Lightspeed is targeting $250 million for its new early-stage India fund, betting that AI will drive the next wave of startups in one of the world's largest markets. The Silicon Valley firm, already an investor in Anthropic, xAI, and Databricks, has backed Sarvam AI in India.

The new fund, Lightspeed India Partners V, is half the size of its $500 million predecessor raised in 2022 and has secured commitments for 80% of its target, per an investor letter seen by TechCrunch. Lightspeed plans to begin investing within two months.

Lightspeed is moving its India funds onto the same fundraising cycle as its global funds for the first time, following a similar shift by Accel, which raised its $550 million India fund alongside U.S. and Europe funds in a coordinated $3.5 billion effort.

The fund's investment thesis anticipates AI creating more value in India than the internet did. Lightspeed, which manages more than $65 billion globally, has deployed roughly $900 million through dedicated regional funds and another $1.6 billion from global funds to support India and Southeast Asia portfolio companies.