Grove Street Advisors (GSA), LLC is a principal investment firm specializing in fund of fund investments. It invests in venture capital and private equity funds including early stage venture capital, buyout funds, growth equity, mezzanine, micro and mid market buyout funds, and special situation funds. In an exclusive with VCCircle, Dr.Kiran Rao, Principal Grove Street Advisors LLC, talks about the current fund raising envrionment, the right kind of approach towards fund raising and also the right size for Indian funds. Dr. Rao who focusses on healthcare, mid-market and Asian private equity at Grove Street says that the sectors in India are not deep eough especially for private equity investing. He also says that the funds which have done well and have created a brand for themselves started small and that should be the strategy which Indian funds should adopt. It is a very difficult fund raising environment, he adds.
Prior to joining GSA in 2009, Kiran was a Principal at the Boston Consulting Group. GSA considers investments in the United States and internationally with a focus on China, Israel, India, and Europe. It does not lead transactions, but often co-invests in transactions which it sources to its fund managers. The firm prefers to take advisory board seats in its portfolio companies. Grove Street Advisors, LLC was founded in 1998 and is based in Wellesley, Massachusetts.
