What does ‘Elevar’ mean?
Elevar, in Spanish, means to raise / elevate / lift up. We back business models that are out to turbocharge the lives of underserved and low income households in emerging markets and democratize access to essential products and services. So we feel that the word Elevar is an apt descriptor of our journey.
How is the term ‘Elevar’ and ‘you’ used on this website?
The term ‘Elevar’ or ‘Elevar Equity’ is used and referred to in the website generally for ease of reference and does not refer to any one entity or organization. In accordance with industry custom, this Website occasionally uses terminology that may be interpreted to suggest that Elevar is actually a single entity. However, there is no such single entity and all of the entities that comprise our firm have their own separate legal existence. Accordingly, the team members, investee companies, advisory entities and addresses mentioned on the Site could be part of or relate to different and independent entities having their own separate legal existence. Elevar Funds include certain funds / entities in different jurisdictions and include domestic Alternative Investment Funds in India.
The term ‘you’ or ‘your’ refers to the user or viewer of our website.
Where does Elevar sit within the world of investing?
We are an emerging markets team investing in multiple emerging markets. Our niche is early growth capital and a commercial approach to impact investing. Our investments intend to solve issues of inequity for underserved customers (read about LAhWSTM here) and achieve benchmark market performance. In this context, we focus on real affordability and value creation for our customers, organizational design and optimal investment terms for our entrepreneurs, and benchmarked performance for our investors. A human centered approach to human centered capital.
Elevar is known for its field visits. Can you provide some more context?
We maintain a razor sharp focus on underserved customers – which means our expertise does not lie in sectors but in understanding the priorities, aspirations, cash flows and challenges of these customers. We don’t just visit the field, but we immerse ourselves in the lives of our customers. Insights gathered from them inform our thesis, strategy, decision making and conversations with entrepreneurs.
What differentiates Elevar in the world of impact investing?
For Elevar to make an investment, impact needs to be at the core of the business model – part of the DNA of the company from the beginning, measurable by thoughtful business metrics, and allowing the entrepreneur to focus on what is important to scale their business. As a corollary, we don’t believe that impact is a side metric to measure in a business. While there are many businesses where there are trade-offs between impact and business performance, we invest in those businesses where they are aligned and correlated. This may be a fundamental differentiator of Elevar, as an investor and impact investor. For more on our e.MTM framework click here.
You use the term ‘our customers’. But aren’t you an equity investor?
Great question. We are probably one of the few investment firms who view the customer of our portfolio companies as our customer. Seeing the end customer as our own adds critical dimensions to our way of working – we’re in touch with the beat of the markets our businesses serve; we see patterns, question views with curiosity and develop informed opinions; we provide entrepreneurs with inputs and support that is influenced by ground realities; and we experience a deep sense of purpose and urgency in our day to day work. Years of following the customer has strengthened our passion and admiration for them. Check our article about this here. We would also recommend the Samunnati, LEAD or Nuvemshop e.M case studies.
Why the focus on emerging markets, like India and Latin America?
These are among the regions where the greatest number of underserved and marginalized communities live and the widest gaps in essential services exist. We believe there is abundant investment potential for businesses that serve low to middle income communities, and therefore for entrepreneurship to have the greatest impact. These are the markets where our investing teams have grown up. And, since we invest in essential products and services, there are similarities in the needs of customers across markets like India and Latin America.
Why is Elevar using entrepreneurship and capital to transform the lives of underserved customers?
We believe that entrepreneurship and capital are a transformative combination when directed responsibly towards problems of access and inequity faced by underserved customers.
In the context of an enterprise, governance debates (particularly in the developed world) are too often about the primacy of shareholder value or about the multi-stakeholder approach. But at Elevar, we believe that customer centricity needs to be central to the nature of the enterprise, and an uncompromising focus on this can result in all stakeholders benefiting (including employees, who are mostly recruited from within the communities we seek to serve). Some refer to this as customer focused capitalism.
Who are the Elevar founders and leadership?
Elevar was originally founded by Sandeep Farias, Johanna Posada, Maya Chorengel and Chris Brookfield. Since 2017, the firm has been led by Sandeep Farias, Johanna Posada and Jyotsna Krishnan (who joined the firm in 2011). Over the last few years, the leadership of the firm evolved with first Vipul Rawal, and then Amie Patel and Shobha Venkataraman, joining the partnership.
The overall goal to grow an investment firm to invest in transformational and scalable businesses focused on underserved customers in emerging markets has stayed remarkably consistent over the last 15+ years. The average time the current partnership has worked together is close to 12 years, a rare long standing entrepreneurial partnership when it comes to investing in the emerging markets.
Elevar talks about its team being entrepreneurial. What does that mean?
We are an organization on a mission. That requires a high degree of nimbleness and urgency, which can only be attained by an entrepreneurial team. This means empowerment and ownership for every individual across the organization. All driven by a sense of self-discipline. For all of us that work at Elevar, this means the willingness to step out of one’s comfort zone, to work in an environment with a high degree of ambiguity, to think out of the box and to increase the numbers of “firsts” in Elevar’s journey.
Does Elevar have a wider community of advisors and partners?
Apart from our ever expanding community of entrepreneurs and LPs, we also have a panel of specialists and experts called ‘The Elevar Panel’ – this comprises people who resonate deeply with Elevar and have dedicated time to engage with us and our entrepreneurs to help connect the economic resilience and vibrancy of underserved customers with capital markets. Read more about this here.
Great. So if I am interested in partnering, how do I get in touch?
We believe in partnering with the world of capital, and with people and organizations who share our passion to work with businesses that focus on mass markets. If you feel that we should partner, please reach out to us on info@elevarequity.com.
What kind of entrepreneur would Elevar love to speak to?
If you are building a business that is focused on underserved customers who lack access to essential products and services in India and Latin America, please get in touch with us. Your customers may be individuals or small businesses who have allocated a meaningful part of their incomes towards affordable and quality essential products and services.
We are usually the first institutional capital in a company, and have often invested in raw start-ups (paper plans) or at the seed stage. We have also invested in growth stage companies from time to time. Irrespective of market trends, for over a decade we have backed founders and companies who believe in growth based on positive distribution economics and blended distribution models (technology led or enabled, with on ground market intelligence / distribution).
I am an entrepreneur starting or building a business focused on underserved customers. How do I get in touch?
Referrals from people we know and trust are the best way, but that should not stop you from emailing us on info@elevarequity.com. We review every investment opportunity, because a great idea can come from anywhere. Keep in mind that we are very selective and have only made ~3 investments a year across geographies, on average. Also, please check out some of our e.M case studies in the Elevar Scribbles section, to get a flavor of what we view as a great business.
Is Elevar hiring?
For open positions with Elevar and our portfolio companies, you can check our Opportunities page. In case you don’t find anything that suits you, drop us a line at recruit@elevarequity.com, telling us how you think you can be part of the Elevar story. We are always looking for wonderful people who have a passion to transform lives.