This role is with one of our portfolio company.
Role Overview:
We're looking for a Head of Business Development to build and scale the partnerships and alliances engine. This is a 1→10 role — you'll define the strategy, close high-impact partnerships, and turn them into meaningful growth, engagement, and revenue. This role sits at the intersection of growth, product, and brand, and demands someone who can walk into a room with a CMO or CEO and own the conversation. You'll own both the revenue partnerships charter and the user acquisition engine, working directly alongside founders and leadership.
Roles & Responsibilities:
1. Revenue Partnerships
- Own and drive the revenue partnerships charter — co-branded campaigns, affiliate deals, and advertiser relationships
- Build direct relationships with large brand marketing teams and agency partners
- Sell the company's platform (impressions, engagement, reach among India's consumers) as a media and distribution vehicle
- Structure sustainable, high-value commercial deals that compound over time
2. Brand & Lifestyle Alliances
- Position the company as a lifestyle brand deeply resonant with audiences
- Drive partnerships with fashion, music, content, and youth-first brands
- Conceptualize and execute high-impact co-branded campaigns
3. Merchant & Payments Ecosystem
- Expand the company's presence across teen-friendly online and offline merchants
- Drive partnerships with QSR chains, e-commerce platforms, OTT, and gaming brands
- Increase transaction frequency and stickiness through relevant merchant coverage
4. Institutional Partnerships
- Build alliances with schools, colleges, coaching institutes, and youth communities
- Drive trust-led onboarding at scale
5. User Acquisition via Partnerships
- Build partnerships that unlock high-quality user acquisition at scale
- Identify and onboard partners across gaming, edtech, creator ecosystems, and youth platforms
- Create scalable distribution funnels via integrations and co-branded experiences
Requirements
Must-Haves:
- 12+ years in business development, ad sales, partnerships, or strategic alliances
- Strong, proven network across large media and brands agencies
- Deep understanding of digital advertising and ad monetisation- ability to package and sell the company's platform traffic, clicks, and impressions as a high-value media asset to brands and agencies
- Track record of building and scaling revenue-generating partnerships with large advertisers
- Exceptional storytelling and strategic thinking — able to lead CXO-level conversations with authority
- Raw intelligence and sharp product and business instincts — comfortable operating alongside founders and C-suite
- Data-driven approach to evaluating and structuring deals
- Strong negotiation skills and high ownership mindset
- Builder mentality — thrives in ambiguity and moves fast
- Strong network across consumer platforms and brands
Good to Haves:
- Prior experience in working in a consumer internet, product-led companies
- Familiarity with creator ecosystems
- AI-native mindset
What Success Looks Like
- Revenue is the scoreboard — own it, grow it, and be accountable to it from day one
- Significant share of new user acquisition driven via partner channels
- Reduction in CAC through scalable alliances
- Growth in monthly transactions per user
Skills Required
- 12+ years in business development, ad sales, partnerships, or strategic alliances
- Strong proven network across large media and brands agencies
- Deep understanding of digital advertising and ad monetization
- Track record of building and scaling revenue-generating partnerships with large advertisers
- Exceptional storytelling and strategic thinking
- Strong negotiation skills and high ownership mindset
What We Do
At Elevation Capital, we evaluate and understand the exponential nature of technology, how it evolves, how it affects us, and we invest in ideas. Ideas that will become the future. Our investment choices relate to the individuals we represent in our portfolio. We look for individuals that have a solid vision of the future they want to create and a deep understanding of the technology of their endeavour. The future impact of AI is perhaps the most important issue the human race has ever faced. Instead of passively drifting, we need to steer a course. We at Elevation Capital chart the submerged rocks of the future.
