New Delhi, April 10 -- Claypond Capital, the family investment office of Manipal Hospitals chairman Ranjan Pai, has appointed Sekhar Garisa, former chief executive officer of homegrown job portal Foundit (formerly Monster.com), as its managing director.
This marks the first time Claypond has introduced the position of managing director. Sekhar will work closely with the firm's portfolio companies, VCCircle has learnt.
The appointment comes as the family office, formed after Temasek acquired a $2 billion (Rs 16,694 crore) stake in Manipal Health Enterprises in April 2023, continues to strengthen its leadership structure.
In January, Claypond brought on board Shravan Subramanyam, former managing director at Wipro-GE Healthcare, to lead strategy and execution of its medtech platform.
Sekhar has nearly two decades of experience across entrepreneurship and leadership roles spanning FMCG, consumer internet, high-tech, and consulting sectors.
At Claypond, he moves from Quess Corp, where he served as president of product businesses and CEO of Foundit Asia Pacific and Middle East for over four years. Quess Corp acquired Monster's India, Southeast Asia and Middle East businesses in 2018 and renamed it.
Prior to Quess, Sekhar was senior director of partner development at Microsoft. He began his career at P&G, working to expand its distribution network, followed by stints at McKinsey and United Telecom, where he led corporate strategy, M&A, and new business development as vice president. He also co-founded Indian sports specialty retail venture Sports365, alongside prominent Indian athletes. Sekhar holds an engineering degree from NIT Warangal and an MBA from IIM Lucknow.
Claypond Capital has been steadily strengthening its leadership bench since last year as it seeks to accelerate its startup investment strategy.
Under Shravan's leadership, Claypond has already made two medtech investments. In one such deal, the family office acquired Goldman Sachs' stake in BPL Medical Technologies Pvt. Ltd, VCCircle reported last year.
The firm is currently laying the groundwork for a dedicated medical devices and technology platform. The strategy includes expanding through strategic acquisitions driven by its portfolio company, BPL Medical Technologies.
As part of this vision, Claypond acquired medical equipment maker Panacea Medical Technologies Pvt. Ltd in February this year-its second control-oriented deal in the medtech space.
Earlier, the family investment office appointed former Fireside Ventures executive Shreyans Gangwal as a senior vice president. The firm had also roped in Shyam Powar, a PE industry veteran in December 2023, as its chief investment officer.
Claypond ramped up the pace of its investments soon after the Manipal Group's promoter family pared its shareholding in Manipal Hospitals.
Following the stake sale, a media report had said that Pai was looking to deploy over $300 million (Rs 2,500 crore) in India's startups in the form of 'confidence capital' as funding dries up for these enterprises. So far, Pai is believed to have invested in over 20 startups.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.