NabVentures, the newly formed investment arm of India-based development bank National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard), has hired Rajesh Ranjan as chief executive.
Ranjan comes from India-based private advisory equity firm CapAleph Fund where he was a director as well as head of investments.
Established in December 2018, NabVentures will invest in early to mid-stage companies with a food, agribusiness and rural development focus. It plans to launch its first fund next month, and intends to facilitate institutional support from impact investors and public sector units for rural entrepreneurs.
The unit will rely on capital from Nabard, which is already involved in the rural development space, to fund startups that are keen to find socially enterprising ideas and solutions for the rural communities.
Nabard has also committed to launching agricultural product-focused incubators in India, two of which have already been set up.
Ranjan, who was unavailable for comment, had led investments for companies focusing on food, agtech and financial services for more than two years at CapAleph Fund.
Photo of Rajesh Ranjan courtesy of LinkedIn.
