Investcorp elevates insider as head of India business
Harsh Shethia, head of Investcorp India. Photo credit: Investcorp
Bahrain-based alternative investment firm Investcorp has appointed Harsh Shethia as head of its business in India, two years after it first entered the South Asian nation.
In his new role, Shethia will focus on business development for Investcorp India, the PE firm said in a statement. He will report directly to Rishi Kapoor, Investcorp Group’s co-CEO.
Shethia, a managing partner at the firm, joined Investcorp in 2002 from Goldman Sachs in London.
At Investcorp, Shethia has been chief of staff for the president of the Gulf business and country head for Oman. He has also been product specialist for credit and real estate in the US and Europe, head of the client servicing team, and head of business analysis and reporting.
Shethia’s experience across a diverse suite of roles at Investcorp has “positioned him well for spearheading our business development activities” in India, Kapoor said.
Shethia holds an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University and has a B.Sc. degree in Computer Science.
Investcorp forayed into India in early 2019 when it acquired the PE business of homegrown firm IDFC Alternatives. The deal not only added a set of companies to its portfolio but also led to the transfer of senior investment professionals Girish Nadkarni and Gaurav Sharma from IDFC to Investcorp.
In India, Investcorp invests in mid-market companies across consumption-linked sectors including consumer-tech, healthcare, financial services and technology.
Last month, Investcorp struck its 10th investment in India when it acquired Unilog Content Solutions Pvt. Ltd, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company.
Its previous investments include non-bank lender InCred, ASG Eye Hospital Ltd, homestay startup Zolo, apparel retail Citykart, food company Intergrow Brands, online apparel startup Bewakoof.com and dialysis firm NephroPlus, apart from Freshtohome and XpressBees.
Investcorp also has a real estate investment business in India. So far, it has deployed US$200 million through two funds across 26 projects. It has also raised $130 million in anchor commitments for its real estate direct lending initiative to provide funding to residential projects in India.
Globally, Investcorp manages US$32.2 billion in assets and has a presence in 12 countries across the US, Europe and Asia.
