Ajay Railan, head of Indian private equity, passes away

An IIM-Ahmedabad alumnus, Relen was a partner in homegrown private equity fund Exponentia Capital, which he co-founded in 2018.

Prior to founding Xponentia, Relan was a managing partner at CX Partners, which raised a $550 million India fund in 2009. Prior to CX Partners, he founded Citigroup Venture Capital International (CVCI) in 1996.

Rylan was also a member of the CVCI team, which raised two global emerging market funds – $1.5 billion in 2005 and $4.3 billion in 2007. He was also on the board of HT Media, which is the parent of Mosaic Media, and publishes vCircle and Mint.

PE executives across the business and political spectrum are mourning his loss.

“Ajay was a legend. A good man who lived life on his own terms. A man who took the road less traveled. The kind of big brother who never carried his weight around. I will miss Ajay. But never forget him. And can’t thank him enough,” Ashish Dhawan, founder of ChrysCapital, said in an obituary on LinkedIn.

Sumeet Narang, Co-Founder, Samara Capital, said, “Today is a dark day in the history of the Indian private equity and venture capital industry in India; the untimely death of one of the industry’s pioneers, Ajay Relan, has left a deep void. ” said in a LinkedIn post on Friday evening.

“Ajay started the VC business in the mid-90s and private equity in the late 90s, which laid the foundation for the industry in India. Many of his supporters are leaders in the investment business today.”

During the CX days, Rylan was instrumental in building a team of operating partners to help support its portfolio with domain expertise. Railan had also roped in top managers like Jayant Basu and Viveka Bagchi to help them build a leading mid-market PE fund in India.

During his investment career, he had led and was involved in several deals with a total invested capital of over $ billion.

In 2015, Railan had decided to retire from the industry and handed over the day-to-day operations to his co-founder Jayant Basu. “I don’t want to be in a position for so many years when the firm has enough talent,” Rilen told VC Circle in 2015.

But Relan returned to the PE business in 2018 along with two other industry stalwarts who founded Xponentia Capital.

“A pioneer of our industry has left us,” said Harsh Singhal, Managing Director, DCPQ India, adding that Railan inspired many talented people to join the industry.

JM Trivedi, former India head of private equity firm Actis, said Rylan had a keen eye for a multibagger, who was willing to take the risk for the same. “I remember their bets on Lupine and Suzlon which proved to be a huge success for CVC.”

Rajeev Kalra, managing director and head of India, Rohtin Group, said he was a generous man and his generosity extended beyond his lifetime as Railan volunteered to donate his body and organs.