Bessemer Venture Partners sets up India advisory group

The advisory group comprises chairman Sridar Iyengar, the former CEO of KPMG India; Rama Bijapurkar, a board member of Infosys and ICICI Prudential Life and a visiting faculty member of the Indian Institute of Management; Rajeev Chitrabhanu, the CEO and managing director of JM Financial Services Private; and M K Sharma, a former vice-chairman of Hindustan Unilever.

Rob Chandra, a managing partner at BVP, said, 'India is an exciting investment opportunity for us. Just as we saw the long-term opportunity when we entered Silicon Valley in the 1970s, we see a similar opportunity in India driven by the growth in middle class prosperity and innovation. We have an exceptionally experienced and talented advisory group who we think will help us build a great investment practice by combining local expertise with a global investment platform.'

BVP, based in New York, was originally founded in 1911 as an investment vehicle for the Phipps family. It manages more than $2bn of capital invested in over 120 companies globally. The firm has invested in 21 companies in India over the past four years and has a 14-person team in Mumbai.

In summer 2007, it closed a $1bn fund, Bessemer Venture Partners VII. Of that amount, BVP has dedicated $350m to investments in India.

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