Mayank Khanduja Joins Bessemer as Partner
Bessemer Venture Partners has strengthened its India investment team by appointing former Elevation Capital executive Mayank Khanduja as a partner.
Khanduja will be based in Bengaluru and concentrate primarily on early-stage investments, working with startup founders beginning with their first institutional funding rounds.
His investment focus is expected to span consumer technology, gaming, healthcare, artificial intelligence and deeptech, reflecting several sectors in which he has accumulated experience during his venture capital career.
The appointment comes roughly nine months after Khanduja announced his departure from Elevation Capital following a long tenure at the firm.
Nearly 15 Years at Elevation Capital
Khanduja joined Elevation Capital in 2011, when the Indian startup ecosystem was considerably smaller than it is today.
Before entering venture capital, he worked at consulting firm McKinsey & Company.
Over nearly 15 years at Elevation, Khanduja worked across several generations of Indian startups and eventually became a partner.
His investment experience extended from consumer internet businesses and gaming to healthcare, artificial intelligence, deeptech and advanced manufacturing.
Elevation Capital said when announcing his departure that Khanduja had worked closely with founders across a diverse group of portfolio companies.
Investments Across Consumer, Healthcare and Deeptech
Among the companies associated with Khanduja's investment work at Elevation are ShareChat, NoBroker, PlaySimple Games, Atlys and AppsForBharat in consumer-facing and gaming businesses.
His healthcare investments included companies such as Loop Health and MOC Cancer Care, while his exposure to newer technology sectors included Jeh Aerospace and PierSight.
That breadth of experience could be relevant to Bessemer as venture investors increasingly search for opportunities beyond the consumer-internet categories that dominated earlier phases of India's startup boom.
Artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, space technology, cybersecurity and other deeptech sectors have increasingly become areas of interest for investors looking for the country's next generation of technology companies.
Why the Appointment Matters for Bessemer
Khanduja's arrival strengthens Bessemer's ability to pursue companies at an early stage.
Early-stage venture investing differs substantially from investing in established startups because investors often have fewer financial metrics available when evaluating young companies.
Investment decisions therefore place considerable emphasis on founders, market opportunities, technology, product development and the possibility of long-term scale.
Khanduja's experience working with companies from relatively early stages gives Bessemer additional investing capacity as it deploys capital from its latest India-focused fund.
Bessemer Has a $350 Million India Fund
The appointment also comes as Bessemer expands its financial commitment to India.
In March 2025, the venture capital firm closed its second dedicated India fund at $350 million.
The fund is intended to support early-stage businesses across areas including AI-enabled services and software-as-a-service, fintech, digital health, consumer businesses and cybersecurity.
Bessemer's first dedicated India fund, raised in 2021, had secured $220 million and focused primarily on seed and Series A investments.
When announcing its second fund, Bessemer said that more than 80% of its investments in India during the preceding five years had been made at the early stage.
Khanduja's appointment therefore fits with an investment strategy the firm had already been pursuing.
Bessemer's Long History in India
Bessemer's presence in the Indian technology ecosystem predates its dedicated country-specific funds.
The global venture capital firm has invested in Indian startups since 2006 and has backed more than 80 companies in the country.
Its Indian portfolio has included businesses such as Swiggy, Urban Company, Medi Assist and Perfios.
More recent investments have included companies such as Sarvam, Boldfit, Vetic, Easebuzz, InRisk and Pluro.
The portfolio spans consumer technology, financial services, artificial intelligence, healthcare and other technology-driven industries.
Bessemer Continues Building Its India Investment Team
Khanduja joins an India partnership that includes Vishal Gupta and Anant Vidur Puri.
His appointment also follows Bessemer's hiring of Pankaj Mitra, formerly of Cisco Investments, as a partner focusing on areas including enterprise technology, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.
Taken together, the appointments indicate that Bessemer is expanding specialist investment capabilities while maintaining its emphasis on finding companies relatively early in their development.
Khanduja brings additional experience in consumer businesses and gaming while also having invested across emerging categories such as deeptech and aerospace.
What Khanduja's Move Says About India's VC Market
The appointment comes during a period of continued movement among senior executives at Indian venture capital firms.
Partner transitions do not necessarily indicate changes in the underlying health of individual investment firms. Venture capital careers frequently involve investors moving between funds, launching independent platforms or changing investment mandates.
However, senior investor moves can matter because venture investing depends heavily on relationships with founders, sector expertise and the ability to identify companies before they become widely sought-after investments.
For Bessemer, recruiting an investor who has spent nearly 15 years participating in India's startup ecosystem provides experience across multiple technology and funding cycles.
Early-Stage Startups Remain the Focus
The clearest strategic element of Khanduja's new role is its emphasis on early-stage investing.
Rather than concentrating primarily on mature companies approaching public markets, he is expected to work with founders from their first institutional funding rounds onward.
This puts Bessemer in competition with a large group of domestic and international venture funds looking for promising Indian startups before valuations and funding requirements become substantially larger.
The approach also carries higher uncertainty.
Early-stage companies can offer significant growth potential, but their business models, technologies and markets are generally less proven. Investors must therefore balance the opportunity to enter promising companies early against the higher risk associated with young businesses.
A New Chapter After Elevation Capital
For Khanduja, joining Bessemer marks the beginning of a new phase after nearly a decade and a half at one investment platform.
When announcing his departure from Elevation earlier in 2026, Khanduja reflected on witnessing India's startup ecosystem develop from a relatively nascent market in 2011 into a much larger technology landscape.
His move to Bessemer keeps him firmly within that ecosystem.
The difference is that he will now pursue those opportunities from a global venture capital platform that is simultaneously increasing its India-focused capital and expanding its local investment team.
The success of the appointment will ultimately depend on the companies Bessemer identifies and backs over the coming years. But strategically, bringing Khanduja aboard gives the firm an experienced early-stage investor just as AI, deeptech, healthcare and new consumer businesses are creating fresh competition for venture capital in India.
