Venture Catalysts-backed Elev8 announces $200 million fund to invest in tech startups

Venture Catalysts-backed Elev8 Venture Partners on Thursday announced the launch of a USD 200 million fund to invest in tech companies. The fund intends to invest in growth-stage, technology-driven companies in Series B and C rounds, an official statement said, adding that each bet will be between USD 5-15 million.

It will be led and co-founded by Navin Honagudi, who was working as a partner at Kae Capital for over a decade and has invested in over 50 companies, the statement noted. Early-stage platform Venture Catalysts is an institutional backer for Elev8, which will be the fourth fund to be backed by the firm and take the total assets under management for the group to over USD 450 million.

It can be noted that the announcement comes at a time when the entire ecosystem is going through what is being referred to as a 'funding winter' where investors are shying away from taking newer bets.

"Even though liquidity in technology investments is drying up, Elev8 has received an overwhelming LP (limited partners) interest as well as partnership avenues with seed funds, as the current vintage offers an excellent opportunity to invest in growth stage companies and earn/target attractive returns," Honagudi said. It is in an advanced stage of discussions to establish several global partnerships, which will help portfolio companies expand beyond India during their growth phase, he added.