Top venture capitalist (VC) firms on Saturday issued a joint statement on the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), one of the largest US banks serving the global startup community, saying they are "deeply disappointing and concerning".
Hemant Taneja, investor and managing partner at General Catalyst, said in a tweet that several VC leaders like Accel, Khosla Ventures, Altimeter Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mayfield Fund, Ribbit Capital, Redpoint Ventures and others met to discuss the aftermath of SVB's downfall.
"Silicon Valley Bank has been a trusted and long-time partner to the venture capital industry and our founders. For 40 years, it has been an important platform that played a pivotal role in serving the startup community and supporting the innovation economy in the US," they said in a joint statement.
The VC leaders said that in the event that SVB were to be purchased and appropriately capitalised, "we would be strongly supportive and encourage our portfolio companies to resume their banking relationship with them".
Ashneer Grover, former founder of BharatPe, took a dig at Taneja and other VC firms: "Bhai khareed lo fir investors mil ke. Uske liye bhi Founder dhoond rahe ho jo mehnat kare? Lagta hai PMC (Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank) ki tarah mujhe hi koodna padega bachane!"
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Grover had claimed that the acquisition of the crisis-ridden Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank (PMC) by Centrum-BharatPe consortium was the "smartest corporate move in history".
He further tweeted that "ebanks don't get saved by passing these bureaucratic UN type joint resolutions by people with no intent to get their hands dirty. It requires intent and balls of steel".
On Friday, the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) took control of the SVB's $175 billion in customer deposits.
The bank's collapse has left several startups, including in India, worried who have exposure to its investments and have active accounts in the bank.
Meanwhile, the top VC leaders told startup founders that now is the time to diversify not panic.
"SVB is a huge loss for our community. If everyone had moved 3-6 months cash out of SVB vs taking all out, SVB might still be standing. Now this is the move -- don't repeat yesterday. Not helpful to keep speculating and create more panic," Taneja posted.
