Sequoia, UTI Ventures and ChrysCapital win APEX Awards

Mumbai: Sequoia Capital India, UTI Ventures and ChrysCapital emerged as the leading Private Equity/Venture Capital firms in various categories at the Second Edition of the Venture Intelligence APEX Awards.

While ChrysCapital topped in the Private Equity firm category for 2007, UTI Ventures emerged as the winner in the Private Equity Firm-Growth category and Sequoia Capital India took home the award in the Best Venture Capital Firm category.

Among PE/VC-backed companies, Genpact received the private equity-backed company award, Firstsource the private equity-backed company – growth award, and MindTree Consulting the venture capital-backed company.

The awards were given away at Venture Intelligence APEX '08, an annual conclave where the Indian Private Equity industry introspects, brainstorms on the way forward and rewards its best. The conclave was organised by Venture Intelligence, a provider of information and networking services to the private equity and venture capital ecosystem in India.

The jury members for these awards for the indian private equity and venture capital industry included some experienced investors in India-focused funds, including Jay Jegannathan of Evolvence India Fund, Brian Lim of CDC Group, Anand Sunderji of Thomas Weisel International, Kit Jong Tan of Eagle Captial Partners, Pavan Gupte of Gartmore Private Equity and Wen Tan of Squadron Capital.

''On the back of strong economic growth and booming public markets, Indian Private Equity and Venture Capital funds delivered strong returns to investors in 2007,'' said Arun Natarajan, founder and CEO of Venture Intelligence. ''The Venture Intelligence APEX Awards are recognition of this rapid coming of age of the Indian PE/VC industry.''

A highlight of the event was the release of the Private Equity Impact report, with a special focus on Infrastructure, which is widely identified as the key constraint for India's growth. In addition to taking a look at the current investment climate in Indian infrastructure, the report featured eight case studies of successful partnerships with private equity in India.  The Summit also featured a high power discussion on PE investing in infrastructure.

APEX'08 also featured panel discussions focusing on the year ahead in the Private Equity and Venture Capital segments, followed by successful entrepreneurs sharing their experiences in working with PE/VC investors.