Investment firm Gray Matters Capital (GMC) on Monday announced the appointment of Smita Sircar as its President and CEO under the mission of "Finding Purpose with 100 Million Women". Under Sircar's leadership, the firm will shift its headquarters from the United States to NCR-Delhi in order to get closer to its customers in emerging markets, explained GMC in an official statement.
Commenting on Sircar's appointment, GMC Founder Bob Pattillo said, "Smita is extraordinary. She has excelled at everything she sets her heart and mind to, including being a mother and a daughter."
"Her edLABS portfolio is soaring and her board leadership at WorldReader India is blowing the lid off reading for kids. It gives me great hope for the world that she is stepping up as my successor," he added.
The newly appointed President and CEO of GMC began her career in 2001 with ICICI Bank. She managed a savings product with deposits of 2 billion pounds while based in London. Sircar also helped launch ICICI correspondent banking out of Hong Kong and was on the start-up team of impact consultancy Volans (UK).
Sircar headed Research and Performance Management for Community Banking with Standard Bank (South Africa) and was the first employee recruited to the India office of Gray Matters Capital. She was the architect of mobile solutions and edLABS, an $8 million fund that provided very early stage funding to "visionary edu-preneurs" for the development of modern-day skills.
On her appointment, Sircar said, "I believe that women are powerful. Treat us as customers and we can create the world's most innovative and accessible services for women in India and beyond. India can increase its GDP by 27 per cent per year simply by investing in the "other half" of our people".
"Our job at GMC is to recruit, coach, or create ventures that believe serving low income women is good business," she added.
"We are committed to support our amazing existing education portfolio and the customers they serve. And I am especially excited about our new PowerUp initiative that will give 10 million young women access to meaningful employment of their own choosing in the next 48 months," Sircar noted.
Sircar has an Electrical Engineering degree and an MBA in Finance from SP Jain Institute of Management & Research and has also earned a Masters in International Organization from the University of Geneva.
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