Mayank Khanduja Leaves Elevation Capital to Join Bessemer in India

Mayank Khanduja, a former partner at Elevation Capital, has joined Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm Bessemer Venture Partners to lead investments in India, The Economic Times reports.

The move hands Bessemer a seasoned India-focused investor at a moment when global firms are competing aggressively for local talent and deal flow. Khanduja spent years at Elevation Capital, one of India's most active early-stage investors and a firm whose track record includes backing some of the country's best-known consumer internet companies.

Bessemer operates from Silicon Valley and manages a multi-billion-dollar global portfolio. The firm has long maintained a presence in India, and adding a partner of Khanduja's seniority signals a deeper commitment to the market.

For Elevation Capital, the departure removes a key member of its investment team. The firm continues to deploy capital across Indian startups from seed through growth stages, and its alumni network now extends into a direct US-headquartered competitor on Indian soil.

Why it matters

Senior partner moves between firms are rare in India's venture ecosystem, and this one carries weight in both directions. It gives Bessemer an operator who already knows the founders, the term sheets and the competitive dynamics of Indian early-stage investing. It also underscores how US firms with global platforms are recruiting locally rooted talent rather than running India purely from headquarters.

The Indian venture market has matured into a destination that global firms cannot ignore. A partner hire of this kind typically precedes an expansion in local deal cadence — more seed and Series A checks, faster responses to founder pitches, and a stronger hand in competitive rounds.

Khanduja brings with him the relationships built during his tenure at Elevation, where he worked on investments across consumer and technology sectors. At Bessemer, he is expected to source and lead new deals in Indian startups.

The competitive backdrop

India's startup ecosystem remains one of the largest in the world by volume of new companies founded each year. Venture firms — both domestic and global — have been adjusting teams and strategies as funding conditions have shifted from the peaks of 2021 to a more disciplined environment.

In that climate, personnel decisions are strategy decisions. A firm that adds an established India partner is positioning itself to win allocations in the rounds that matter. A firm that loses one must cover the gap with remaining partners or new hires.

Bessemer's global platform, spanning investments across technology and healthcare in the US, Europe and Asia, gives its India team an institutional base that few local rivals can match in scale. Khanduja's mandate will be to convert that platform advantage into deals.

For Elevation Capital, the immediate task is continuity: maintaining portfolio support and deal momentum while absorbing the loss of a senior investor. The firm has historically promoted from within and hired laterally to rebuild its partnership.

What comes next

The hire will be judged on deals. Within the next several funding cycles, watch for Khanduja-led investments bearing Bessemer's name on Indian cap tables — and for how Elevation's sourcing and portfolio performance evolve without him.