Introduction

VCCircle, an independent source of news, views and data for the investment ecosystem, will turn five in November 2010, standing testimony to the frenetic growth of India's private equity industry. VCCircle has been at the forefront playing a significant role in building the ecosystem and celebrating the spirit of entrepreneurship in the last five defining years of the Indian PE industry.

Why do we call this period (2005-10) defining and eventful for VC/PE investing in India? One, the numbers tell a story of the enormous capital infusion into India's growth engine. Since 2005, sample this, there have been more than 2,300 private equity deals in India with disclosed deal values of $51 billion. Besides, more than 300 private equity funds have set up shop in India.

Two, what is more significant is the kind of enterprises that the PE industry bet on back then. Some of those early bets seem to have paid off with many of the hitherto untapped sectors becoming mainstream today such as microfinance, hospitality and education emerging hottest themes for private equity.

Three, this period witnessed both a phenomenal boom time and suffered in the aftermath of the world's severe economic slowdown post September 2008. The industry, which was treading cautiously and guarding its fund flow on 2009, appears to have now placed its optimistic foot forward if deal value and volume data in 2010 is any indicator. The first three quarters of 2010 have seen 295 deals worth $7.2 billion being announced.

Four, the last five years have also been about the emergence of “People Capital” in Private Equity. We have seen a rise of entrepreneurial funds floated by homegrown pros with a proven track record.

VCCircle, which has archived all these trends through its daily coverage of the ecosystem over the last five years, announces "VCCircle HIGH-FIVE" to commemorate the spirit of the industry with all the stakeholders.

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