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Early-stage VC firm Elevation Capitalhas appointed Krishna Mehra as Partner to lead SaaS and AI investments for the fund. 

Mehra will be based in Silicon Valley, and will spearhead the firm’s efforts in strengthening its focus on the India-US corridor.

“Krishna carries an exceptional track record as a founder, operator, and investor. And his values deeply resonate with us – his humility, long-term thinking, hands-on and empathetic approach to working with founders, and missionary zeal to help them succeed, align perfectly with our philosophy at Elevation,” said Mukul Arora, Co-managing Partner, Elevation Capital. 

“We are extremely bullish on Indian founders building category-defining AI companies for the world, and with Krishna leading our presence in Silicon Valley, we are better positioned than ever to help founders realize this opportunity,” he added. 

Mehra’s role will also support Indian SaaS and AI founders targeting global markets from the outset and expand the firm’s connections with Indian diaspora founders operating across both ecosystems.

“India’s SaaS ecosystem has matured, producing global success stories across categories. Indian talent now leads the AI revolution, building transformative products worldwide. Armed with playbooks, the hunger to succeed, and strong support systems, founders are ready to seize the AI era,” said Mehra. 

“Over 40% of Silicon Valley companies have Indian diaspora founders, showcasing India’s unique positioning. With world-class talent, a proven track record, and the AI platform shift leveling the field, I’m thrilled to join Elevation at this pivotal moment to help SaaS+AI founders build category-defining global leaders,” he added. 

Elevation has backed with around 30 companies in the sector such as Clear, Fareye, Zeni, Everstage, Sprinto, Nanonets, Murf.ai, SuperOps, Tracxn, UnifyApps.

Previously, Mehra led engineering at Metafor messaging ads, where he drove over $10 billion in revenue through AI-powered products and deployed some of the most renowned machine-learning models, including the early adoption of Meta’s Llama. Before Meta, he designed enterprise-grade, exabyte-scale cloud systems at Cohesity.

In 2008, he co-founded Capillary Technologies, which provides customer engagement and loyalty solutions. He also co-founded Taro, a marketplace and subscription commerce platform acquired by EAT Club. Over the years, Mehra has also been an active angel investor, backing more than 40 early-stage startups, including Innovaccerand Moengage.

Elevation Capital specialises in seed and early-stage investments for firms in India. Active since 2002, the firm has invested over $2.6 billion across 190+ companies. In April 2022, it announced its eighth fund, totaling $670 million. 

Led by Managing Partners Ravi Adusumalli and Mukul Arora, along with Partners Mridul Arora, Mayank Khanduja, Vaas Bhaskar, and Chirag Chadha, Elevation invests in consumer internet, SaaS, fintech, consumer brands, edtech, healthtech, and deeptech.