SAIF Partners rebrands as Elevation Capital, closes $400M for new India fund

SAIF Partners, one of India's leading venture capital firms, has rebranded itself as Elevation Capital to reflect its investment ethos and will continue to back founders at a very early stage.

Elevation Capital, which has been operating in India since 2002, has been the early backer to startups that have now turned unicorns, including Paytm, Swiggy, and Unacademy to name a few.

Ravi Adusumalli, Managing Partner, Elevation Capital, said, “Elevation reflects our investment ethos and re-emphasises our commitment to founders who help redefine our future.

"For existing partners, it is a commitment of continued collaboration on our path-breaking journeys together. For new partners, it is a promise to do all we can to achieve great heights together, from day one.”

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Present in India for about 18 years now, Elevation Capital has backed some of the really early movers in the consumer internet space with companies like Sify, Makemytrip, and Justdial. It also had public exits with companies like Makemytrip and Justdial getting listed.

Now, Elevation Capital has also closed its latest and seventh fund at $400 million. This is one of its largest India-specific capital raises. It first raised an India-specific fund of $350 million in 2010, and the firm today manages more than $2 billion in assets.

This fund raise reflects similar closures of India-specific capital by other VC firms such as Sequoia, Lightspeed, and Accel this year, after March.

Elevation Capital is a sector-agonistic venture fund and some of the leading names in its portfolio include startups such as FirstCry, Meesho, NoBroker, ShareChat, Urban Company, and Rivigo.

Apart from Adusumalli, these investments would be led and managed by Elevation’s five Managing Directors, Deepak Gaur, Mayank Khanduja, Mridul Arora, Mukul Arora, and Vivek Mathur.

Mayank says their commitment to the founders is reflected through a deep conviction and not making competing investments. "Elevation Capital believes in partnering with companies for the long haul and being all in with empathy, trust, and unflinching support."