Gopal Jain

Gopal Jain, is Managing Partner and co-founder of Gaja Capital, an India focused private equity firm based in Mumbai. Founded in 2005, Gaja Capital manages USD 500m in assets & invests in high growth companies from India’s mid-market. Gopal chairs the board for Eurokids, SportzVillage & Educational Initiatives. He also serves on the board of Bakers Circle & Avendus Capital.

Gaja Capital is a high-touch investor in India’s middle market. The firm is focused on opportunities in Education, Banking & Financial Services, Consumer and Pharma -Healthcare. The firm has also built a strong niche in mid-market MBOs which leverages a highly experienced and deep operating team, the largest in India’s middle market private equity. The firm’s earlier investments include John Distilleries, RBL Bank & TeamLease which are amongst the best performing PE investments in India over the past 10 years.

Gopal has been investing professionally in India since 1991 when he set up an equity research firm whilst in college with a plan to set up a mutual funds business whenever the sector opened up to the private sector. He made his first private equity investment in 1995 in TV-18 and has been focused exclusively on private equity since 1999 when he joined View Group, one of the first US based India focused VC firms, as its Country Head. Earlier Gopal had a successful stint in public markets leading one of India’s most significant proprietary investment businesses from 1993 to 1998.

In addition to investing, Gopal leads Gaja Gives – the firm’s giving program that supports social enterprises, charities and NGOs in education, urban renewal, public governance and sports. He has helped conceive and grow a number of prominent social organizations that work in these areas in India. Gopal has also played a prominent role in fostering an enabling environment for entrepreneurship & private equity in India. He is currently member of SEBI’s Alternative Investment Policy Advisory Committee and Indian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association’s Executive Committee.

Gopal is a Graduate in Electrical Engineering from IIT Delhi. He has been reading corporate annual reports since the age of seven and began investing at the age of thirteen with Gujarat Ambuja Cements as his first investment, inspired by his mother – a homemaker with an interest in stocks. He lives in Mumbai with his wife Chitra who is an educator and daughters, Srishti & Ira.