Mumbai-based financial services firm Edelweiss Financial Services Ltd is expanding its alternative investment funds business by adding venture capital and private equity as asset classes and has appointed Pranav Parikh as head of private equity (PE), seed and venture capital (VC) funds, the company said on Thursday.
Parikh, who has over one-and-a-half decades of investment experience in US and Indian markets, will be running the Edelweiss growth private equity and early stage venture funds which intend to invest in tech as well as non-tech companies.
An email sent to the company spokesperson for more details on the PE/VC business did not elicit a response.
Parikh was previously working with multi-asset private investment firm Q-Investments and was heading its Indian arm till 2012. Details of his more recent job profile could not be immediately gathered.
He also served as director of several portfolio firms such as Handango, Inc (the US), a provider of mobile downloads; NASDAQ-listed supplier of supply chain management solutions i2 Technologies, Inc and Calypso Foods.
Prior to heading India operations, Parikh worked with Q-Investments in the US for almost six years as a portfolio manager. Prior to that, he was employed as a senior credit rating analyst with ICRA.
Parikh holds a BS in industrial engineering from MS University and an MBA from University of Texas at Arlington with specialisation in finance. He is also a CFA charter holder.
"His appointment will help us focus our efforts on the growing private equity and venture capital businesses that signify India's growth potential and the burgeoning startup space," said Rashesh Shah, chairman and CEO, Edelweiss.
Mumbai-based Edelweiss functions through four clusters—credit, financial markets & asset management, life insurance and commodities. Last year it acquired Forefront Capital, a Mumbai-based hedge fund management firm focused on high net-worth individuals.
Edelweiss counts PE giant Carlyle among its institutional investors.
