Bessemer Ropes In Pankaj Mitra To Lead India Investments In AI

SUMMARY

In his new role, Mitra will oversee the VC firm’s investments across enterprise tech, AI, and cybersecurity investments in India

An alumnus of IIT Kharagpur andthe University of California, Mitra counts more than two decades of experience in the fields of investments, SaaS and product management

Mitra’s appointment also comes close on the heels of Bessemer closing its second India-dedicated fund at $350 Mn

Venture capital (VC) firm Bessemer Venture Partners, which has backed the likes of Swiggy and Urban Company, has named Pankaj Mitra as its new partner to lead enterprise tech, AI, and cybersecurity investments in India.

“I am thrilled to join Bessemer at this pivotal time. The ongoing AI platform shift offers a once in a generation opportunity for builders to usher in the next wave of tech evolution across industries. With its stellar track record, Bessemer is poised to partner with this new generation of ambitious, world-class founders in India addressing pain points domestically and globally, and I’m excited to be part of this journey,” Mitra said in a statement.

An alumnus of IIT Kharagpur and the University of California, Mitra has more than two decades of experience in the fields of investments, SaaS, and product management. Before joining Bessemer, he worked at Cisco, where he handled investments and mergers and acquisitions (M&As) for its customer experience unit.

He also helped set up the $500 Mn innovation fund at IT giant Infosys, which has since backed the likes of homegrown enterprise tech startups like Uniphore, Whatfix, Ideaforge, and Whoop. In his previous stint, he also served at companies like VMware and Deloitte.

On the other hand, Bessemer Venture Partners has been investing in Indian startups for more than two decades now. With more than $18 Bn in assets under management (AUM), the VC firm counts more than 80 startups in its portfolio and has backed names like Swiggy, Urban Company, Perfios, LivSpace, Home First Finance and Tata BigBasket in the past.

Mitra’s appointment also comes close on the heels of Bessemer closing its second India-dedicated fund at $350 Mn. This new fund aims to back early-stage Indian startups with a focus on AI, SaaS, fintech, healthtech, consumer brands and cybersecurity. Bessemer intends to invest between $5 Mn and $40 Mn per company, depending on the stage and potential.

The development also comes at a time when multiple VC firms are reshuffling their top deck. In February, venture debt firm Trifecta Capital onboarded its investor Saurabh Singh as a partner. In the same month, Inc42 reported that Peak XV Partners’ managing directors Shailesh Lakhani and Abheek Anand were set to leave the VC firm.

In April, multi-stage VC firm GSV Ventures onboarded its IPO-bound portfolio company PhysicsWallah’s executive Abhishek Mishra as a partner to oversee investments in India and the US. Accel, too, promoted two of its principals, Pratik Agarwal and Rachit Parekh, to the role of partner in April 2025.