India's apex industry body for alternative assets, the Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association (IVCA), honoured the key players and top performers of the PE-VC ecosystem from 2022 in the sixth edition of the IVCA PE-VC Awards, held on the final day (Feb 22) of the 12th IVCA Conclave, India's largest PE-VC event.
Winners of IVCA PE-VC Awards 2023
The Awards Partner for the sixth edition of IVCA PE-VC Awards was Praxis Global Alliance, and the Awards Sponsors were Blume Ventures and TVS Capital Funds. The jury comprised Shri Deepak Bagla (Managing Director and CEO, Invest India), Shri UK Sinha (Former SEBI Chairman), Anita Marangoly George (Founding Partner, Edhina), Cate Ambrose (CEO and Board Member, GPCA), Sanjeev Bikhchandani (Founder, Info Edge India Ltd) and Vivek Pandit (Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company).
Commenting on the IVCA Conclave 2023 PE-VC Awards, Shri Deepak Bagla, MD and CEO, Invest India, remarked, "Our Honourable Prime Minister propelled the Startup India Movement as a harbinger of New India and the start of the Amrit Kaal. I would like to thank all those who invested in India and showed confidence in our innovators and trust in the Indian Growth Story."
For the Indian PE-VC ecosystem, 2022 was a phenomenal year. Indian companies were able to attract USD 50Bn+ of PE-VC investments, which led to the creation of 23 new unicorns, and PE/VC investments contributed around 60% of all FDI investments. On this note, the IVCA Awards 2023 aims to amplify and reward industry members who have driven this growth and encourage further progress.
"The IVCA PE-VC Awards, now in its sixth year, honours PE/VC funds both global and Indian, who have demonstrated some outstanding fiduciary responsibility to their investors & ecosystem, in the past year. Their contribution is a testament to the rapidly growing investor ecosystem in India which is making headway in the global context. We at IVCA believe that to truly build a 'new India', the industry has the intent, talent and the vision to be a leading fund management hub for the world,' said Rajat Tandon, President, IVCA.
Winners of IVCA PE-VC Awards 2023
Domestic Private Equity: Best fundraising performance of the year
Among domestic PEs, Eversource Capital was recognised as having had the best fundraising performance, having raised US$ 741M in 2022.
"We are thrilled to receive this award for our maiden climate fund. Thank you IVCA. This recognition is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team, as well as the confidence and trust that our investors have placed in us. We strive to create deep impact in our climate investments, creating positive social outcomes while remaining committed to delivering exceptional returns and value to our investors," Dhanpal Jhaveri, Vice Chairman - Everstone Group and CEO - Eversource.
International Venture Capital: Best fundraising performance of the year
This category recognised Accel for best fundraising performance of the year, having raised US$ 650M in 2022 from both domestic and foreign LPs.
"We are thrilled to be recognised as the Best fundraising performance of the year for the International VC category at the recently concluded IVC PE-VC Awards 2023. This highlights the confidence of our investors. We also believe that this reflects the hard work of our entire team who are passionate about what they do and are committed to delivering value to our investors and portfolio companies. We would also like to extend our congratulations to all of the other winners and nominees. It was inspiring to see so many talented and dedicated individuals and organizations represented at the awards," said Prashanth Prakash, Founding Partner, Accel.
Domestic Venture Capital: Best fundraising performance of the year
Fireside Ventures won in the category, having raised US$ 225M in 2022.
Commenting on winning the award Kanwaljit Singh, Managing Partner & Co-Founder, Fireside Ventures said, "It's truly an honour to be recognised by the IVCA, and we're very grateful to the esteemed Jury for choosing Fireside as Best performance of the year for Domestic Venture Capital category. The award recognises the growing importance of domestic capital in promoting startup activity in India. Consumer investing is a fascinating space, and were fortunate to partner with dynamic founders and very supportive investors as we help build iconic and responsible consumer brands. Congratulations to all the other winners."
Venture Debt Funds: Best fundraising performance of the year
Among the nominees, the jury recognised Trifecta Capital as the winner for having closed USD $150M in VDF 3 in Sept 2022 which is the highest among all nominations. The fund further went on to exercise green shoe option and raised another USD $50M.
"This award is a testament to how far the Venture Debt asset class has come over the last 8 years. Increased participation from both institutional investors and family offices has been critical in driving this growth, and this asset class has now begun attracting global interest as well to help fuel 5X growth by 2030. We are grateful to IVCA for this recognition of the hard work of our team, the unwavering support of our investors and the founders who have chosen to work with us," Rahul Khanna - Co-founder and Managing Partner at Trifecta Capital.
Private Equity: Best exit performance of the year
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) was adjudged the winner in the category, having exited Max Healthcare in 2022.
"We are delighted to have been recognized by the IVCA for our work with the Max Healthcare team. It was a pleasure to be able to meaningfully contribute to the company's growth and work to serve patients across India who rely on Max Healthcares important care. We are also honored to have worked closely with Abhay Soi and the talented Max Healthcare team - we wish the team continued success," said Prashant Kumar, Managing Director at KKR.
Venture Capital: Best exit performance of the year
Chiratae Ventures, with some of its marquee exits in FirstCry, Unbxd and Active.ai, was announced as the winner in this category.
Ranjith Menon, Managing Director, Chiratae Ventures commented on winning the award, "The proof of good investments is only in successful exits. We are happy to have won the Best Exit Performance of the Year for a VC. Thank you to IVCA for recognising the efforts of Team Chiratae, our investors and our portfolio companies."
New Fund Entry: Outstanding achievement of the year
This is the award in recognition of investors who are investing first time in the Indian ecosystem and the jury recognised Aditya Birla Ventures as the winner.
On winning the award Aryaman Vikram Birla, Founder, Aditya Birla Ventures said, "It's an absolute honour to receive this award from a coveted industry body like IVCA. A recognition like this bolsters our confidence in the fact that we are on the right path in creating a large and purposeful Venture Capital platform. I'd like to thank the ABV team for their unwavering commitment, and for being great ambassadors for ABV's vision- this recognition truly belongs to the wonderful team."
Corporate Venture Capital: Best performing fund award
Bertelsmann India Investments (BII) edged past all the nominees to win the award in this category.
Expressing his delight at winning the award, Pankaj Makkar, Managing Director, BII said, "At Bertelsmann India Investments, we continue to remain committed to nurturing innovation, fostering growth, and delivering value to our stakeholders. We are excited to get this award as we embark on our growth journey, and such recognition is a testament to the quality of the work we have done in the last decade, the deep relationships built in the startup ecosystem with our portfolio companies, startup founders and other VC-PE funds."
Social Impact award
Northern Arc triumphed with investments like Gramophone, Battery Smart, Ecozen, Svasti, Supreme Housing Finance, Seeds Fincap, BluSmart and Sinduja.
Ravi Vukkadala, CEO, Northern Arc Investment Managers Private Limited said, "Thank you IVCA for conferring this recognition upon us. This indeed is a testament to our core philosophy of lending to impact enterprises across themes of financial inclusion, climate, agriculture, education, healthcare and logistics. Through our investments, we are focused on harnessing commercially viable financing solutions to achieve impact at scale. Since inception, we have impacted the lives of ~22 mn people through our 70+ portfolio companies. We are immensely thankful to our investors and portfolio companies, for enabling us in our journey."
Outstanding Action for Gender Diversity
Quadria Capital was declared as the winner for this category for having shown the strongest commitment to improve gender diversity in the investing ecosystem.
Shivani Sahai, Head-Impact & ESG, Quadria Capital commented, "Quadria Capital thanks IVCA jury for the "Outstanding Action for Gender Diversity" recognition for our ongoing efforts towards creating an inclusive and unbiased work environment. This award is a testament to our firms commitment to promoting gender equality and ensuring opportunities for all. We are also thankful to our limited partners for their confidence in our commitment to promote gender diversity within the Fund and portfolio companies."
About IVCA
Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association (IVCA) is a not-for-profit, apex industry body promoting the alternate capital industry and fostering a vibrant investing ecosystem in India. IVCA is committed to support the ecosystem by facilitating advocacy discussions with the Government of India, policymakers, and regulators, resulting in the rise of entrepreneurial activity, innovation and job creation in India and contributing towards the development of India as a leading fund management hub. IVCA members are the most active domestic and global VCs, PEs, funds for Infrastructure, Real Estate, Credit funds, Limited Partners, Investment Companies, Family offices, Corporate VCs and Knowledge Partners. These funds invest into emerging companies, venture growth, buyout, special situations, distressed assets, credit & venture debt among others.
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