Sistema Asia Fund Advisory, the venture capital fund floated by Russian conglomerate Sistema PJSFC, has appointed Sumit Jain, who was formerly with venture capital firm Kalaari Capital, as a senior partner, a statement from the fund stated.
“Sumit joins us at the right time, bringing years of proven investment and portfolio management experience,” said Andrey Terebenin, managing partner of Sistema Asia Capital (India), in the statement.
An alumnus of IIM Calcutta and IIT Kharagpur, Jain joined Kalaari Capital in 2009 and was at the firm for more than nine years. During his stint there, he was involved in sourcing and executing seven investments and supported three exits. He also served on the boards of over 15 portfolio companies as the primary board member and observer, the statement said.
Prior to Kalaari Capital, Jain was an investment banking associate at HSBC and business analyst at BG Group, his LinkedIn profile shows.
Jain joins Dhruv Kapoor who is the managing director of Sistema Asia Fund Advisory.
Sistema Asia Fund Advisory
The fund was set up in late 2015 with a $40 million commitment from Russian conglomerate Sistema PJSFC. It has doubled its commitment to the fund to $80 million and is seeking another $40 million from external investors taking the total fund size to $120 million.
The fund focuses on growth-stage and mid-stage technology companies in India and Southeast Asia. In the last two years, it has invested in 10 companies. Its portfolio includes full-stack online food delivery company Faasos, digital lending startup Kissht, online pharmacy Netmeds, online meat ordering platform Licious and social commerce platform Wooplr.
Exits at Kalaari Capital
In October 2017, partners Bala Srinivasa and Prashanth Aluru had resigned from the venture capital firm. Srinivasa is now managing director at early-stage VC firm Unitary Helion, an early stage fund floated by Rahul Chandra, co-founder and managing director of homegrown venture capital firm Helion Venture Partners LLC.
In August this year, business daily Mint reported that managing director Rajesh Raju may quit but would continue to manage the second and third funds. He is currently still with the VC firm and serves as the general partner of the second and third funds.
The technology-focussed venture capital firm has $650 million in assets under management. Some of its investments this year include software-as-a-service platform Hiver, used cars marketplace Truebil, vernacular knowledge-sharing platform Vokal and digital insurance platform Toffee.
Kalaari is expected to raise a fourth fund later this year.
