Lightbox Ventures is a Mumbai-based venture capital firm founded in early 2014 by Sandeep Murthy, Sid Talwar and Prashant Mehta, according to YourStory. It began as a spinout of the India joint venture of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) and Sherpalo Ventures, per AVCJ. Its own site reports $400 million invested across 27 investments.

Investment thesis

Lightbox backs few entrepreneurs and stays with them through the lifecycle — its view is that great consumer companies take 18 to 21 years to find stability. It invests in early-stage rounds and reserves follow-on capital for select companies rather than spraying seed cheques. The firm looks for companies solving problems that could "fundamentally become a big deal in India," and its edge is time: sitting with founders, listening, and helping with operating experience in product and brand building, per Inc42.

Sectors and stages

The firm focuses on Indian consumer technology across healthcare, fintech, financial services, content, brands and fast-moving consumer goods, specialty e-commerce and education, per YourStory and VCCircle. Stage-wise, it enters early — Seed to Series A — and doubles down on winners through follow-on vehicles.

Fund size and cheque sizes

Lightbox has raised three main funds: Fund I of $38.2 million (used to acquire the six remaining KPCB–Sherpalo India portfolio companies, including GreenDust, ZoomIn and MapMyIndia), Fund II of roughly $100 million plus a $54 million top-up vehicle for follow-ons, and Fund III closed in September 2019 at $209 million from 28 investors, with a first close of $178 million in September 2018 — confirmed by YourStory, Inc42 and Business Standard. The firm does not publish a standard cheque range; announced first cheques include a $4 million Series A into Nua (2019) and a $5 million seed into Melorra (2016), per YourStory and Business Standard.

Notable portfolio

Portfolio companies confirmed by public sources include Rebel Foods (formerly Faasos), Droom, Furlenco, Nua, Melorra, Dunzo, Cleartrip (acquired by Flipkart in 2021), InMobi, InfoEdge, MapMyIndia, Cityflo, Rupeek, Zeno Health, Rooter, Bombay Shirt Company and Flintobox, per YourStory, Inc42, Business Standard and The Economic Times. Its notable exit is Embibe, where Reliance Industries bought out investors — including Lightbox — in a $180 million deal.

Partners and team

The firm was founded by Sandeep Murthy (ex-Sherpalo/KPCB), Sid Talwar and Prashant Mehta. In August 2023, The Economic Times reported that Talwar, Mehta and partner Jeremy Wenokur were departing — leaving Sandeep Murthy as the firm's sole remaining partner at that time. Murthy is known for a patient, long-horizon stance and a concentrated-portfolio strategy.

Programs, accelerators and credits

Lightbox does not run a publicly documented startup accelerator. It does run the Lightbox Fellowship, a year-long programme for undergraduate students — not founders — who work on live projects guided by mentors from the investment team, per the firm's own site. It also runs founder-facing Events, a Talent Sourcing function and its New Thinking blog. There are no publicly documented startup credits or perks offered by the firm.

Why it matters for founders

Lightbox is the anti-spray investor: it deliberately backs few companies and invests enormous time per company. If you are building a consumer-tech brand in India and want a partner who sits in the trenches on product, brand and operations — and sticks around for follow-on rounds — Lightbox's model is unusually aligned with that. The trade-off is selectivity: a concentrated portfolio and single-partner decision-making mean the firm favours founders playing the very long game.