Bessemer names former Elevation investor Mayank Khanduja as India partner

The latest market report highlights that Bessemer Venture Partners has appointed Mayank Khanduja as a partner in its India practice, strengthening its early-stage investment team as the venture capital firm looks to back startups from their first institutional round onwards.

Khanduja joins Bessemer after stints at Elevation Capital and McKinsey. He has 15 years of venture investing experience across consumer technology, gaming, healthcare, artificial intelligence and deeptech.

His portfolio includes ShareChat, NoBroker, PlaySimple Games, Jeh Aerospace, MOC Cancer Care, Loop Health, Atlys, Seekho, General Autonomy and PierSight.

"We are delighted to welcome Mayank to the Bessemer family. He has spent 15 years partnering with founders at the earliest stages and helping them build enduring firms," Vishal Gupta, partner at Bessemer, stated.

Khanduja will focus on early-stage investments in India, partnering with founders from their first institutional round onwards.

"India is producing a generation of founders building with real conviction, and the earliest stages are where an investor can be most useful," Khanduja stated.

Bessemer has been active in India for more than two decades. Its investments in the country include Mediaasist, Perfios, Swiggy and Urban Firm, while more recent partnerships include Sarvam, Boldfit, Vetic, Easebuzz, InRisk and Pluro.

The firm announced its second India fund, with $350 million in capital, in March 2025. The fund focuses on artificial intelligence, fintech, enterprise technology, healthcare, consumer and cybersecurity.

Bessemer additionally recently announced that it had boosted $5.75 billion globally to back founders from seed through expansion stages, with a focus on firms building in the AI era.

Khanduja holds an MBA from IIM-Calcutta and an engineering degree from IP University.