Elevation Capital launched its ninth fund at $500 million to invest in early-stage companies with a focus on AI, according to Mint. Partners Mukul Arora and Mridul Arora said in an interview that AI opportunities in India are “only beginning to be unlocked,” pushing back against the narrative that India is being left behind in the global AI race.
The fund brings Elevation’s total deployable capital to nearly $900 million across early- and late-stage vehicles. Since 2020, the firm has raised approximately $1.33 billion across three vehicles: a $400 million Fund VII, a $525 million Fund VIII, and a $400 million Elevation Holdings pre-IPO fund launched in 2025. The portfolio includes Paytm, Swiggy, Urban Company, Spinny, Ixigo, and MakeMyTrip.
“We believe AI is unlocking expertise on top of the connectivity and payments infrastructure India has already built,” Mukul Arora told Mint. The firm’s thesis centers on financial services, credit, insurance, and wealth management as primary deployment areas, arguing that Indian founders have structural advantages in navigating regulation, understanding local consumers, and solving operationally complex problems.
Indian VC Consolidation Accelerates
Elevation joins a wave of Indian VC firms raising fresh capital, according to Mint’s broader market reporting. Accel closed its eighth India-focused fund at $650 million. Peak XV Partners raised $1.3 billion across its India Seed, India Venture, and APAC funds. Z47, formerly Matrix Partners India, is in discussions for a maiden $300-400 million fund. Avataar Venture Partners is targeting approximately $400 million for its third fund.
The collective scale of Indian AI-focused fundraising now exceeds $2.5 billion across these five firms alone. That figure places India’s early-stage AI funding infrastructure alongside, though still well behind, the US market. AlleyWatch reported June 2026 US venture capital at $19.27 billion across 429 companies, with AI startups capturing 59.8% of all capital.
The geographic distribution of AI venture capital has shifted noticeably in 2026. India’s VC ecosystem is mobilizing alongside US-centric raises: Baseten closed a $1.5 billion Series F for inference serving, Groq raised $650 million for custom inference chips, Nous Research is finalizing $75 million at a $1.5 billion valuation, and Physical Intelligence is in discussions for approximately $1 billion at an $11 billion valuation. Elevation’s $500 million, while modest relative to US mega-rounds, represents the largest single early-stage AI fund raised by an India-focused firm in 2026.