IIM-A: Venture Capital & Private Equity conference on Feb 6-7

With the regime of low interest rates, rapid economic growth, easy leverage and rising portfolio company valuations ceasing to exist, tough economic times lie ahead. The market sentiments are at an all time low and this crisis of investor confidence has forced capital markets to come face to face with the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. This entire economic conundrum is going to have far reaching implications for the private equity and the venture capital industry. The summit will take a closer look at these implications by focusing on the central theme. The entire VC & PE sector will be analyzed not only from the investorsa perspective but also from the perspective of different industries that benefit from the financing and guidance provided by the VC & PE sector. Special emphasis will be laid on seeing the impact and effectiveness of the VC & PE sector in emerging economies like India, especially in the light of the current credit squeeze. Questions like whether PEs are all about financial engineering or do they create value in the portfolio companies and does the current scenario warrant a paradigm shift in the way the PE and VC firms will function, will be discussed.

A highlight of Leverage 2009 will be the B-Plan showcase which is being organized in association with Epiphany Ventures. Epiphany Ventures is a Sector Agnostic Fund, with a size of $25 Million. The Fund will focus on early stage investments, but is also looking at investing in later stages if the opportunity is suitable. Mr Gaurav Saraf is the Director of the Fund and Mr Rishi Khosla is the advisor for the Fund. Entries will go through an evaluation process after which the top 10 teams will be invited to present their plans to industry experts, academicians and investors.

Leverage 2009 is guided by an advisory committee, which includes the following members:

a Prof. Ajay Pandey a Professor of Finance at IIM-A and Chairperson of the Post Graduate Program in Management. He is also the chief advisor to Leverage 2009.

a Prof. Jayanth R. Varma a Professor, IIMA. Director on board of Infosys BPO, Axis Bank Limited, Onmobile Global Ltd.

a Prof. Anil K. Gupta a Executive Vice-Chair of National Innovation Foundation set up by Dept. of Science and Technology, GoI.

a Sandeep Singhal – Nexus India Capital a Apart from Nexus, Sandeep is also the co-founder and Managing Director of eVentures, a Venture Capital firm focused on early stage investments in India since 1999.