The fund will make the said amount of investment in growth and late-stage tech startups. It will participate in Series B and Series C fundraising rounds of tech startups
According to the statement, Honagudi will be leading the fund. He has 15+ years of experience in investing capital in early and growth-stage tech startups
Elev8 will also focus on partnering with Indian seed funds that have not invested over $500 Mn of pro-rata capital in 2021 in their portfolio startups
Elev8 Venture Partners has rolled out a $200 Mn sector agnostic fund for Indian startups. The fund has received an AIF Cat II license from the regulatory body SEBI. It also includes a green-shoe option.
The fund will invest between $5 Mn and $15 Mn in growth and late-stage tech startups. It will participate in Series B and Series C fundraising rounds of tech startups.
“Elev8 has received an overwhelming LP interest and partnership avenues with seed funds, as the current vintage offers an excellent opportunity to invest in growth-stage companies and earn attractive returns. We are also in an advanced stage of discussions to establish several global partnerships that will help our portfolio companies expand beyond India,” said Navin Honagudi, partner at Elev8.
Honagudi, Dr Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Anil Jain, Gaurav Jain and CA Anuj Golecha have cofounded the fund. The founders have previously backed several startups including Paytm, Shiprocket, Vedantu, Reshamandi, BharatPe, Kenko, BluSmart, Niyo, Airmeet, Toch and Zypp, among others.
According to the statement, Honagudi will be leading the fund. He has 15+ years of experience in investing capital in early and growth-stage tech startups.
Prior to creating the fund, Honagudi worked with Kae Capital for more than a decade and infused money in 50+ companies working across diverse sectors. He also worked with the Corporate Venture of Reliance at the beginning of his career.
Elev8 said that it has created data-driven algorithms for its investment framework, in turn, giving its limited partners (investors) a better understanding of capital deployment strategy.
According to the firm, Elev8 will also focus on partnering with Indian seed funds that have not invested over $500 Mn of pro-rata capital in 2021 in their portfolio startups.
“We are enthusiastic about Elev8’s approach in a market where there is significant whitespace of domestic growth-stage VC funds. Elev8 reduces risk by entering the growth stage where companies have demonstrated product-market fit, resilience during downturns, and strong founders capable of driving their companies in the right direction,” said Golecha, partner at Elev8 and cofounder of Venture Catalyst.
Venture Catalysts is an institutional investor of Elev8. Besides Elev8, the VC company has also invested in three other funds including 9Unicorns accelerator fund and Beams Fintech fund, among others to date.
Venture Catalysts claims that its total asset under management (AUM) will cross the $450 Mn mark. It further asserts to have an angel network of over 5000 and manages more than 300 portfolio companies.
The latest development comes at a time when the startup ecosystem has slowed down owing to funding winter, market inflation, negative market sentiments and geopolitical tensions.
Yet, a slew of India-focused funds have been launched recently. Leo Capital marking the first closure of a $125 Mn fund, StartupXseed Ventures closing its $30.4 Mn second fund and Bessemer Venture Partners closing two funds worth $4.6 Bn are some of the fund closures that happened this month.
