Venture Capital · Profile from Venture Capital Research Companion
Elevation Capital
The India venture franchise that began in 2001 as the India arm of SAIF Partners (originally the SoftBank Asia Infrastructure Fund), was built by Ravi Adusumalli into one of India's most consistently profitable early-stage investors (MakeMyTrip, Justdial, Paytm, Swiggy, Urban Company, Meesho), rebranded as Elevation Capital in October 2020, and in 2025–26 added a $400m late-stage vehicle and a $500m Fund IX as its portfolio began listing on Indian exchanges.
At a glance
- Founded
- 2001, as the India investment team of SB Asia Infrastructure Fund (SAIF), a SoftBank-sponsored vehicle managed by Andrew Y. Yan's team; India-dedicated funds from ~2011; renamed Elevation Capital in October 2020
- Founders
- Ravi Adusumalli built and led the India practice from SAIF's start; SAIF Partners itself was founded by Andrew Y. Yan (Hong Kong). Mukul Arora later became co-managing partner (joining date verify)
- Headquarters
- Gurugram (Delhi NCR), with an office in Bengaluru
- Ownership / structure
- Independent India-focused private partnership; separate from SAIF Partners' China business since the India funds were raised as a distinct family (reported); offshore funds with Indian advisory entity
- Leadership (2026)
- Co-managing partners Ravi Adusumalli and Mukul Arora; partners include Mridul Arora and others (verify current partner list)
- AUM / capital raised
- "Close to $2bn" AUM at the 2020 rebrand (reported); since then Fund VIII ($670m, 2022), Elevation Holdings ($400m, 2025) and Fund IX ($500m, July 2026). Total capital managed plausibly ~$3.5–4bn (estimate; verify)
- Stage focus
- Seed and Series A in India across consumer internet, fintech, SaaS and (since 2024) AI applications; follow-ons through growth; dedicated late-stage / pre-IPO vehicle (Elevation Holdings) from 2025
- Signature investments
- MakeMyTrip (Nasdaq 2010), Justdial (IPO 2013), Paytm (IPO 2021), FirstCry (IPO 2024), ixigo (IPO 2024), Swiggy (IPO 2024), Urban Company (IPO 2025), Meesho (IPO 2025), ShareChat, Acko, Spinny, NoBroker, The Souled Store, Aye Finance. Failures / instructive cases: PepperTap (shut 2016), ShareChat (valuation reset 2023–24), Paytm (post-IPO collapse and 2024 RBI action)
9 deals and moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2005
MakeMyTrip
Early Venture / Growth
2006
Justdial
Venture Round
2007
Paytm
Early Venture in One97 Communications
2010
FirstCry
Early Venture
2015
PepperTap
Series A
2015
Swiggy
Series A
2015
Urban Company
Series A
2016
Meesho
Series A
2016
ShareChat
Series A