Manish Kejriwal

Manish co-founded Kedaara Capital in 2011 with Sunish and Nishant. Prior to founding the firm, Manish had launched the India office for Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd (“Temasek”), in 2004, which was Temasek’s first presence outside of Singapore. As head of India, not only did he lead all the investment and divestment activity, but also built out the entire team and took on select government initiatives on behalf of Temasek and various portfolio companies like Singtel, Singapore Airlines. During this time, Temasek invested over US$4 billion in India. Manish was a Senior Managing Director and also held multiple responsibilities in Temasek Singapore. He was a core member of its senior leadership team and a key member of Temasek’s Investment Committee and Management Committee (called Senior Investment & Divestment Committee – SIDC, and Senior Management Committee – SMC, respectively). During 2007-2008, he was also empowered by the CEO to lead all of Temasek’s investments in Financial Services globally. Manish was also tasked to lead Temasek’s early investments in Russia, Africa and the Middle-East (including a JV with the Oppenheimer family to launch the Tano Fund for investments in sub-Saharan Africa)

Manish brings over 30 years of industry experience, encompassing the full cycle of private equity across financial services, consumer/consumer tech, healtcare services and technology and tech services. He has made investments in both private and public companies. While at Temasek he also invested as an LP in private equity funds. Prior to Temasek, Manish was a Partner at McKinsey & Company, Inc. (“McKinsey”) and was part of their New York, Cleveland and Mumbai offices. He helped found “The Private Equity Practice” during his years in New York and was instrumental in conceiving and co-authoring the widely followed “NASSCOM McKinsey reports”. Prior to McKinsey, Manish had worked at the World Bank in Washington D.C. and with Goldman Sachs (Principal Investment/Corporate Finance) in Hong Kong. Manish received an AB from Dartmouth College where he graduated Magna Cum Laude with a major in Economics and Engineering Sciences and where he received the Dean’s Plate. He holds a Master of Business Administration from Harvard University, where he graduated with high distinction as a Baker Scholar.

Manish is currently the lead independent director at Bharti Airtel, on the boards of Bajaj Finserve Limited and Bajaj Holdings Investment Limited, and various Kedaara investee entities/companies. Over the years he has been on the boards of various companies: Parksons Packaging, Mindspace, Alembic, Temasek Holdings Advisors India, Bharti Infratel, Fullerton Financial Holdings, ICICI OneSource, and AFH India Credit Company. He also drove the investments in NSE, ICICI Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Sky, Bharti Infratel, Merrill Lynch and Standard Chartered Bank when he was at Temasek. He is on the Investment Committee, LP committee and Portfolio Committee at Kedaara, and plays a critical role in leveraging his wide network to introduce new investments (e.g. Mahindra Logistics, other), drive divestments (e.g Bill Forge, other) and mentor the new cadre of leaders in the investment and admin team, as the founders institutionalize the firm.

Finally, Manish is passionate about driving a few select education initiatives reflected by his ongoing involvement in the United World College movement, as a founder trustee at Ashoka University and as a former member of the Harvard Alumni Board. He is an active member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) and was named a Young Global Leader (YGL) by the World Economic Forum. Manish served as the Chair of the CII National Committee on Private Equity and Venture Capital and had also served as a member of the Alternative Investments Policy Advisory Committee, constituted by SEBI. He was profiled as one of the “25 hottest young executives in India” by Business Today. He has authored various articles on private equity in India and has been profiled in various newspapers and periodicals. He is a sought-after speaker at numerous conferences in India, Asia and North America.