Lightbox

What Lightbox does

Lightbox is a Mumbai-based venture capital firm founded in 2014 by Sandeep Murthy, focused exclusively on India's consumer technology market. The firm has invested over $400 million across 27 portfolio companies since commencing operations in 2005, spanning sectors including fashion, healthcare, beauty, media, foodtech, mobility, and consumer internet. Lightbox is currently deploying its $200 million third fund, following two predecessor funds of comparable scale. Notable portfolio holdings include cloud kitchen operator Rebel Foods, women's wellness brand Nua, healthtech Zeno Health, mental health platform Amaha, and historic investments in category-defining companies such as InMobi, Cleartrip, Truecaller, Info Edge, and MapmyIndia. The firm operates from a single office in Lower Parel, Mumbai, with a team of 11-50 professionals.

Lightbox runs a platform model that extends beyond capital deployment. Four ancillary offerings sit alongside its funds: New Thinking (a content and insights platform covering India's consumer markets), Pitch Us (a structured founder submission portal), Fellowship (an internship program for aspiring VC professionals), and Talent Sourcing (a recruiting platform connecting portfolio companies with candidates). These tools are designed to enhance deal sourcing, founder engagement, and portfolio support, and to reinforce the firm's positioning as an operating partner rather than a passive capital provider.

The firm's revenue follows standard venture capital economics: recurring management fees on committed and invested capital across three fund vehicles, supplemented by carried interest on profitable realizations. A December 2024 secondary sale in Rebel Foods' $210 million Series G, in which 75% of the round was secondary share sales by early investors including Lightbox, signaled active return generation to LPs. The firm is led by Founder Sandeep Murthy with Principal Siddharth Dhankhar and CFO/General Counsel Rashmi Guptey overseeing finance, legal, and ESG functions.

Name

Lightbox

Legal name

Lightbox

Website

https://lightbox.vc

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Lightbox is a Mumbai-based venture capital firm that has invested over $400 million across 27 Indian consumer technology companies since 2005, currently deploying a $200 million third fund across fashion, healthcare, beauty, and foodtech.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYFSANACAA

Technology & Software Growth Equity

Financial & Insurance/Private Equity & Venture Capital/Growth Equity Firms

SECONDARYFSANACAO

Multi-Sector / Generalist Growth Equity

Financial & Insurance/Private Equity & Venture Capital/Growth Equity Firms

Keywords

• Venture capital
• Consumer technology investing
• Growth-stage funding
• Portfolio management
• Startup investment

Headquarters

HQ city

Mumbai

HQ country

India

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Lightbox is a Mumbai-based venture capital firm that invests growth capital into consumer technology companies in India. The firm manages three funds (Fund I, Fund II, and a $200 million Fund III), having deployed over $400 million across 27 portfolio companies since 2005 in sectors such as fashion, healthcare, beauty, media, and foodtech. Beyond capital, Lightbox provides operational guidance, strategic support, talent sourcing, and founder development programs to portfolio companies.

Product overview

Lightbox is a Mumbai-based venture capital firm that operates as a platform providing investment services, content/thought leadership, and talent ecosystem support. Its core offerings include: New Thinking (content and insights platform), Pitch Us (founder submission portal), Fellowship (internship program), and Talent Sourcing (recruiting service for portfolio companies). The firm has invested over $400 million across 27 companies since 2005, deploying capital from its $200-million third fund.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Lightbox Venture Capital Funds (Fund I, Fund II, Fund III) Venture capital fund vehicles that deploy growth-stage capital into Indian consumer technology companies across fashion, healthcare, beauty, media, and foodtech sectors. Offered to institutional limited partners (family offices, endowments, fund-of-funds) seeking exposure to India's consumer market.
• Pitch Us

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Ladywell FilmsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 February 2025Ladywell Films co-produced 'Twisted Yoga,' a three-part investigative docuseries launching globally on Apple TV, in association with Lightbox Productions.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Chiratae Ventures: India-focused technology and consumer VC. Comparable stage and sector overlap with Lightbox, frequently participating in the same rounds.
• Blume Ventures: Mumbai-headquartered seed and early-stage India VC with consumer-tech exposure. Direct peer sharing geography, stage, and consumer-internet orientation with Lightbox.
• Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India): India's largest venture and growth-stage investor with broad consumer-tech exposure. Highly comparable to Lightbox as both back early-to-growth stage Indian consumer and tech-enabled companies, and compete head-to-head for the same founder relationships and rounds.
• Accel India: Long-established India-focused VC investing across consumer and enterprise. Direct peer given overlapping consumer-tech thesis, similar early-stage orientation, and shared target founder pool in Bengaluru/Mumbai.
• Kalaari Capital: Bengaluru-based early-stage VC with a strong India consumer-tech thesis. Comparable to Lightbox in stage, sector focus, and active-engagement value-add model targeting Indian founders.
• Elevation Capital: India-focused growth-stage investor with deep consumer-internet track record. Comparable to Lightbox as both invest across consumer brands and tech-enabled services in India, often at growth stages.
• Matrix Partners India: Active India consumer and enterprise investor. Comparable given overlapping portfolio themes and similar fund sizes investing into Indian growth-stage companies.
• Nexus Venture Partners: India-US early-to-growth VC with consumer-tech exposure. Direct peer based on overlapping Indian consumer-investment mandate and similar stage focus.
• Fireside Ventures: India-focused consumer brand investor that co-invests with Lightbox (e.g., Amaha Series A). Comparable given shared consumer-brand thesis and India-only mandate.

Broad incumbents

• Bessemer Venture Partners (India): Global venture firm with a meaningful India practice spanning consumer, enterprise, and healthcare. Comparable as an India-active generalist VC, though with broader sector and stage coverage than Lightbox.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/@lightbox1
• Xx.com/lbvc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lightbox-ventures

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments54 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Lightbox