Investcorp Onboards Vivek Agarwal As Senior Operating Partner For India

Global private equity (PE) firm Investcorp has roped in former Tech Mahindra executive Vivek Agarwal as senior operating partner for its India operations.

The PE company said that Agarwal will head Investcorp’s expansion into software and software services sectors.

Agarwal brings with him over 25 years of experience across various functions, Investcorp said. As per his LinkedIn profile, he previously was in the role of president of APJI (Asia-Pacific-Japan-India) business, BFSI and corporate development at Tech Mahindra until May 2024. Prior to that, he was the managing director of Europe for the IT giant for about 7 years since 2004.

Founded in 1982, Investcorp is a Bahrain-based alternative investment manager. It is into private equity, real estate, absolute return investments, infrastructure, credit management and strategic capital.

After investing in Indian companies like Medi Assist Healthcare, InCred Finance and ASG Eye Hospitals between 2013 and 2018, Investcorp firmed up its India play in 2019 by acquiring IDFC Alternatives’ private equity and real estate investment management businesses. 

Last year, it acquired NSE’s digital technology services business, NSEIT, for INR 1,000 Cr.

Investcorp said that Agarwal will also join the board of NuSummit (formerly NSEIT) to drive strategic growth and innovation.

“Agarwal’s experience of global scale technology businesses is exactly what we need to grow in the mid-market technology sector. We are confident that Vivek’s presence will help strengthen our India franchise and deliver significant value to our portfolio,” said Gaurav Sharma, head of India investment business at Investcorp.

Agarwal will work with Sharma, Varun Laul and Anshuman Goenka, who have been leading Investcorp’s India team.

Investcorp is bullish on the Indian market and has so far completed 18 investments and made notable exits from ASG Eye Hospitals, Medi Assist Healthcare, Safari Industries, NephroPlus, Bewakoof and others. It counts D2C furniture and mattress startup Wakefit, insurance tech major InsuranceDekho, packaged food startup Wingreens Farms, among others, in its India portfolio.

The development comes at a time when a number of investors are expanding their teams to tap the burgeoning Indian startup and technology ecosystem. 

For instance, India-focused investment management firm Bay Capital Partners recently appointed Delhivery’s Sandeep Barasia to its advisory board.

In late 2024, growth equity investment firm Elevation Capital roped in former Meta executive Krishna Mehra as a partner to lead SaaS and AI investments for the fund. Meanwhile, early-stage venture capital firm Fireside Ventures named former Flipkart senior executive Adarsh Menon as an operating partner.