Omidyar Network, backed by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, is shutting down its India operations, two sources familiar with the matter told TechCrunch, in a stunning development for the impact venture firm that has backed nearly 75 startups in the South Asian market.
TechCrunch couldn’t determine why Omidyar had decided to pull from the Indian market, a development that was shared with the local team Monday, a source familiar with the matter said, requesting anonymity as the matter is private.
The firm didn’t respond to a request for comment Monday. Some of its partners in India also didn’t respond. After the publication of the story, Omidyar Network confirmed it won’t be making any more investments in India but didn’t say what happens to the local staff.
“Having achieved our primary objective of catalysing impact, Omidyar Network India will not be making any further investments in India,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.
A slide from Omidyar Network India’s investor presentation.
Omidyar Network aimed to back startups in India that, at least on paper, were solving problems faced by half a billion people in the country. Its portfolio startups include 1mg, Bounce, Bijak, DealShare, Doubtnut, Entri, HealthKart, Indifi, M2P, and Pratilipi.
As of July this year, Omidyar Network India had about $673 million of cumulative assets under management and its portfolio startups reached 735 million people, according to an investor presentation.
2023 has been a rough year for the Omidyar Network India team. Doubtnut, a startup which raised more than $50 million, sold for $10 million this month. And ZestMoney, once valued at nearly $450 million, also announced that it was shutting down. Both of them counted Omidyar Network India among their backers.
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