The Woman in Private Equity This is one industry where you are constantly meeting really smart people who are creating innovative solutions for the future - there is continuous learning and intellectual stimulation which I enjoy immensely: Nupur Garg, WinPE

Win PE is a not-for-profit platform, which promotes transformation in the investing world in favour of gender diversity. Nupur Garg is also a Private Equity Investor and Independent Board Member. Currently, she is on the Investment Committee of 3 LPs and through them, invested in a number of PE-VC funds in India and globally these include NIIF, DGGF and Govt of India's FFS managed by SIDBI.

According to Nupur, "This is one industry where you are constantly meeting really smart people who are creating innovative solutions for the future - there is continuous learning and intellectual stimulation which I enjoy immensely." She joined the industry when it was reeling under the aftermath of the GFC and currency depreciation, with a global perception that was fast becoming negative. From there, she has seen the turnaround, the growth in the start-up ecosystem, successful investments and fantastic exits. Another aspect of her journey has been keeping a global perspective, especially on emerging markets. Each market is unique and has offered new insights to her, and at the same time, there are so many cross-learnings and principles that stay common. Having this global perspective and learning has helped her mature as an investor. Talking about her investment thesis, she says, "I like to back people with a 10 year vision because investing is not about what is hot today, but about what will be hot when it is time to exit investments. People with a deep understanding of the macro dynamics of their sectors and businesses as well as the ability to manage operational aspects. I am excited when people are trying something new or filling white spaces."

When she joined IFC, it had a typical DFI portfolio, and it was underperforming with a negative outlook. Changing the portfolio mix, adding new strategies, new sectors and new approaches was not very easy to accomplish. She rebuilt the portfolio into a profitable one, with a positive outlook. "I also believe strongly in the 'gut' feeling when it comes to taking investment decisions - I have tested my gut feeling repeatedly and have my personal anti-portfolio. There are times when you feel uncomfortable with an investment even when everything looks good on paper. My experience says, trust that instinct," adds Garg.

So far, she has made 70 investments. As per her, PEVC as an industry will continue to see growth and increased activity. Businesses are stronger coming out of the pandemic, having been tested by fire, and those with newly acquired agility + flexibility will be able to show rapid growth. The pandemic also precipitated an increased adoption of technology across the board and she is looking forward to increased innovation in products and services. This disruption also means that many business models will become unviable. "At the larger end, I expect to see greater consolidation in businesses and also an increased number of carve-outs/ buy-outs take place. Another interesting trend is to see the gap between PE and VC start to merge, and PE firms get more actively invested in tech companies showing scale and profitability that is attractive to growth investors," concludes Nupur.