Elev8 Venture Partners has closed its first fund at $160 million. The firm plans to invest in 12-13 companies with this fund. It has already made five investments, including fintech platform Smallcase, identity verification firm IDfy, astrology startup AstroTalk, buy now pay later player Snapmint, and logistics startup Porter.
Navin Honagudi, founder and managing partner at Elev8 Venture Partners, said in an interview, “We’ve already made about five investments out of Fund I, and the intent is to make about 12-13 investments from this fund.”
Elev8 focuses on companies valued between $100 million and $300 million. The firm aims to acquire 7-14% ownership per deal, with typical investment sizes ranging from $10-15 million. In some cases, co-investment flexibility allows for $25-30 million.
The fund’s capital base is split evenly between international and local investors. Institutional investors account for 45% of the mix, while family offices and high-net-worth individuals make up 55%.
Elev8’s first fund success detailed
One of Korea’s largest commercial banks, Koomin Global, anchored the fund. Elev8 invests in internet, B2B enterprise software, and fintech. The firm is actively scouting D2C investments, focusing on companies making a play for premiumisation.
In fintech, Elev8 seeks companies where technology is a large part of the business. Honagudi said, “If it’s a wealthtech company, we want to focus on companies where 70-80% of their salary costs go towards their product and development teams, not their sales teams.”
The firm expects to deploy the balance of the fund within the next 18 to 24 months. Elev8 plans to start returning investments in 2028.
“That’s when we’ll start liquidating some of our companies and return money to our investors,” Honagudi stated. When the fund nears the end of its deployment cycle, Elev8 will explore other areas such as new-age manufacturing, healthtech, and infrastructure. The fund close comes amid increased activity in late-stage venture investing in India, with firms like Elevation Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Accel announcing new funds this year.