Accel India Venture Fund II, which invests in seed-to-early stage companies. The current portfolio includes Chakpak, Perfint, Myntra and Kaati Zone. The early-stage investment team comprises of Mahendran Balachandran, Gagan Kumar, Subrata Mitra and Prashanth Prakash.

It is not clear yet whether the firm will raise an India-specific growth fund or invest from its global capital pool. In December last year, the firm raised two funds amounting to over $1 billion – press release. The $480 million Accel Growth Fund is largely US-focused at present. The $525 million Accel London III fund has a mandate for early-stage and growth investments in Europe and Israel. Both funds target the information technology, Internet, media and software sectors, among others.