Index Ventures closes new fund, now has $1.25 billion to invest in startups; adds Shardul Shah as partner

Index Ventures has closed its eighth venture fund of $550 million, following its third venture fund of $700 million last year. The $1.25 billion will be used to invest in startups at various stages.

The firm, headquartered in Geneva, has added Shardul Shah as a partner along with former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, who was appointed last week. They will be joining Danny Rimer, Mike Volpi and Ilya Fushman as partners in the US. It is also marking five years since the opening of its San Francisco office.

“Over the past 20 years, we've been fortunate to have partnered with some of the most visionary entrepreneurs,” said Rimer. “With three new partners and two new funds added in less than a year, we’re eager to work with the next generation of founders and welcome their companies to the Index family.”

Index Ventures said it will be using the $1.25 billion funds to back seed, venture, and growth stage startups.

Recently it invested $25 million in Berlin online moving startup Movinga and in September it backed Belgian data management startup Collibra in its Series B round. Other notable European investments include BlaBlaCar, iZettle, and Citymapper.

Index Ventures added that it has companies from 24 countries in its portfolio, resulting in combined revenues of $9.2 billion in 2015.

“The need for speed requires enterprises to transform their tooling and how they enable teams to make decisions,” said new partner Shah. “In that context, I look forward to working with some exciting entrepreneurs to build great companies.”

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