Padmanabh (Paddy) is a veteran of the Indian investing ecosystem with a proven track record of building out leading institutions and businesses in India. He has over 25 years of work experience, primarily in private equity investments since 2002, and also as an early tech entrepreneur in India. His investment experience spans across sectors including consumer, industrial, technology, business services, and financial services. He joined NIIF in 2021 as Executive Director and CIO and is based in Mumbai. At NIIF, he manages the private equity business and the Strategic Opportunities Fund, presently the largest India-focused growth oriented private equity fund.

Prior to joining NIIF, he was with Tata Group’s flagship private equity fund, the Tata Opportunities Fund, as its Managing Partner and co-founder. He was instrumental in raising the fund successfully in 2013 at ~USD 600 million with investments from marquee global investors, making it the then largest India focused PE fund.

Paddy was the Managing Director – India for Temasek where he co-founded and co-led the India office during its successful build-out phase in India. In his stint with Temasek from 2004 onwards Paddy consummated several investments in India, and additionally led large international projects, including Temasek’s entry into life insurance investments globally.

Padmanabh was an early tech entrepreneur in India and was one of the founding members of eGurucool.com, an Ed-tech business focused on online and hybrid Test prep for Grade 9-12. Paddy started his professional career journey with a JP Morgan-ICICI investment banking joint venture in 1995.

Padmanabh holds a Bachelor in Engineering degree in Computer Science from BITS, Pilani, and is an MBA from IIM, Calcutta. He completed an Executive Development Course in Late Stage Private Equity from Harvard Business School in 2003.