Sequoia is approaching the first Asia-Pacific agreement since the division of the region
Sequoia is closing in on its first deal in India and the wider Asia Pacific region since parting ways with previous partners, according to four sources familiar with the matter.
The investor, one of the world’s largest conglomerates, is in advanced talks to back Vance, a Bengaluru-based payments startup, the sources said, asking not to be identified as the talks are ongoing and confidential.
If the deal goes through, it will be the company’s first since it split from Sequoia India and Southeast Asia in the middle of last year. The former Sequoia unit was later renamed Peak XV Partners.
Sequoia also parted ways with its most popular China unit, run by Neil Shen, amid growing tensions between Washington and Beijing. The former Chinese wing has been renamed HongShan.
All three companies are showing signs of encroaching on each other’s territory.
The FT reported earlier this week that HongShan is pursuing deals in Europe and North Asia as it struggles to post its $9 billion portfolio. Peak XV Partners has currently established a team in the US and intends to invest in US-based startups, according to various sources familiar with the company’s plans. The company invested in a startup in Australia last year.
“Our teams in India and China have built incredible businesses,” Sequoia chief Roelof Botha said at a recent Fortune conference. “But the decision to part with the India and China units,” said Botha, “is in the middle of difficult times – one or two decisions a year that have big consequences for the company. [It’s] not a decision that we can reverse two years later and say, ‘Oops, sorry, we have to go back to being one company.'”
Sequoia’s UK team – which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sequoia US – has proposed to pay $30 million to $32 million for Vance, some of the sources said.
Vance, which counts Y Combinator and Hummingbird among its backers, operates a financial services app aimed at Indians living overseas. Through the app, they can send money to family and friends in India and invest in Indian stocks and mutual funds.
The company is considering about $1 billion in annual payments, according to one of the sources.
Sequoia and Vance declined to comment Friday.
