Rahul Patwardhan, 43, vice chairman and managing director of Pune-based private equity firm IndiaCo Ventures Ltd, passed away due to cardiac arrest on Sunday morning. The untimely end to his life happened at 3.30 am, Kris Nair, one of the partners of IndiaCo Ventures, informed VCCircle.
Patwardhan, who is the scion of royal family of Miraj, leaves behind his wife and a son. He was also known as Shrimant Yuvraj Ramchandrarao Patwardhan, the 23rd generation of the Patwardhan dynasty, near Kolhapur in Maharashtra. "It's a huge loss for us, entrepreneurs," Nair said.
Patwardhan founded India's first private sector incubator IndiaCo Ventures Pvt Ltd in 2001, now run as a separate business unit. In 2003, the company received a grant from the World Bank. In 2005, IndiaCo Ventures acquired Shivaji Securities Ltd, a Bombay Stock Exchange traded company, which was later, re-named IndiaCo Ventures Ltd.
IndiaCo is now one of the two public listed private equity firms in the country, the other being IL&FS Investment Managers. Focused on SMEs, IndiaCo remained small with a total investment portfolio worth Rs 60 crore in more than half a dozen companies.
In May, IndiaCo announced first close of its India Growth Opportunities Fund and final close of India Amalgamation Fund . The India Amalgamation Fund was capitalised with Rs 28 crore and the India Growth Opportunities Fund, which has a target size of Rs 40 crore and expected to close in next four to five months, had its first close at Rs 15 crore.
The company also told VCCircle in May that it had got soft commitment from Asian Development Bank, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) for its $60 million IndiaCo Energy Efficiency Fund. It was planning to close the fund raising process by end of March 2013.
Last July, Canadian asset management group Core Partners Inc had said it was investing $6.4 million to pick a significant minority stake in one of the investment arms of IndiaCo.
Patwardhan held a mechanical engineering degree from Pune University and a masters in business management.
