Sumit Jain (pictured) has left venture capital firm Kalaari Capital to become a managing partner at Russia-based conglomerate Sistema’s Asia Fund Advisory (SAF) vehicle, the Economic Times has reported.
SAF launched in late-2015 with a $50m commitment by Sistema to back mid-stage, mainly India-based startups. It has reportedly accrued a portfolio of 10 such businesses over the past two years.
Sistema has since increased its commitment to $80m and will open the fund to external investment for an overall target size of $120m, with the vehicle’s first close expected soon. SAF is managed by Sistema Asia Capital, one of Sistema’s corporate venturing units.
Jain helped seed two of Kalaari’s VC funds with a combined corpus of $454m, playing a hand in shaping the vehicles’ investment thesis, sector focus and pitch to prospective limited partners. During his nine-year tenure, he served on the board of more than 15 Kalaari portfolio companies.
Andrey Terebenin, senior managing partner at Insitel, a wholly-owned Sistema subsidiary that advises SAF, said: “Sumit joins us at the right time bringing years of proven investment and portfolio management experience. He is a great addition to the SAF team.”
– Image of Sumit Jain courtesy of LinkedIn