SAIF Partners has secured $400 million for a new investment vehicle and simultaneously undergone a rebranding initiative, marking a significant evolution for the long-standing venture capital organization as it seeks to support a greater number of early-stage companies within the world’s second-largest internet market.

This new fund represents SAIF Partners’ seventh dedicated to early-stage ventures in India. The firm’s preceding two funds each totaled $350 million, and currently, the company oversees a portfolio exceeding $2 billion in assets.

SAIF Partners initiated its investment activities in Indian startups 18 years ago, originally as a joint venture alongside SoftBank, with Sify representing its initial prominent investment. Following the dissolution of this joint venture over a decade ago, the firm is now implementing a rebranding strategy, as explained by managing partner Ravi Adusumalli in a conversation with TechCrunch.

The firm – boasting a portfolio that includes seven unicorn companies, such as One97 Communications (Paytm’s parent company), the food delivery service Swiggy, and the online education platform Unacademy – will now operate under the name Elevation Capital.

“The name Elevation embodies our investment principles and reinforces our dedication to the founders who are shaping the future. To our current partners, it signifies a continued collaborative spirit on our innovative journeys. For those joining us, it’s a pledge to provide unwavering support in achieving ambitious goals from the outset,” stated Adusumalli.

To date, SAIF Partners has invested in over 100 startups, focusing on long-term partnerships with founders and providing support to young companies during their seed, pre-Series A, and Series A funding stages.

The venture firm invests across a diverse range of industries and intends to maintain this broad approach while also exploring new areas of focus, according to Deepak Gaur, a managing director at Elevation Capital, in an interview with TechCrunch.

“We are dedicating substantial resources to the Enterprise SaaS sector,” he noted. “We anticipate significant growth in this area and foresee the emergence of numerous global companies originating from India.”

Tracxn, a firm specializing in tracking startups and investments in India, projects that over 15 companies within Elevation Capital’s portfolio are poised to achieve unicorn status in the coming years. These include Urban Company, a platform for booking home services; Acko, an insurance technology startup; Capital Float, a digital lending platform; and NoBroker, a real estate marketplace.

Several startups previously backed by SAIF Partners, including IndiaMART, MakeMyTrip, and Justdial, have successfully completed initial public offerings.

Mukul Arora, a managing director at SAIF Partners, highlighted the positive transformation of the Indian startup landscape over the past decade. “In the past, we frequently observed startups replicating successful business models from other countries. Now, we are witnessing Indian innovations being adopted internationally – for example, a Meesho-like model emerging in Brazil,” he explained.

The sophistication of founders has also increased, according to Mayank Khanduja, a managing director at Elevation Capital. Elevation Capital employs over three dozen individuals, with approximately two-dozen dedicated to investment activities.

Elevation Capital’s new fund arrives alongside a wave of new fund closures by established venture capital firms targeting the Indian market. Sequoia Capital announced two funds totaling $1.35 billion for India in July, while Lightspeed secured $275 million for its third Indian fund a month later. Accel concluded its sixth Indian fund at $550 million late last year.

Adusumalli confirmed that, consistent with previous funds, all limited partners (LPs) in Elevation Capital’s new fund are based in the U.S., with the majority being nonprofit organizations. He also indicated that the firm’s prior funds have yielded strong returns, without disclosing specific figures.