Speakers

Raghav Bahl Head of Investments for India ALIBABA GROUP

Raghav Bahl is the Head of Investments for India at the Alibaba Group where he oversees the company’s investments in BigBasket, PayTM and XpressBees. Prior to joining Alibaba, Mr. Bahl was a Vice President with Bessemer Venture Partners, India. While at Bessemer, Mr. Bahl was closely involved with the firm’s investment in BigBasket, Swiggy, TaxiForSure (merged with OlaCabs), PharmEasy and Travel Triangle. Mr. Bahl has over 8 years of experience in investing in consumer internet and software startups.

Mr. Bahl holds an MBA from the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, with a major in finance. While at ISB, Mr. Bahl won the ‘Exchequer 2010’, an annual finance competition organized by IIM Ahmedabad in which 25 of the top Indian business schools participated. He was also a winner of the 2010 Deloitte Consulting Case Challenge. Mr. Bahl earned his bachelor’s in technology from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi.

Follow Mr. Bahl on his blog at www.thenetwortheffect.com

Vikas Choudhury President RELIANCE JIO

A global strategic leader in public companies, currently President at Reliance Jio and part of the central management of India’s largest consumer conglomerate in telecom and retail, also leading its foray into payments, digital advertising and e-commerce.

Previously MD India of Aimia Inc., the world’s largest data-driven marketing company. He has built and sold businesses in marketing, Nectar and analytics, Fractal, and has also been a successful entrepreneur in luxury retail, investment banking, IT and security. He is one of India’s earliest venture capitalists, with an active family office portfolio, including 2 unicorns, InMobi and Myntra. 

An Alumnus of University of Pittsburgh and Harvard Business School. Also Co-President, Harvard Club of Mumbai and a national award-winning photographer.

Ravi Lambah Head of India, Global Head of Telecom, Media & Technology TEMASEK

Ravi Lambah joined Temasek in 2012 and is currently Head, India and Global Head of Telecom, Media & Technology.

Prior to this role, Ravi was the Chief Operating Officer of ST Telemedia, an investor-operator with a significant global portfolio of telecom and media assets. His role comprised overseeing the investments and operations of the company, which is also a 100% owned subsidiary of Temasek.

Ravi has over 28 years in the financial and investment banking industry in the Asia-Pacific region, 15 of which were with Credit Suisse, Jardine Fleming and Citigroup.

Ravi is a Chartered Accountant and a Cost and Management Accountant. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce and Economics, from India’s University of Bombay.

Rahul Agarwal Director QUADRIA CAPITAL

Rahul Agarwal has over 12 years of experience in private equity investments and fundraising. He is a Director at Quadria Capital and is responsible for South Asia investments. Previously, Rahul was at Religare Global Asset Management where he executed investments in leading private equity firms in the US and Asia to build a multi-boutique asset management portfolio. Prior to that, he was with Evolvence India Fund where he executed direct investments and commitments in other private equity funds.

Rahul completed his MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow and is a Chartered Accountant from Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Neeraj Bharadwaj Managing Director THE CARLYLE GROUP

Neeraj Bharadwaj is the Managing Director of Carlyle India Advisors Private Limited, focused on large growth capital and buyout opportunities across sectors in India. He is based in Mumbai.

Prior to joining Carlyle in 2012, Mr. Bharadwaj was a Managing Director with Accel Partners’ growth investing operation in India.  Before that he was with Apax Partners for nearly 10 years, as a Partner in the United States and subsequently as Managing Director/Country Head for Apax in India, where he led the India operations. Investments he has been involved with include Apollo Hospitals, Jamdat, Widerthan, NXP and others. Previously, Mr. Bharadwaj was an engagement manager at McKinsey & Co.

Mr. Bharadwaj was selected as a Board Member of the Indian School of Business, a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, Board Member of Olympic Gold Quest, and Member of the Harvard Business School South Asia Advisory Board

Mr. Bharadwaj serves on the boards of Global Health Private Limited, Metropolis Healthcare, VXI Global Solutions and Delivery Logistics.

Mr. Bharadwaj holds an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School, and graduated summa cum laude with a BS in economics from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Deepak Bhawnani CEO and Managing Director ALEA CONSULTING

Deepak Bhawnani is the founder of Alea International Consulting Pvt Ltd in 2003. Owing to the superior service standards provided to its clientele, Alea has built a far-reaching corporate intelligence gathering network that spans across Asia and other parts of the world.

Mr. Bhawnani began his career in 1987 in London, UK and garnered unique expertise in due diligence, fraud investigations, international asset searches, hostile takeovers and security consulting. From 1994 to 2003, he was based in Asia with Kroll Inc., for whom he strategized and personally launched the first ever multi-national corporate intelligence set up in India.

A member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) and the American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS), Mr. Bhawnani has been a speaker at venture capital groups, banks, senior managements, Chambers of Commerce and other groups in Hong Kong, India and Japan. Currently, he is actively involved in major assignments at Alea International Consulting.

Since its inception, Alea International Consulting has delivered due diligence and fraud investigation services in a discreet and effectual manner. Alea has successfully extended its network and built partnerships with companies in major cities of India, along with Hong Kong for South East Asia.

Mr. Bhawnani’s experience, spanning 25 years in partner due diligence, proves invaluable to clients across Asia.

Tim Burroughs Managing Editor ASIAN VENTURE CAPITAL JOURNAL

Tim Burroughs is managing editor of Asian Venture Capital Journal, having joined the publication in May 2011. He is responsible for all editorial content put out under the AVCJ brand, including Asian Venture Capital Journal, AVCJtv, AVCJ Awards and AVCJ.com. Tim previously spent five years at China Economic Review, serving as editor-in-chief and then editorial director. Located in Greater China since 2003, during which time he has lived in Beijing, Qingdao and Hong Kong, Tim has been a China-based contributor for publications including The Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph, BBC and China Daily. Prior to moving to China, he trained and worked as a journalist in the UK. He was honored at the Society of Publishers in Asia awards in 2007, 2008 and 2010, and at the State Street Institutional Press Awards - Asia in 2012.

Anurag Das CEO and Managing Director INTERNATIONAL ASSET RECONSTRUCTION COMPANY

Anurag Das is CEO of IARC, a Blackstone-led ARC that manages its Indian distressed investments. Over two decades in the field of distressed and credit investing, he has led investments in some of the most complex global insolvencies. Earlier, he was managing partner of Rain Tree Capital, Head of Asia-Pacific at King Street, and worked in the US with King Street and Bain Capital Credit. Involved from the outset with India’s insolvency reforms, he writes an occasional expert column, has been invited before the Joint Parliamentary Committee, IBBI and a judicial colloquium, and serves on the Board of Governors of INSOL India. Mr. Das received an MBA from Harvard, a BA in Philosophy, Politics & Economics as a Rhodes Scholar from Oxford, and a B.Sc. in Physics from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi.

Udai Dhawan Founding Partner and Head of India Private Equity AFFIRMA CAPITAL

Udai Dhawan is a Founding Partner and Head of India Private Equity at Affirma Capital, and is based in Mumbai.

Prior to Affirma Capital, Udai was Managing Director and Head of India for Standard Chartered Private Equity (SCPE). Having joined SCPE in 2008, Udai was responsible for building the India franchise and was involved with several of the fund’s investments. Prior to SCPE, Udai worked for over a decade in corporate investing, M&A and corporate finance, across India and the United States with JP Morgan, Sabre Inc., Kotak Mahindra Capital and Arthur Andersen. Udai has 24 years of financial services experience, and serves on the Executive Committee of the IVCA, India’s premier private equity industry body.

Udai has an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and is also a chartered accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Dominic Goh Principal HARBOURVEST PARTNERS

Dominic Goh joined HarbourVest in 2012 and focuses on secondary investments. This includes analyzing, structuring, and monitoring a wide range of secondary transaction types.

Dominic was previously at Coller Capital where he evaluated secondary opportunities, and contributed to deal sourcing and fundraising efforts in Asia. Prior to that, he was an investment banking associate at ABN AMRO London in the Financial Institutions Group.

Dominic received a BSc (First Class Honours) in Accounting & Finance from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2005. Dominic is fluent in Mandarin.

Neha Grover Regional Lead - South Asia IFC

Neha Grover has over 13 years of private equity experience focused on the private equity space. In her current role, she is the Regional Lead of IFC’s South Asia Practice of PE & VC Funds where she is responsible for evaluating and closing investments in Funds. Prior to joining IFC, Neha was Principal and India CFO at Baring Private Equity Partners India where she covered various sectors for evaluating investments, finance, fundraising and structuring. Neha was named in the ’40 under 40’ list of Alternate Investment Professionals in India and also in the ‘India’s Top 100 Women In Finance’ by Association of International Wealth Management of India. She has also served on the Board of companies like BPEP India and Sphaera Pharma India.

She is an all-India rank-holding Chartered Accountant, a Company Secretary, and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow.

Amit Gupta Partner NEWQUEST CAPITAL PARTNERS

Amit Gupta is a founding Partner of NewQuest and oversees the firm’s India and Southeast Asia business as well as investments in the power and financial services sectors. Amit has nearly 20 years of industry experience.

Prior to co-founding NewQuest, he was a Director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch's (BAML) Asia Private Equity group where he led the India business and oversaw investments in the energy and financial services sectors across the Asia Pacific. Amit has also served in other roles in BAML, including Corporate Principal Investments based in Hong Kong and Investment Banking based in Mumbai.

Prior to working at BAML, Amit was a software engineer based in Mumbai and the United States. Amit has an MBA from Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore, where he was placed on the Director's Merit List for his performance, and an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from REC Kurukshetra, where he received the University gold medal. Amit is fluent in English and Hindi.

Aviral Jain Managing Director SIGULER GUFF

Aviral Jain is a Managing Director at Siguler Guff and head of the Firm's Mumbai office. He supports Siguler Guff's emerging markets funds. Prior to joining Siguler Guff in 2009, Mr. Jain worked for two years at Merrill Lynch in Mumbai as an Associate in the Global Structured Finance and Investments group, managing a private equity and debt investment book of more than $1 billion. Prior to joining Merrill Lynch, Mr. Jain worked as an Associate in Equity Derivatives Sales at Edelweiss Capital and as a Key Account Manager at Procter & Gamble.

Mr. Jain holds a B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from the Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal and an M.B.A. from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta.

Gopal Jain Managing Partner and Co-Founder GAJA CAPITAL

Gopal Jain, is Managing Partner and co-founder of Gaja Capital, an India focused private equity firm based in Mumbai. Founded in 2005, Gaja Capital manages USD 500m in assets & invests in high growth companies from India’s mid-market. Gopal has led several of the Firm’s investments in sectors including consumer, education and financial services. Gopal has been investing in Indian equities since the age of thirteen and has been a professional investor in the Indian capital markets for 26 years. In addition to investing, Gopal leads Gaja Gives – the firm’s giving program that supports social enterprises, charities and NGOs in education, urban renewal, public governance and sports. He is currently member of SEBI’s Alternative Investment Policy Advisory Committee and Indian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association’s Executive Committee. Gopal is a Graduate in Electrical Engineering from IIT Delhi.

Kanchan Jain Managing Director BARING PRIVATE EQUITY ASIA

Kanchan Jain has 22 years of experience across financial markets in Europe & Asia across deal origination, structuring, underwriting, portfolio & risk and fund raising. Prior to joining BPEA Ms. Jain spent 8 years focused on the mid-market corporate sector in India, most recently heading & managing Indian Private Debt Fund at Religare Credit Advisor Private Limited (RCAL), and prior to that as Chief Risk Officer & Board member for Religare Finvest Limited, a mid-market focused NBFC, responsible for managing risk across all businesses. Before joining Religare, Ms. Jain worked for 10 years in London as Managing Director at HSBC, and prior to that as Director at Barclays Capital in the Structured Credit business. Before her time in London she worked in debt capital markets covering Asia, based out of Hong Kong with Peregrine Fixed Income Limited across debt syndication, loan trading & risk function.

Ms. Jain has lived and worked in India, Hong Kong & the UK and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering from VNIT and MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta.

Santhosh Jayaram Partner and Head – Climate Change & Sustainability Advisory KPMG INDIA

Santhosh Jayaram has more than 2 decades of work experience across Manufacturing, Certification, Verification and consulting. His consulting experience ranges through a spectrum of topics in the field of sustainability. These include sustainability strategy, extra-financial risk, integrated reporting, carbon strategy, Carbon finance, impact investing and responsible investment.

Santhosh is involved in the development of global standards and guidelines in the field of sustainability. He is a working group member in the development of G4 guidelines at Global Reporting Initiative, (GRI) Netherlands. He has functioned as a Director of the board at Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies, Sri Lanka (2006 – 2008) and is at present part of the advisory committee for India Sanitation Coalition.

Santhosh has worked with more than 100 companies, various governments and also multilateral agencies spanning across 18 countries. He led the team to produce the world’s first sustainability profit and Loss statement, which is now a Harvard case study. Santhosh was involved in India’s first Green bond and social bond and more than 10 bonds issued in India. He has led teams in development of ESG frameworks for Banks and Private Equity funds and has been involved in more than 50 ESG evaluations.

Amith Karan Managing Director ALVAREZ & MARSAL

Speaker bio is coming soon.

Manish Kheterpal Managing Partner WATERBRIDGE VENTURES

Manish Kheterpal is a seasoned private markets investor with over two decades of experience in venture capital, private equity, and operating experience in TMT sectors. Manish has led and managed over US$ 500 Million of investments in India and across the US-India corridor.

Currently he is a Managing Partner with WaterBridge Ventures, an early-stage VC firm focused on investments in India. His investments at WaterBridge include leading start-ups like 9Stacks, Atlan, Chalo, Dataweave, Magicpin, PocketPills, SocialCops, and Unacademy. Earlier Manish has been in senior investment roles at Rho Ventures, Actis Capital and Providence Equity Partners where he was involved in investments like Dalmia Group, Hathway Cable & Broadband, Idea Cellular, and Phoenix Lamps.

Prior to his investment roles, Manish spent 6 years in product marketing, business development with Ciena Corporation (through acquisition of Cyras) and multinational IT services firm Infosys.

Manish is an active member of entrepreneurship focused networks such as Stanford Angels and TiE. Manish graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from IIT Delhi and received his MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.

Motoya Kitamura Managing Director HQ CAPITAL

Motoya Kitamura is a Managing Director with HQ Capital focused on investments in private equity funds, through secondary transactions as well as on a primary basis, and on co-investments with funds in Asia. He divides his time between HQ Capital’s offices in Hong Kong and Tokyo.

Prior to joining HQ Capital in 2019, Motoya was a managing partner and investment committee member with secondaries specialist firm AB Value Capital, based in Tokyo. Motoya has been working in private equity investment and fund manager research for more than 20 years, including as a co-founding partner of ROC Partners, formed in a management buyout of the Macquarie Group’s Asian private funds business.

A native of Japan, Motoya holds a master’s degree from The Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor’s degree from Osaka University of Foreign Studies.

Anand S. Krishnan Managing Partner FIDELISWORLD

Anand Krishnan has 33 years of experience across Delhi, New York, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Dubai in entrepreneurship, controllership, investment banking, and private equity. He was involved in sovereign restructurings in the late 80’s, Asian crisis restructuring in the late 90’s, and the late 2000’s global recession with emphasis on restructuring in the UAE. Anand has been integral to the value creation process at JP Morgan Chase and at Dubai International Capital. He has managed AUMs of over US$ 5 billion over a period of 10 years with significant experience in the full cycle of PE, and in a diversified space which includes aerospace, leisure, hotels, sports, medicine, and oil & gas.

He deployed proprietary capital in researching an investment strategy in the media & entertainment space, with a focus on the sports ecosystem, ultimately resulting in the formation of a specialist, differentiated investment strategy for value creation and risk reduction employed by FidelisWorld.

Anand has a BA in Business from Delhi University, India; an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University, USA; and is an alumnus of Harvard Business School, USA. He has been a participant in several leadership courses across JPMorgan and DIC in Asia and the US and was named a “Top Indian Leader in the Arab World” in 2015 by Forbes Middle East. Born and raised in India, Anand speaks English, Hindi, Tamil, and Malayalam.

Sanjay Kukreja Partner and CIO CHRYSCAPITAL

Mr. Sanjay Kukreja is Partner & CIO with ChrysCapital and is part of the core team that helped the firm scale from a startup to India’s leading private equity firm with over $4 billion under management in twenty years. Mr. Kukreja joined ChrysCapital in April 2000 and currently leads the Business Services, Financial Services and Manufacturing verticals for the firm. Mr. Kukreja has been on the board of several companies such as Infogain, Hero FinCorp, KPIT Technologies, Liquid Hub, Shriram Transport Finance Company Ltd, Titagarh Wagons Limited etc. He has led several high-profile investments of the firm such as HCL, Infosys and Cyient and has also worked extensively on managing exits for ChrysCapital, where ChrysCapital has been an industry leader.

He holds an M.B.A. from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Shriram College of Commerce, Delhi University and has also attended Executive Leadership Course for top management from Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.

Pramod Kumar Managing Director & Head of Banking, India BARCLAYS

Pramod Kumar is the Managing Director and Head of Banking for Barclays in India, and is based in Mumbai.

Pramod has over 25 years of investment banking experience spanning across M&A, ECM and Leveraged Finance. During his long career in banking, Pramod has had the responsibility to cover several sectors, including Industrials, FIG, Infrastructure, Consumer/Retail/Real Estate, Metals/Mining, etc. Prior to joining Barclays, Pramod spent over 9 years with Citigroup and was the Managing Director responsible for Industrials and FIG sectors, based in Mumbai.

Having worked on several complex transactions across a variety of sectors, Pramod has an impressive experience and knowledge across M&A and equity capital markets. Some of his notable transactions include Walmart’s acquisition of Flipkart, Sale of logistics business in India to DP World (Dubai), Yokohama’s acquisition of Alliance Tires, Sale of Welspun Renewable to Tata Power, ADIA’s investment into a toll road platform in India, Abertis’ acquisition of toll road assets in India, Sale of Tasty Bites to Kagome, Japan, Cipla’s acquisition of Invagen in the US, KKR’s acquisition of Alliance Tires, Advent’s acquisition of Crompton Greaves Consumer business, Carlyle’s sale of Tirumala Milk to Lactalis of France, Tata Motors' acquisition & financing of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), MSAD’s acquisition of NY Life stake in Max New York Life, Metlife’s induction of PNB into Metlife JV in India, JV Advisory for UB Group with Heineken, Sale of L&T's RMC business to Lafarge, and several equity and convertible bond raisings for clients including Tata Motors, State Bank of India, L&T, HDFC, Axis Bank, GMR, United Spirits, Ranbaxy, DLF, etc. Besides, he also structured and executed several innovative instruments like NCD +warrants issue for HDFC, NCD + warrants + Equity issue for Bharat Forge and FCCB +GDR issue and Exchange offer of FCCBs for Tata Motors.

Pramod is a graduate in Commerce (Hons) from SRCC, and an MBA in Finance, both from Delhi University

Rajiv B. Lall Chairman IDFC FIRST BANK

Dr. Lall has served on numerous committees of the Government and the RBI, including the Raghuram Rajan Committee on Financial Sector Reforms; High Powered Expert Committee for Urban Infrastructure; the High Level Committee on Financing Infrastructure; and the Expert Committee on Modernisation of Indian Railways. He served as India’s representative to the G-20 Working Group on Infrastructure and is Member of the National Council of the CII, ASSOCHAM; the Asia Business Council; the City of London Advisory Council for India; the Advisory Board of Columbia University Global Centers, South Asia; The Founders Circle, Brookings, India. He is the Convenor of the Social Impact Council of India and the Founder Chairman of Lok Foundation.

Prior to Chairman IDFC Bank, Dr. Lall was variously, Founder MD & CEO, IDFC Bank; Executive Chairman, IDFC Limited; a Partner with Warburg Pincus in New York; Head of Asian Economic Research with Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong; a senior staff member of the World Bank, Washington, D.C. and the ADB in Manila. He has a BA in politics, philosophy and economics from Oxford University, and a Ph.D. in Economics from Columbia University.

Tarana Lalwani Director INNOVEN CAPITAL

Tarana Lalwani is a Director at InnoVen Capital where she heads sourcing and execution of venture debt transactions, as well as portfolio management. She plays an active role within the portfolio companies which encompasses facilitating business development, planning and guidance on further fund raises. Prior to InnoVen she was a Principal at Seedfund, where Tarana sourced, evaluated and mentored early stage companies. She also worked closely with the portfolio companies to get them to the next level of growth.

Given her strong ties with angel groups like Mumbai Angles, where she is an active member and the venture investor community, Tarana continues to be involved in the early stage space mentoring and guiding founders on fund raising, strategy and business development.

Tarana started her career in New York with Morgan Stanley, following which she joined Radian, a financial services firm, in their structured finance group. Tarana holds an undergraduate degree from LaSalle University, and an MBA from Columbia Business School, USA.

Yogesh Mahansaria Co-Founder, ALLIANCE TIRE GROUP Director, MAHANSARIA INDUSTRIAL VENTURES

Yogesh Mahansaria is a leading Indian Entrepreneur, with experience of over 25 years in establishing & scaling-up global manufacturing businesses. He started his career at Balkrishna Industries Ltd., where he identified the opportunity to enter the global Off-Highway Tyres market. As the CEO of Balkrishna Tyres (2000-2006), he drove the increase in revenues for the tyre business from  $20 million to $125 million, and increased profitability significantly.

In his second entrepreneurial venture, Mr. Mahansaria and his father got together with Warburg Pincus LLC to establish Alliance  Tire Group, with the acquisition of  Alliance Tire Company, in Israel. This was followed by the establishment of ATC Tires Pvt. Ltd, to set up greenfield Off-Highway Tyre manufacturing plants in India, and subsequently, the Group acquired the Off-Highway Tyre distribution assets and brands of GPX International Tire Co of USA in 2009. In a short span of time, Mr. Mahansaria built the Group from an idea into one of the world leaders in Off-Highway tyres, with revenues approaching $600Mn, team of 5,000 employees and network of over 2,200 customers across 120 countries. On 1st July 2016, The Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd, Japan, one of the world’s leading tyre & rubber group acquired 100% equity of ATG from KKR, the Mahansaria Family & other shareholders.

The Mahansaria Family has now promoted two manufacturing ventures: Mahansaria Tyres Pvt Ltd, which is building an Off-Highway Tyre plant in Gujarat. SYAM Trelleborg Tires LLP, a JV with the reputed European Multinational, Trelleborg AB, to setup a plant for making two-wheeler tyres for India & the global markets.

Mr. Mahansaria also serves as a Director on the Boards of – Avendus Capital Pvt Ltd (Leading financial services provider, focussing in areas of financial advisory, capital markets, wealth management and alternative asset management), FSN E-Commerce Ventures Pvt Ltd (Operator of online beauty & wellness store, nykaa.com), 321 Education Foundation (Philanthropic organisation, focused on improving the quality of education for children of  low-income communities)

Eric Marchand Principal UNIGESTION

Eric Marchand is Principal within the Private Equity team. He joined Unigestion in August 2012. Mr. Marchand began his career in 2003 with General Electric in the company's corporate finance and audit departments across various businesses. He then took over responsibility for GE Capital Equity's European funds portfolio and financial services investments. In 2010, Mr. Marchand joined CDC Group as Investment Manager focusing on the firm's Asian funds portfolio. Mr. Marchand holds a MSc in Management from EM Lyon business school in France and an undergraduate degree in Management and Applied Economics from the University of Paris Dauphine.

Shankar Narayanan Founder SANAKA CAPITAL

Shankar Narayanan, formerly the Managing Director & Co-Head of Carlyle Asia Growth Partners, is founder of Sanaka Group.

Mr. Narayanan was associated with Carlyle for over last 13 years and has been in private equity since 1993. Mr. Narayanan has unique distinction of having run some of the investee companies as a CEO with a very practical perspective of growth and challenges across industries.

While in Carlyle, he has led and advised investments such as Claris Lifesciences, Elitecore Technologies, Repco Home Finance, Tirumala Milk Products, Edelweiss Financial Services, South Indian Bank, Cyient. He has also successfully delivered exits from some of these investments.

Prior to joining Carlyle in 2004, among others he was with Deutsche Bank Capital Partners, based in Hong Kong, as a Director covering South Asia and India. Prior to Deutsche Bank, Mr. Narayanan was Managing Director and CEO of Hathway Investments in India. In his private equity career, he was involved in a number of prominent private equity investments such as Johnson Tiles, Exide Industries, Prism Cement, Hathway Cable, Asianet Satellite Communications, Pushpa Polymers, Tata Infomedia and AFL Limited and served on the Board of Directors of all these Companies.

Mr. Narayanan started his career with Citibank in Mumbai. He is MBA from XLRI having distinction of being Gold Medalist in Finance and B.Tech from IIT Delhi. He is currently on the Boards of Sanaka Capital HK Advisors, Sanaka Capital Investment Managers, Sanaka Capital Growth Fund, Sanaka India Advisors and Visionary RCM Infotech.

Abhay Pandey General Partner A91 PARTNERS

Prior to founding A91 Partners, Mr. Abhay Pandey (Abhay) was a Managing Director at Sequoia Capital India Advisors Private Limited from 2008-2018, which he joined in June 2007. At Sequoia Capital India Advisors Private Limited, Abhay’s has partnered with passionate founders in Consumer and Healthcare sectors focused on a on a few themes, including, creating challenger brands in large categories, supporting superior execution capabilities in massive market opportunities and building companies in new emerging categories. His investment track record and board positions include Vini Cosmetics, Indigo Paints, B9 Beverages, Faces Cosmetics; PI Industries (NSE: PIIND), La Renon, Koye Pharmaceuticals, Curatio Healthcare, Akumentis Healthcare, ASG Eyecare; and Awfis, MedGenome Inc, iBahn Illumination. Prior to Sequoia Capital, Abhay worked as an investment banker with DSP Merrill Lynch (2004-07) and as a management consultant at McKinsey & Co. (Mumbai and Johannesburg) offices (1996-2002) where he served leading clients in media, industrials and automotive verticals on a wide range of strategic and operational issues.

Abhay received his PGDM (MBA) from Indian Institute of Management Kolkata (1996) and a B. Tech in Computer Science and Engineering from IIT Bombay (1993).

Abhay is passionate about supporting philanthropy and giving back to society in education. He is a founder sponsor at Ashoka University, and a Trustee of BECT, a charitable trust for primary and secondary education. He also serves on the Board of IIM Kolkata Innovation Park.

Bobby Pauly Partner TATA OPPORTUNITIES FUND

Bobby Pauly is a founding member of the Tata Opportunities Fund, a USD 600 million third-party private equity fund that invests in attractive off-market transactions leveraging the network and relationships of the Tata group. Based in Mumbai, Bobby champions new investment opportunities and drives value creation as the fund's nominee on the Board of select portfolio companies. Bobby joined Tata Capital in 2007 and has helped conceptualize, nurture and build the firm's private equity franchise, which today manages about USD 1 billion in AUM.

Prior to this, for 7 years, Bobby served at a strategy consultant at Tata Strategic Management Group, where he helped establish his firm's private equity practice. Bobby started his career with the TVS Group.

Bobby secured his MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, and graduated from the Mechanical Engineering program of College of Engineering Guindy, Anna University. In the year 2000, the Confederation of Indian Industry honoured Bobby as a Young Business Leader of Tomorrow.

Nitish Poddar Partner, Deal Advisory and National Leader – Private Equity KPMG INDIA

Nitish Poddar has worked in KPMG for 19 years in various practices including audit, deal advisory and risk consulting. He has gained considerable experience in due diligence engagements assisting a cross section of multinational and private equity clients in evaluating risks and opportunities of their inbound and outbound investment plans. He thoroughly understands transaction and negotiation issues relevant to Indian and cross border transactions.

Nitish heads the Private Equity business at KPMG. He has led engagements with various marquee PE clients in India both across buyout / control deals and minority investments. Some of his clients include Temasek, Blackstone, General Atlantic, Aion/Apollo, GIC, etc.

Nitish is also the ‘Deal Advisory’ practice lead for the Japan corridor. He has significant experience of assisting Japanese clients and has developed a strong understanding of the methodologies and the working style of Japanese clients in their M&A initiatives.

Nitish also leads the Corporate Intelligence Team and has conducted integrity due diligences on strategic alliance partners, acquisition targets, external stakeholders of leading PE players and corporate clients across industries.

Gene Pohren Managing Director & Co-Founder 57 STARS

Gene Pohren is a co-founder of 57 Stars, and leads private equity partnership, secondary, and co-investment transactions.  He is a voting member of the firm’s investment and management committees.

Prior to forming 57 Stars, Mr. Pohren served at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).  As a Director in OPIC’s Investment Funds Department, he helped manage a USD 3.5 billion private equity program.  Before joining the Investment Funds Department, Mr. Pohren worked as a Manager in OPIC’s Project Finance Department where he structured direct financings throughout the emerging markets.  In 2004, Mr. Pohren advised the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board and helped design and implement their emerging markets private equity investment plan.  

Mr. Pohren earned a BS (with high distinction) in Business Administration from the University of Maine and an MBA from University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.  Mr. Pohren is a returned Peace Corps volunteer.

Sourav Pramanik First Vice President, M&A and Sponsor Finance Asia SUMITOMO MITSUI BANKING CORPORATION

Sourav Pramanik is a senior member of M&A and Sponsor Finance Group in Asia and is responsible for origination and execution of acquisition financing transactions.

Sourav has more than 13 years of banking experience across  debt capital market, corporate banking and leverage finance. In a career spanning Mumbai and Singapore, he worked with several global financial sponsors and top tier Asian corporates and led several notable financing (e.g. USD 305mn acquisition financing for Trans Maldivian Airways, USD 400mn refinancing for Interplex, USD 360mn acquisition financing for NIIT Technologies, USD 2bn bond issuance by Temasek, etc.).

Prior to joining SMBC in 2012, Sourav worked in Mumbai with ICICI Securities and then in Singapore with Deutsche Bank and Citibank.

Sourav holds a Bachelor of Technology degree from IIT Kharagpur and MBA from IIM Calcutta.

Renuka Ramnath Founder & CEO MULTIPLES ALTERNATE ASSET MANAGEMENT

Renuka Ramnath is the Founder, Managing Director and CEO of Multiples Alternate Asset Management, a private equity manager and advisor to funds of ~ USD 1.5 bn. She has over 30 years of experience in the Indian financial sector across private equity, investment banking and structured finance. For close to three decades in financial services, Renuka successfully built several businesses in the ICICI Group including Investment Banking, e-commerce and private equity. As the MD & CEO of ICICI Venture for close to a decade, she led that firm to become one of the largest private equity funds in India.

She is a Board member of EMPEA, the global industry association for private capital in emerging markets. She is also the vice-chairperson of the Executive Committee of Indian Venture Capital Association.  Renuka has been featured in many prestigious listings, including the Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Business (Business Today, India); India's most Powerful CEO's (Economic Times), the Top 25 Non Bank Women in Finance (US Banker's global list), Asia's Women in the Mix: The Year's Top 50 for Achievement in Business (Forbes), Top 25 women in Asian asset management (Asian Investor) and most recently has been awarded the AVCJ Special Achievement Award, 2019.

Rahil Rangwala Director, India Programs MICHAEL & SUSAN DELL FOUNDATION

Rahil Rangwala is the director of the Family Economic Stability team in India and oversees the foundation’s investments in the financial inclusion and livelihoods sectors. He spent over seven years at Bridgewater Associates, a global macro hedge fund, before making the transition to the development sector. Rahil has a bachelor’s in computer science from the University of Texas in Austin and a master’s in public administration with a focus on international development from New York University.

Arun Saigal Managing Director BARCLAYS

Arun Saigal is a Managing Director and Head of Global Finance in India for Barclays. The team is responsible for originating and executing financing products across loans, capital markets and structured finance for corporate and institutional clients. In addition, Arun is responsible for covering some of the largest Indian conglomerates and multinational corporate clients, along with leading our coverage efforts in the Financial Sponsors sector.

Prior to his current role, Arun joined Barclays in 2004 as part of the Risk Solutions Group in India eventually going on co-head the business in 2010. As part of the Risk Solutions Group, Arun was responsible for structuring and executing products to help some of our largest clients manage their FX, Interest Rate and Commodity risks.

Arun holds a bachelor of engineering degree from the National University of Singapore.

Vishal Sharma Managing Director EVERSTONE CAPITAL

Vishal Sharma joined Everstone in 2014. He is responsible for evaluating new opportunities, thematic strategies and operational improvements for Everstone’s portfolio companies. Vishal has 18 years of work experience, deep consulting experience with the Boston Consulting Group and operations experience in organizations such as Sapient Corporation across India and North America. Vishal holds a Bachelor of Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and a Master of Business Administration from the Indian School of Business.

Anirudh Singh Principal B CAPITAL GROUP

Anirudh Singh is a Singapore based Principal at B Capital Group, where he focuses on growth equity investments in the technology sector. Prior to joining B Capital, Mr. Singh was at Norwest Venture Partners, a global venture growth firm, where he was responsible for identifying and evaluating investments in companies in the technology, consumer retail, and financial services sectors. At Norwest Venture Partners, Mr. Singh originated and led due diligence on venture growth investments in India across companies such as Swiggy and Five Star Finance. Mr. Singh began his venture investing career at the India office of Canaan Partners, where he focused on originating and evaluating investments in the ecommerce, mobile, and financial technology sectors. Mr. Singh earned an M.B.A. from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and a B.E. from Thapar University.

Manas Tamotia Partner L.E.K.

Manas Tamotia is a Partner in L.E.K.’s Southeast Asia practice and is based in Singapore. He has more than 14 years of experience in strategy consulting in Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Americas. Manas advises major corporations on strategy, mergers and acquisitions, and restructuring. During his career he has worked across a number of different industries but possesses extensive experience in private equity, building products and materials, energy (power and utilities), airports and food and beverage.

Mithun V. Thanks Partner SHARDUL AMARCHAND MANGALDAS & CO

Mithun V Thanks, an Equity Partner with the firm, specialises in Mergers & Acquisitions, with a key focus on Private Equity, along with a strong background in General Corporate.

Over the years, Mithun has worked on several marquee transactions and has substantial experience in advising high profile clients on foreign investment laws and their joint ventures, strategic acquisitions, India entry and exit strategies, integration work streams, pre-litigation/ arbitration strategic advisory, general corporate advisory etc. Among others, some of his anchor clients include McCormick and Company Inc., British American Tobacco, Jan De Nul Group, Goldman Sachs, Blackstone Group and UPS Inc. Mithun has worked across various sectors including FMCG, Food and Beverage, Education, Logistics, Manufacturing (Industrial and Consumer Products), Real Estate and Retail and Franchising.

Mithun has been ranked as a “Client Recommended Individual Lawyer” in the RSG India Report for 2015. He has recently been profiled in the inaugural and prestigious “Emerging Leaders” list of 20 lawyers, from across the country, who stood out as the people leading the Indian legal profession forward, in the RSG India Report, 2019, with the research supported by Allen & Overy. Mithun has also been recognized as a “Notable Practitioner” for M&A and Private Equity by IFLR 1000 Financial and Corporate, consecutively for 2018 and 2019 and the forthcoming edition in 2020

Mithun is very well regarded by his clients, many of whom have worked with him over several years now. He is recognised as “consistently providing clear, commercially practical advice, in a very prompt and responsive matter- no matter the time of day” and as someone who “makes a special effort to get to know his clients and understand their business in-depth, which helps him provide strategic inputs as well.” His referees also credit him as a seasoned practioner who “has a deep knowledge of the law, holds a very precise pen on documentation and has worked closely with our teams to provide business oriented solutions to complex problems. He is intelligent, friendly, accessible and fun to work with!”

Mithun has been involved in several speaking engagements and has conducted training sessions at multiple client events and industry fora, in relation to various subjects including corporate governance and Companies Act, 2013. As part of his university support initiatives, Mithun provides career guidance and mentorship sessions to students at multiple law schools and he is also a co-opted member of the Academic Council of the Maharashtra National Law University (MNLU), Mumbai.

Having graduated from the National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata in 2005, Mithun worked with: (a) Luthra & Luthra Law Offices, Mumbai; (b) Herbert Smith Freehills LLP, London (Herbert smith, as it then was); and (c) J Sagar Associates, Mumbai, where he was elevated as a partner, prior to joining SAM & Co.

He is enrolled with the Bar Council of Maharashtra & Goa and is also admitted as a Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England & Wales. He is also a member of the International Bar Association.

Ananya Tripathi Director KKR CAPSTONE

Ananya Tripathi is a Director on the KKR Capstone team in India. She leads the team’s value-creation efforts across KKR’s private equity portfolio companies in industries that include education, healthcare and industrials. Prior to joining KKR Capstone, Ms. Tripathi headed the category business at Myntra, which saw significant and consistent growth during her time at the company, and was also Chief Strategy Officer. She was previously an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company, where she was for seven years. Ms. Tripathi is a gold medalist across both her MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, and her engineering degree from Pune University.

Vivienne Watganai Vice President HAMILTON LANE

Vivienne Watganai is a Vice President in Hamilton Lane’s Fund Investment Team, based in the firm’s Hong Kong office.

Prior to joining Hamilton Lane in 2015, Vivienne was an Analyst with GE Capital’s Structured Finance team in Hong Kong where she underwrote Asian leveraged finance and corporate lending transactions.

Vivienne received a B.A. in Economics from New York University.

William Yea Principal COLLER CAPITAL

William Yea is an Investment Principal responsible for origination, evaluation and execution of secondary transactions at Coller Capital. Will is based in the firm’s Hong Kong office.

Prior to joining Coller Capital in 2011, Will was in financial accounting at Thames Water during the Macquarie infrastructure fund ownership.

Will has a BA (Hons) from the University of Manchester, an MSc in Finance from London Business School, and an MBA from the University of Oxford. He is a Chartered Management Accountant.