PE champ

Working at JP Morgan's private equity (PE) fund business at Singapore was just his cup of tea, Gaurav Mathur realised after switching from 80-90-hour weeks as an investment banking analyst at Deutsche Bank. But Mathur strongly felt that countries like India needed a dedicated PE fund instead of getting driblets from a global one.

Thus was born the $352 million India Equity Partners (IEP), of which Mathur was a co-founder. Then, the market grew manifold and became fiercely competitive, so Mathur became sector specific and now seeks larger shareholdings in his investee companies.

IEP has roped in senior consultants from top-notch firms like Accenture. But that isn't the measure of success for Mathur. "We would like to prove our success by multiplying our investors' money, which we hope we will be able to do over the next few years," he says. He is now focussing not just on finding new investment opportunities but also on learning the tricks of delegation through a process, even though delegation is tough in a business where individual investment calls can make a huge difference.

Apart from his professional engagements, Mathur spends his weekends sailing off Mumbai—and sometimes even going for a spin in a rented Cessna 172 aircraft with his wife. Mathur and his wife are licensed commercial pilots.

Gaurav Mathur, 35, Founder and MD, India Equity Partners

• EDUCATION: BA, IIM Ahmedabad.
• EXPERIENCE: Principal, JP Morgan Partners, Singapore, 2000-2005; Analyst, Deutsche Bank, London, 1998-2000.
• 'AHA' MOMENT: March 2006...we were able to achieve first closing of our fund by mobilising $200 million at India Equity Partners.