Firm of the Year – Venture Capital

Blackbird

Australia-based Blackbird has distributed more than AUD 2.3bn (USD 1.6bn) to investors since inception, much of that from design platform Canva. But telehealth platform Eucalyptus Health contributed USD 300m in June 2026 via a AUD 1.6bn trade sale. Blackbird owned 26%, having first backed the company in 2019 and re-upped several times. Its share of the proceeds for a 26% stake amounted to 2x the fund that made the initial investment. Blackbird closed its latest set of funds two months later, with AUD 1.05bn raised across early-stage and growth-stage vehicles. Seven new global relationships were added to the LP base.

Elevation Capital

Elevation Capital closed its ninth India venture capital fund on USD 500m in July 2026 – smaller than the prior vintage but in line with a broader strategic evolution. The new early-stage fund sits alongside a USD 400m pool of permanent capital raised last year so the sponsor can remain invested in companies well beyond IPO. Elevation has seen four listings in the past 12 months, including Meesho, which it backed several times from 2017 to become the largest pre-IPO shareholder. Two partial exits – one via the IPO – delivered USD 283m, while a sell-down of Paytm delivered another USD 175m.

Monolith Management

Monolith Management has defied China’s difficult fundraising environment, closing its second US dollar-denominated VC fund at the hard cap of USD 289m in November 2025. Indeed, the sponsor is already back in the market seeking USD 500m for Fund III. Fund II, launched alongside the firm’s debut renminbi fund, was raised in about three months. Monolith has exposure across China AI and deep-tech. In the past 12 months, chip designer MetaX Integrated Circuits and AI-enabled drug developer Metis Techbio have gone public, while the likes of large language model developer Moonshot AI and robot specialist D-Robotics have raised sizeable rounds.

Nexus Venture Partners

Nexus Venture Partners has seen IPOs by Turtlemint Financial Solutions and Snapdeal parent AceVector over the past 12 months as well as a trade sale exit from digital logistics business Pando. The sponsor also continued its sell-down of Delhivery, generating USD 100m in proceeds, while the likes of grocery delivery business Zepto and cloud infrastructure provider Neysa Networks raised sizeable expansion rounds. Against this backdrop, Nexus closed its eighth fund on USD 700m, mostly supported by commitments from existing LPs. Fund VIII is the same size as Fund VII, with Nexus not wanting to stray from its early-stage sweet spot.

Peak XV Partners

Testing the market for the first time since ending its tenure as the India and Southeast Asia-focused affiliate of Sequoia Capital, Peak XV Partners ended up with USD 1.3bn for its latest set of funds. The sponsor has also seen five portfolio companies go public over the past 12 months, including Groww, a financial technology platform it backed multiple times to become the largest pre-IPO shareholder. Peak XV generated USD 349m through two partial exits, one via the IPO. Another USD 132m came from a post-listing sell-down of Meesho. Meanwhile, investees like Supabase, Sarvam AI and Astro raised substantial up-rounds.