Elevation Capital
 | |
| Private Ownership | |
| ISIN | 🆔 |
| Industry | Venture capital |
| Founded 📆 | 2001 |
| Founder 👔 | |
| Headquarters 🏙️ | Gurugram, Haryana & Bengaluru, Karnataka, India |
Area served 🗺️ | |
| Products 📟 | Venture capital, Growth capital |
| Members | |
Number of employees | |
| 🌐 Website | elevationcapital |
| 📇 Address | |
| 📞 telephone | |
Elevation Capital, which was previously known as SAIF Partners India till October 2020,[1][2] is an India-focused venture capital fund, investing in early-stage startups (seed, series A, series B rounds). Elevation Capital funds are based in Mauritius and have a team of investment advisors in India.[3]
The fund has been the first investor in market-leading companies like Paytm, Swiggy, Urban Company, Meesho, FirstCry, Acko, Rivigo, Nobroker.com and ShareChat. The India investment advisors have offices in Bengaluru and Gurgaon, India and the fund also has a team and office in Mauritius.
Elevation Capital has raised a total of ~USD 1Bn across its three funds.[4]
Background[edit]
Elevation Capital was initially started as SAIF Partners India, a fund for investments in South and East Asia (including India and China). It branched out in 2011 when it raised its first India dedicated fund of USD350M.[5] It thus became an independent fund solely focused on India. Since then they have raised two more funds of similar size (in 2015 and 2017) and have backed more than 50 companies since.
Investment Strategy[edit]
The fund has historically invested in multiple companies with "India-first” business models.[6] Elevation Capital is an early stage investor in consumer internet, B2B technology and consumer brand companies in India.[7] The fund invests across stages with seed and Series A rounds forming a major share of its investments. The fund is often the first institutional investor in these investee companies. The initial investment amounts can start from USD1M (in seed rounds) and go up to USD15-20M in Series B and later stages. The fund continues to participate in later rounds in these companies with investment in a single company going up to USD 50Mn and above. A part of the fund is also invested in listed Indian companies through the FPI[disambiguation needed] route licensed under SEBI regulations.
Sectors[edit]
The fund invests across a wide range of sectors including (not limited to) mobile, gaming[disambiguation needed], content, social, e-commerce, education, B2B, SME and enterprise SaaS, cloud and IT infrastructure, fintech, healthcare, healthtech, consumer brands, logistics, travel and mobility.[8]
Key Portfolio[edit]
Paytm[edit]
Paytm is a payment and fintech app, with over 39 million daily active users.[9] Over 7 million merchants use Paytm and its QR code to accept payments directly in their bank accounts.[10] Paytm has offerings such as Paytm Gold, Paytm Payments Bank, Paytm money, amongst others.[11] Elevation Capital has invested in Paytm across multiple rounds. The company has also raised capital from Berkshire Hathaway, Softbank, Alibaba.[12][13]
Swiggy[edit]
Founded in 2014, Swiggy is India’s largest and most valuable online food ordering and delivery platform. Elevation Capital co-led the first institutional round of Swiggy in 2015. Swiggy has since then raised investments from other leading investors including Bessemer, Norwest, Naspers, Tencent.[14]
Urban Company[edit]
Urban Company is India's largest home services marketplace. The platform helps customers hire trusted professionals for services like salon at home, cleaning, plumbing, carpentry, yoga training etc. Elevation Cpaital co-led the seed round of the company in 2015.[15] Post that, Urban Company has raised multiple rounds from several investors like Tiger Global, Vy Capital and Steadview Capital.[16]
Unacademy[edit]
Unacademy is India’s largest learning platform. The platform today helps aspirants prepare for 30+ competitive examinations. As of February, Unacademy had 90,000+ active subscribers and 14,000+ active educators.[17] In September 2017, Elevation Capital co-led the Series B round in Unacademy. Other investors in Unacademy include Sequoia Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, Steadview, General Atlantic and Facebook.[18]
FirstCry[edit]
Firstcry is Asia’s largest online shopping store for kids and baby products. Launched in 2010, company raised its first round of institutional capital in 2011, led by Elevation Capital. Firstcry has since then been backed by several marquee investors including Softbank.[19]
Meesho[edit]
Meesho is an Indian origin social commerce platform founded in December 2015. Meesho has created a distribution channel for long tail products, allowing its resellers to sell these products across a wide variety of channels like Whatsapp, Facebook and Instagram. Elevation Capital invested in Meesho in early 2017.[20] Meesho has raised capital from several leading investors including Sequoia, DST, Naspers and Facebook.[21]
[edit]
ShareChat is the Indian regional social media platform targeting the new internet user in India. Elevation Capital invested in the seed stage in Sharechat.[22] ShareChat has raised capital from leading investors like Lightspeed Venture Partners and Twitter.[23]
Rivigo[edit]
Rivigo is a logistics company that pioneered the global-first driver relay model. Elevation Capital led the Series A round[24] and the second round in Rivigo.[25] Subsequently, Rivigo has raised capital from leading PE fund Warburg Pincus.[26][27]
NoBroker[edit]
Founded in 2013, NoBroker.com is a platform that connects property owners and prospective tenants, eliminating the layer of brokers and middlemen.[28] Elevation Capital led the Series A for NoBroker in 2015.[29] NoBroker since then has raised capital from global investors like Tiger Global and General Atlantic[30] and again with Elevation Capital in Series C.[31]
Acko[edit]
Acko General Insurance is a private sector general insurance company in India.[32] Acko raised a seed round from Elevation Capital, Accel Partners and other high profile angel investors.[33] Subsequently, Acko has raised capital from Amazon, RPS Ventures and Binny Bansal.[34]
Fareye[edit]
Fareye’s predictive logistics platform allows enterprises to orchestrate, track and optimize their logistics operations. Fareye raised a Series A funding from Elevation Capital.[35] Other investors in Fareye include M12, the venture arm of Microsoft, DHL group, Eight Roads Ventures and Honeywell Ventures.[36]
Aye Finance[edit]
Aye Finance is an NBFC that provides business loans to micro and small businesses. Aye Finance raised seed funding from Elevation Capital.[37] Subsequently, Aye has raised capital from FalconEdge, CapitalG, A91 Partners.[38]
Chaayos[edit]
Chaayos is one of India’s largest chai (tea) cafe chains. Chaayos raised from Elevation Capital in their Series B round[39] and other rounds as well.[40] Other investors in Chaayos include Think Investments, Tiger Global Management, and Integrated Capital.[41]
Spinny[edit]
Spinny is an online platform for selling used cars that launched in 2015. It raised a Series A funding from Elevation Capital in 2019[42] and also in Series B in early 2020.[43]
India Advisor Team Leadership[edit]
- Ravi Adusumalli (Managing Partner)- Ravi Adusumalli joined Elevation Capital (earlier known as SAIF Partners India) in 2002. Prior to this, he worked at Mobius Venture Capital, Credit Suisse, and Wasatch Funds. Ravi graduated from Cornell University with a B.A. in Economics and Government.[44]
- Deepak Gaur (Managing Director)- Deepak focuses on early stage technology and consumer brand investments. Prior to joining Elevation Capital (earlier known as SAIF Partners India), Deepak was a consultant with McKinsey & Company. He has also worked at IBM Global Services in their Telecom and Media Services division. Deepak has a B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Kanpur.
- Mukul Arora (Managing Director)- Mukul’s primary area of focus is early stage investments. Prior to joining Elevation Capital (earlier known as SAIF Partners), Mukul was a consultant with McKinsey & Company. He received his engineering degree from Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology, Delhi.
- Mridul Arora (Managing Director)- Mridul works on consumer internet/mobile investments, fin-tech and health-tech. Prior to joining Elevation Capital (earlier known as SAIF Partners), Mridul was with McKinsey & Company He has a degree in Chemical Engineering from IIT Madras and M.B.A. from IIM Lucknow.
- Alok Goel (Managing Director)- Prior to joining Elevation Capital (earlier known as SAIF Partners), Alok was the CEO of Freecharge (acquired by Snapdeal) and COO of RedBus (acquired by Goibibo). Prior to his startup stints, Alok spent 5 years at Google in Bangalore and Mountain View in various product roles. Alok has an MBA from Indian School of Business and a B. Tech. in Electrical Engineering from Delhi College of Engineering.[45]
- Vivek Mathur (Managing Director)- Prior to joining Elevation Capital (earlier known as SAIF Partners), Vivek was the Head of the India Contact Centers for Dell Inc. He served as the C.F.O. for Standard Chartered and the Wholesale Bank at ANZ Grindlays India. Vivek holds a degree in chemical engineering from BITS Pilani and a M.B.A. from the University of Iowa.[46]
- Vishal Sood (Managing Director)- Prior to joining Elevation Capital (earlier known as SAIF Partners), Vishal worked in investment banking at Kotak[disambiguation needed], SSKI, and SBI Capital Markets. He has a B.E. in Computer Science from Gujarat University and a M.B.A. from IIM Ahmedabad.[47]
Corporate Sustainability[edit]
Elevation Capital (earlier known as SAIF Partners) joined other Venture Capital funds and startups in India to support innovation to counter Covid 19 called ACT Grants. ACT offers grants, ranging between ₹1 lakh and ₹10 crore, to startups and initiatives that use technology to create large-scale impact in the detection, prevention and eradication of covid-19. ACT Grants has raised about ₹100 crore from over 50 venture capital firms, startup founders, non-profit organisations and industry veterans.[48]
Awards and Accolades[edit]
| Awards |
|---|
| VCCircle Exit of the year 2017[49] |
| Venture Intelligence Apex Best Growth capital investor 2013[50] |
| Venture Intelligence Apex New Fund Raise of the Year 2017[51] |
| Venture Intelligence Apex Exit of the Year 2017[52] |
References[edit]
- ↑ "SAIF Partners rebrands as Elevation Capital; closes its seventh fund at $400 millions".
- ↑ "VC firm SAIF Partners renamed Elevation Capital, raises $400 million".
- ↑ "SAIF Partners rebrands as Elevation Capital, secures $400 million for its new India fund".
- ↑ "SAIF Partners to raise $350 million for third India-dedicated fund".
- ↑ "SAIF Partners raises new $350 million fund".
- ↑ "SAIF Partners catches them young, makes big bucks with seed stage bets".
- ↑ "In SAIF hands".
- ↑ "Meesho, Swiggy Backer SAIF Partners Targets 15 Investments For 2020".
- ↑ "More Indians visit Paytm than Google Pay and PhonePe put together:Report".
- ↑ "Paytm transactions reportedly grew four-fold to $20 billion in February".
- ↑ "Paytm Money integrates with Paytm Payments Bank to allow seamless movement of funds".
- ↑ "India's Paytm E-Commerce raises $200 million from Alibaba, SAIF Partners".
- ↑ "Berkshire Hathaway buys a stake in India's largest digital payments company".
- ↑ "SAIF Partners invested in Swiggy when they just had a landing page – today they are going after more seed stage startups, here's why".
- ↑ "Mobile Services Marketplace UrbanClap Raises Rs 10 Crore Seed Fund".
- ↑ "UrbanClap raises $75 million led by Tiger Global".
- ↑ "Unacademy eyeing unicorn club as it talks for $100-150 million funding".
- ↑ "Ed-tech firm Unacademy raises $21 million from Sequoia, SAIF, Nexus and others".
- ↑ "IDG Ventures, SAIF Partners Invest $14M In Owner Of FirstCry.com".
- ↑ "Social commerce startup Meesho gets $3.4M Series A to build a reseller network in India".
- ↑ "Facebook backs social commerce startup Meesho in first India investment".
- ↑ "ShareChat raises $1.35 million from SAIF Partners, India Quotient".
- ↑ "ShareChat raises $100 million in Series D funding led by Twitter".
- ↑ "TrucksFirst raises Rs 61.8 crore in Series-A funding from SAIF partners".
- ↑ "Warburg Pincus & Elevation Capital lead $65 million funding round in Rivigo".
- ↑ "Warburg Pincus & SAIF Partners lead $65 million funding round in Rivigo".
- ↑ "Rivigo raising Rs 141.97 cr from SAIF Partners, Spring Canter Investment".
- ↑ "NoBroker absorbs Society Connect into its community management service".
- ↑ "Property listing service NoBroker secures $3 million from SAIF Partners and Fulcrum Ventures".
- ↑ "NoBroker gets $50M from Tiger Global and others".
- ↑ "NoBroker raises $50 million Series C round led by General Atlantic".
- ↑ "Online Insurance firms like Acko, Digit aims to disrupt sector with innovative polices".
- ↑ "Acko raises $30M from Accel, SAIF, Narayana Murthy & others".
- ↑ "Acko raises $65M from Binny Bansal and others".
- ↑ "FarEye raises $3.5 mn from Saif Partners".
- ↑ "FarEye bags Rs 61.5 crore from Deutsche post DHL Group".
- ↑ "Aye Finance raises around $3M from Accion, SAIF Partners".
- ↑ "Google's investment fund CapitalG backs small business lender Aye Finance; leads new funding round".
- ↑ "Chaayos raises Series B capital from SAIF Partners, others".
- ↑ "Tea cafe chain Chaayos raises $21.5 million funding".
- ↑ "Chaayos raises funds in round led by Think Investments".
- ↑ "SAIF Partners, Accel Partners lead $13.2M Series A funding round in Spinny".
- ↑ "India's Spinny raises $43.7M to expand its online platform for selling used cars".
- ↑ "Ravi Adusumalli - India's most-successful tech investor you haven't heard of".
- ↑ "SAIF Partners bets on Alok Goel's Internet expertise, luck".
- ↑ "SAIF Partners Appoints Vivek Mathur As Partner And CFO".
- ↑ "Vishal Satinder Sood".
- ↑ "ACT Grants partners with Gates, Dell foundations to fight covid-19".
- ↑ "MakeMyTrip-SAIF Partners is exit of the year: VCCircle Awards".
- ↑ "Engineering a Win-Win Exit".
- ↑ "SAIF, Kedaara Capital bag 2 awards each at Venture Intelligence APEX'18 PE-VC Awards".
- ↑ "SAIF, Kedaara Capital bag 2 awards each at Venture Intelligence APEX'18 PE-VC Awards".
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