Global impact investment firm Omidyar Network has appointed Roopa Kudva as partner and managing director of Omidyar Network India Advisors, its Indian arm. Roopa is outgoing managing director and chief executive officer of India's top credit rating agency CRISIL.
She takes over a post vacant for almost a year after Omidyar's former managing director for India, Jayant Sinha quit to step into politics. Sinha went on to contest and win his seat in the Lok Sabha elections last May. He is currently serving as the Minister of State for Finance in the union government.
Fifty-year-old Roopa joined CRISIL in 1992 and served as its managing director and chief executive officer from 2007 before resigning late last year. Under her leadership, CRISIL’s market capitalisation grew four-fold and revenues tripled. She will hand over the baton at CRISIL to Ashu Suyash from June 1, 2015.
Based in Mumbai, Roopa will oversee Omidyar Network’s investments in India across the firm’s consumer internet and mobile, education, financial inclusion, governance and citizen engagement and property rights initiatives. She will join the firm on July 1, 2015, and will report to Omidyar Network managing partner Matt Bannick.
Bannick said: “She will lead a new phase of our India operations by supporting early-stage investments, innovative entrepreneurs and businesses with deep social impact. We are fortunate to have a leader of her stature and integrity join us.â€
An IIM Ahmedabad alumnus, Roopa also serves as an independent director on the board of Infosys and a member of the primary markets advisory committee of SEBI. She is also a member of the Reserve Bank of India’s External Advisory Committee for evaluating applicants for Payment Bank licenses.
Established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, Omidyar is a philanthropic investment firm. Omidyar invests upwards of $1 million in companies. To date, it has committed more than $760 million to for-profit companies and non-profit organisations across multiple investment areas, including consumer internet and mobile, education and financial inclusion.
Omidyar’s Indian investments include companies like NowFloats, NewsHunt, Quikr, Akshara Foundation, Anudip Foundation, Aspiring Minds, HealthKart, EnglishHelper, iMerit Technology Services and Teach For India.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)