Series A co-led by Dharana Capital and Elevation Capital in India’s first startup focused business school
BENGALURU, India, Oct. 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Mesa School of Business has raised ₹110 crore, comprising ~₹85 crore in Series A equity funding co-led by Dharana Capital and existing investor Elevation Capital, and ₹25 crore in venture debt from InnoVen Capital and Alteria Capital. New capital will be used to invest in AI-first curriculum for existing programs, launch & grow new programs and build strategic partnerships with the startup ecosystem.
Founded in 2023 by Ankit Agarwal and Varun Limaye, Mesa runs residential programmes built around learning by doing real things. Every student builds and runs a small business, and learns to use AI to build and launch a tech product. More than 100 founders have taught on campus, and students have worked on over 200 projects with startups. Mesa is also backed by founders including Kunal Shah (CRED), Vidit Aatrey (Meesho), Abhiraj Bhal (Urban Company) and Vijay Shekhar Sharma (Paytm).
Mesa has grown from a single postgraduate cohort to over 550 students across three programmes in the last 3 years: a one-year Post Graduate Programme in Startup Leadership, a four-year undergraduate programme on business & entrepreneurship, and Forge, a one-year programme for fresh graduates.
Mesa School alumni either opt for full time jobs in startups or choose to build their own companies. First two PG cohorts got an average CTC of ₹26 lakh, with the top 25% averaging ₹36.5 lakh. All placed students joined top startups, including Zomato, Zepto, Urban Company, Scapia and Comet, 58% of them in founder-facing roles.
Nearly 20% of graduates became entrepreneurs themselves. 50+ student startups are currently incubated at Mesa Startup Lab, the school’s in-house residency. Put together, they have raised ₹25+ crore in funding and grants and have an annual revenue run-rate of ₹50+ crore. Their backers include Nikhil Kamath, Ronnie Screwvala, Campus Fund, BeyondSeed, Foundery, i-Venture@ISB and IdeaBaaz. Among them is Mumbai Pav Co. which has raised ₹9 crore. Two student founders have already appeared on Shark Tank India.
Mesa will use the funds in three areas. It will strengthen its leadership team and build its capabilities in AI-led programme design and delivery, setting the school up to scale both its existing and new programmes. It will deepen strategic partnerships with leading startups, which will help shape its programmes and offer students industry-led projects, mentorship and job opportunities. And it will invest in launching and scaling new programmes.
“The rapid evolution of modern tech has exposed a glaring disconnect in higher education: students feel unprepared for new-age roles, and companies can’t find job-ready talent. Mesa is bridging that gap by rethinking business education for an AI-first world, ensuring students develop proven, high-impact operational capabilities.” said Vamsi Duvvuri, Founder and Managing Partner, Dharana Capital.
“Higher education in India needs to be rebuilt for the AI era, not patched. We believe founder-led, mission-driven schools like Mesa will be the new-age builders of Indian education, and we’re excited to double down,” said Mukul Arora, Co-Managing Partner, Elevation Capital.
“In an AI-led world, what will set ambitious young people apart is judgement, a bias for action and an understanding of how the world actually works – and those come only from experience. That’s why at Mesa, every student builds a real business with real revenue, uses AI on live problems, and gets feedback from founders who are always in the room. That is why startups hire our students, and why so many of them go on to build their own startups,” said Ankit Agarwal, co-founder, Mesa School of Business.
“AI will take over much of back-office work. Young people shouldn’t spend their early careers in roles that are disappearing, but building, selling and launching things. That’s what Mesa trains them to do,” said Varun Limaye, co-founder, Mesa School of Business.
About Mesa School of Business
Mesa School of Business is a Bengaluru-based institution that prepares young people to build, lead and create value in an AI-first world. It was founded in 2023 by Ankit Agarwal (Harvard Business School, IIT Bombay; formerly BCG and Urban Company) and Varun Limaye (Kellogg School of Management; formerly Amazon). Mesa offers residential programmes for undergraduates, fresh graduates and early-career professionals, and its mission is to build India’s Stanford. www.mesaschool.co
About Dharana Capital
Dharana Capital is an India-focused growth-stage technology and consumer investment firm. Dharana Capital’s current investments include Urban Company, LAT Aerospace, MyGate, Vyapar, Temple, Itilite, Petpooja, Vayudh and Beyond Appliances amongst others. Dharana is backed by top US University endowments and other non-profit institutions.
About Elevation Capital
Founded in 2002, Elevation Capital is one of India’s leading early-stage venture capital firms, partnering with founders from seed through scale. Elevation has invested more than $2.5 billion across 200+ companies, backing category-defining businesses across consumer-tech, fin-tech, enterprise AI, healthcare and deep-tech, including MakeMyTrip, Paytm, Firstcry, Swiggy, Urban Company and Meesho. The firm remains committed to backing audacious founders building enduring companies from India for the world.
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