From boardrooms to startups: This PE firm is scouting for seasoned managers to build new ventures

livemint.com:

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Gaja Capital is on the hunt for a refined version of the hungry but inexperienced startup founder—senior corporate leaders and professional managers struck by the entrepreneurial bug. The mid-market private equity firm is actively scouting for seasoned professionals to build new ventures across consumer businesses, education, financial services, and enterprise software.

“We have a whole generation of professional managers who didn’t have entrepreneurial opportunities when they were in their twenties and thirties. More people are now becoming interested in entrepreneurship," Gopal Jain, co-founder and managing partner at Gaja Capital, told Mint. “It works both ways—sometimes we approach people, sometimes they approach us," he added.

Also read | Yuvraj Singh changes investment gear, set to pad up for snacks brand Twiddles Last month, Gaja Capital and venture capital fund Lok Capital agreed to invest ₹800 crore in Weaver Services, an affordable housing finance startup founded earlier this year by former executives of mortgage lender HDFC Ltd. The domestic private equity firm has made similar investments earlier. Gaja Capital first invested in RBL Bank Ltd in 2010, when the private sector lender was led by former Bank of America managing director and chief executive Vishwavir Ahuja.

Gaja Capital has since diluted its stake in RBL. “The starting point is a space and a management team," said Jain. “For it to become a reality, we need to find something worth buying—an asset through which we can address the potential in the market.