Latest news with #BessemerVenturePartners
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
NVCA Appoints Vineeta Agarwala as New Board Chair
WASHINGTON, June 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) announced that Vineeta Agarwala, MD, PhD, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, will serve as the Chair of the NVCA Board of Directors for the 2025-2026 term. "Vineeta brings a powerful perspective as both a venture investor and physician — someone who understands firsthand how innovation plays out in the real world, and how policy can accelerate or obstruct it," said NVCA President and CEO Bobby Franklin. "Her experience at the forefront of tech and investing gives her a lens on how smart policy and long-term capital can enable American startups. At a time when policy and innovation are deeply intertwined, she'll help NVCA champion a policy environment where innovation can continue to flourish." "As AI and technology reshape every sector — from healthcare and energy, to education and infrastructure — the role of venture capital has never been more critical," said Vineeta Agarwala. "As NVCA Board Chair, I'm honored to help bridge innovation and impact by working with investors, startup founders, and policymakers to ensure that the U.S. remains the best and most competitive environment to build the future." Agarwala succeeds Byron Deeter, Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. "What set him apart was his deep interest in how policy shapes venture capital—and his determination to ensure our industry is fully engaged and impactful. Under his leadership, the board traveled to D.C. more in pursuit of building strong relationships with policymakers and reinforcing the critical connection between entrepreneurship and national competitiveness," said Franklin. NVCA also announced the appointment of eight new directors to its Board of Directors, each of whom will serve a four-year term from 2025-2029: Adam D'Augelli, True Ventures Alex Doll, Ten Eleven Ventures Alyssa Jaffee, 7wire Ventures Andrew Adams, Oak HC/FT Amy Wu Martin, Menlo Ventures Graham Brooks, .406 Ventures Navid Farzad, Frist Cressey Ventures Sandy Grippo, Bessemer Venture Partners The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) empowers the next generation of American companies that will fuel the economy of tomorrow. As the voice of the U.S. venture capital and startup community, NVCA advocates for public policy that supports the American entrepreneurial ecosystem. Serving the venture community as the preeminent trade association, NVCA arms the venture community for success, serving as the leading resource for venture capital data, practical education, peer-led initiatives, and networking. For more information about NVCA, please visit View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE National Venture Capital Association
News18
2 days ago
- Business
- News18
Bessemer Venture Partners appoints Pankaj Mitra as partner
Mumbai, Jun 4 (PTI) Bessemer Venture Partners on Wednesday announced the appointment of Pankaj Mitra as a partner in its India practice. Mitra joined the VC firm from Cisco and will be focusing primarily on investments in enterprise tech, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity, according to a statement. *** HDFC Bank to implement solid waste management systems in over 1,000 villages * Largest private sector lender HDFC Bank on Wednesday announced that it will implement solid waste management systems in over 1,000 villages and establish material recovery facilities in 15 urban local bodies this year. It also launched an awareness campaign aimed at customers, employees and the general public against plastic use, a statement said. *** Rohini Nilekani emerges as top woman philanthropist in India * With a donation of Rs 154 crore in FY25, Rohini Nilekani has emerged as the top woman philanthropist in the country, as per a report released on Wednesday. The top-10 givers spent Rs 464 crore on social upliftment during the year, as per the 2025 Candere Hurun India Women Leaders List, 2024. PTI AA SHW
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Business Standard
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Bessemer names Pankaj Mitra as partner to bolster India investments
Private equity firm Bessemer Venture Partners on Wednesday named Pankaj Mitra as a partner in its India division who will concentrate on investments in enterprise technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity. 'I am thrilled to join Bessemer at this pivotal time. The ongoing AI platform shift offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity for builders to usher in the next wave of tech evolution across industries,' said Mitra. 'With its stellar track record, Bessemer is poised to partner with this new generation of ambitious, world-class founders in India addressing pain points domestically and globally.' Mitra, who has more than 25 years of experience in technology, joins Bessemer from Cisco's corporate development team, where for seven years he led investments and mergers and acquisitions activity for the global customer experiences portfolio as well as for India. Some of his investments include Fiddler (AI observability), Uniphore (contact center AI), and Whatfix (digital adoption). Mitra worked at Infosys in a similar capacity and was part of the founding team for its $500 million innovation fund. His investments at Infosys included Ideaforge and Whoop. Earlier in his career, Mitra helped launch VMware's first cloud services as a product manager and was also a management consultant at Deloitte. Mitra is an Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur alumnus and holds an MBA from UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. 'Pankaj brings a breadth of experience which is a unique blend of investing prowess as well as deep industry knowledge,' said Vishal Gupta, Partner at Bessemer. 'This will be invaluable as we look to deepen our commitments in AI, enterprise-tech, and cybersecurity in India.' Bessemer has been in India for two decades and its legacy investments include Mediassist, Perfios, Swiggy and Urban Company. Some of its more recent partnerships have been with Boldfit, Easebuzz, Protectt, Shopdeck and more. Bessemer announced its second India fund with $350 million of capital in March this year with a focus on AI, fintech, enterprise-tech, digital health, consumer, and cybersecurity.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Bessemer Venture Partners hires Pankaj Mitra to lead AI, enterprise-tech bets in India
Live Events Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP) has appointed Pankaj Mitra as a partner in its India team. He will focus on investments in artificial intelligence (AI), enterprise technology, and cybersecurity The appointment comes shortly after the VC firm closed its second India-focused fund at $350 million in March. The fund is aimed at backing early-stage startups across the AI, software-as-a-service (SaaS), fintech, digital health, consumer brand, and cybersecurity an IIT Kharagpur alumnus, joins BVP from Cisco's corporate development team, where he spent the past seven years leading investments and M&A activity for the technology giant's global customer experience portfolio and for India. His portfolio included companies such as Fiddler, Uniphore, and he had worked with technology services company Infosys , where he was part of the founding team of its $500 million innovation fund and invested in companies such as Ideaforge and Whoop.'I am thrilled to join Bessemer at this pivotal time,' said Mitra. 'The ongoing AI platform shift offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity for builders to usher in the next wave of tech evolution across industries.'BVP began investing in India in 2006 and has backed over 80 startups in the country so far, including BigBasket, Urban Company, Livspace, and PharmEasy. The firm has seen nine Indian portfolio companies go public, including Swiggy, Indian Energy Exchange, and Bharat Bessemer manages over $18 billion in assets and has backed companies such as Pinterest, Shopify, Twilio, LinkedIn, DocuSign, Fiverr, and on the appointment, Vishal Gupta, partner at BVP, said, 'Pankaj brings a breadth of experience, which is a unique blend of investing prowess as well as deep industry knowledge. This will be invaluable as we look to deepen our commitments in AI, enterprise tech, and cybersecurity in India.'
Mint
3 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Bessemer Venture Partners appoints new partner to focus on AI, enterprise tech
Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP) has appointed Pankaj Mitra as a partner who will focus on the global venture capital firm's investments in artificial intelligence (AI), enterprise tech and cybersecurity in its India business. 'We think there's enormous potential for founders and companies that are being built out of India to address these sectors, both here as well as globally," Mitra told Mint. Also read: Indeed CEO Chris Hyams steps down: Here's one interview question he's asked 3,000 candidates and what the answers reveal Prior to joining the US-based investment company, Mitra worked at digital communications tech conglomerate Cisco, where he led the company's corporate development team, leading investments and M&A activity for its global customer experiences portfolio as well as for India. Notable investments made by him include digital adoption platform Whatfix, contact centre AI startup Uniphore and AI observability company Fiddler. Mitra was a founding member of the IT services giant Infosys' $500 million Innovation Fund. He was part of the team that invested in drone manufacturing company ideaForge, which went public in 2023. BVP's India thesis His appointment comes at a time when BVP is looking to double down on the AI opportunity in India. 'From a commitment perspective, as you can see, as Pankaj has come on board, we are doubling down," said Vishal Gupta, partner at BVP. Bessemer has been in India for two decades and has backed several startups, including Swiggy, Urban Company and Perfios. Earlier this year, the firm announced the close of its second India fund, worth $350 million, with a focus on AI, fintech, enterprise-tech, digital health, consumer, and cybersecurity. Also read: Job interview gone wrong: Indian-origin CEO's LinkedIn post goes viral; sparks Internet uproar 'Fintech and healthtech continue to be sort of two other areas that we are spending a tonne of time on, in terms of looking at deals," said Gupta. In the fintech space, BVP is focusing on the infrastructure software layer for the Indian ecosystem and is evaluating more companies this year. Meanwhile, in healthtech, the firm is eyeing investments in companies that are working on specific specialties as well as those that are disrupting the insurance ecosystem. Meanwhile, it'll continue to evaluate consumer brands, following its investment in D2C fitness brand Boldfit. Last year, Gupta told Mint that the firm expected investments in cybersecurity to take off in India. Cut to earlier this year, the global VC firm led a $8.7 million Series A round in mobile apps security startup Also read: 'Come with stories, talk about imperfections…' ex-Google recruiter on how to approach job interviews In fact, VC firms in the country have been looking at cybersecurity more closely this year, given that AI-based fraudulent activities have seen a sharp uptick.
