Our team comprises of 70 years of combined investment and leadership operating experience. We spend over 50% of our time with our investee companies as their trustworthy partners. We operate within a strong and active network of entrepreneurs, investors, leading businesses and international relationships that are made available to our investee companies at all times.
Gautam is the Founder & Managing Partner of Z3Partners. He has been a pioneer in Digital & Tech investing in India over the last 20 years with significant operating experience.
Prior to founding Z3Partners Tech Fund, Gautam has been the co-founder of Zodius Technology Fund and Zodius Technology Opportunities Fund, successful early-growth stage Private Equity Funds with a track record of investing in industry leaders (Investee Companies: Antuit (sold to Zebra Technologies) BigBasket (sold to TATA), Pepperfry (sold to secondary Fund), OfBusiness (partial sale to Tiger Global), Medgenome (partial sale to IFC), Zivame (sold to Reliance Industries), Cyfirma, etc). Prior to Zodius, Gautam was the Managing Director and Head of India for Battery Ventures, a Venture Capital and Private Equity Fund (Investee Companies: TechProcess (sale to Ingenico), etc.). Prior to that he was part of the leadership team at iGATE, a Nasdaq-listed IT and BPO Services Company. At iGATE, Gautam and the core executive team turned the business around from 3% margins to 18%+ in four years. Gautam also worked as Vice President at eVentures India, an early stage Venture Capital Fund backed by Softbank and Newscorp (Investee Companies: MakeMyTrip (IPO), NetMagic (sale to NTT), FirstSource (IPO), etc.). Prior to this, Gautam was part of the investment team at IndOcean Chase Capital, being one of the earliest growth stage Private Equity Funds in India (Investee Companies: HDFC Bank, Domino’s Pizza, etc.). Gautam started his career in Investment Banking in the US with Lazard Freres. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin.
Rishi Maheshwari is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Z3Partners. Rishi is a senior investment professional with 19+ years of private equity, public equity and investment banking experience gained in the US, India and the Middle East.
Before joining Z3Partners, Rishi served as an Investment Director at White Oak Group, a leading investment management firm managing approx. US$ 6 billion under AuM. In addition to serving as a senior member of the investment team, Rishi was instrumental in the firm’s foray into the mutual fund industry through the acquisition of Yes Bank AMC.
Prior to his current role, Rishi served as a Managing Director of The Abraaj Group and led the deal execution team in South Asia. He led investment strategy development, local relationship management, deal sourcing & execution and portfolio monitoring (including board participation). During his tenure, Rishi successfully worked on some of the landmark private equity transactions in the region, including the partnership with the Aditya Birla Group to develop a gigawatt-scale solar energy platform, a majority stake in Care Hospitals, a leading healthcare provider in India and a leading investor in Big Basket, India’s foremost online grocery business (sold to the Tata Group). Formerly, Rishi was a senior associate with Candover Investments in India.
Rishi started his career in the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs & Co. in New York before moving to India as a part of Goldman’s start-up team. At Goldman Sachs, Rishi was a part of the Industrials Group and was involved in 10+ transactions, including sell-side and buy-side M&As, bank & bond financings and equity offerings.
Rishi holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from Indiana University, Bloomington.
Yusuf is a Senior Partner and CFO at Z3Partners and is responsible for the Finance and Compliance functions. He has over 27 years of leadership experience across strategic finance, financial control, supply chain finance, reporting / documentation and risk management.
Prior to joining Z3Partners, Yusuf was a Finance Leader with Colgate Palmolive India Ltd. for 22 years in Asia Pacific; reporting to the India CFO. At Colgate, he led the funding-the-growth program for 3 years which resulted in savings of USD 75 million over the period. Yusuf started his career in Audit with A.F. Ferguson & Co., where he participated in the audit of clients like Kodak, Cadbury, Wyeth, ANZ Grindlays Bank among others. Yusuf holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Mumbai and is a qualified Chartered Accountant from The Institute of Chartered Accounts of India.
Avinash is a Vice President in the Investment Team at Z3Partners. He comes with strong analytical and research capabilities, and leads Investments and Portfolio Management.
Prior to joining Z3Partners, Avinash worked with Deloitte in their Financial Due Diligence practice and KPMG in Statutory Audit, during which time he was engaged with multiple companies in the technology and digital sector. Avinash holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Narsee Monjee College, University of Mumbai and is a qualified Chartered Accountant from The Institute of Chartered Accounts of India.
Prabhu is an Investment Associate at Z3Partners and is responsible for sourcing new deals and portfolio management. He has over 5 years of experience in growth, marketing, GTM, operations, product management, and strategy consulting.
Prior to joining Z3Partners, Prabhu was a Growth Manager at Urban Company, focusing on the Salon & Spa categories in India. At Urban Company, Prabhu conceptualised & led multiple growth channels to achieve 3X growth in the core categories. He also launched and handled end-to-end brand & product marketing for several categories. Prior to this, Prabhu worked as a Strategy consultant at IndSight, where he worked closely with the partner on several market entry, growth, M&A, route-to-market, product innovation, pricing cases across several top Indian & global MNCs. Prabhu holds a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University.
Jainam is an Assistant Vice President in the Finance Team at Z3Partners and supports Yusuf on the Finance and Compliance functions. He has over 3 years of experience in direct tax and regulatory services across private equity funds and their investee companies.
Prior to joining Z3Partners, Jainam worked with PwC in advising corporate clients engaged in green infrastructure and logistics. Jainam holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Mumbai. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant from The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and a qualified Company Secretary from The Institute of Company Secretaries of India.
Scarlett is an Executive Assistant to the Managing Partners and Office Manager at Z3Partners. She has over 12 plus years of experience as an Executive Assistant and in different Administration domains.
Prior to joining Z3Partners, Scarlett worked at Excel Productions Audio Visuals as the Executive Assistant to the Managing Directors. She has also been associated with firms such as Rain Brand Entertainment, Epitome Global Services, Lehman Brothers and DSP Merrill Lynch in the past.
