Our speakers

Rakesh Kapoor, Managing Director, IFCI Factors

Rakesh Kapoor is a Techno-financial professional with over 30 years experience in the Corporate and Financial sector. He has experience for about 20 years in project financing with IFCI, a premier financial Institution in various capacities (presently Chief General Manager) and dealt with various projects across different sectors viz. Steel, Cement, Chemicals, Textile, Sugar/co-generation/ethanol and also oil and infrastructure projects. He has also represented IFCI on various High Level Committees set up by Government of India relating to Sugar/Co-generation/ ethanol and textile sector. With effect from July, 2008 Rakesh has been deputed as Managing Director with IFCI Factors Limited, a subsidiary of IFCI, which is involved in the business of factoring i.e. short-term receivables financing.

Rakesh Malhotra, Founder, SAR Group & Managing Partner, Ncubate Capital Partners

Mr. Rakesh Malhotra studied to be an engineer and after a brief stint in the industry, decided to become an entrepreneur. Starting in 1998, he built Luminous Power Technologies into a leading Indian brand for inverters and Uninterrupted Power Systems.

After divesting a 74% stake in Luminous Power Technologies to French major Schneider Electric for INR 1,400 crore in 2011, Mr. Malhotra has expanded the SAR Group across sectors like Water Purification, Energy Storage, Clean Energy, Telecom and Electricals.

The Group’s investment arm, Ncubate Capital, partners with PE/VC firms to invest capital across multiple entrepreneurial ventures.

Apart from his strong capabilities in technology, manufacturing, supply chain, distribution and brand development, Mr. Malhotra has a very deep understanding of entrepreneurial environment in the country.

Rakesh Malhotra, Founder, SAR Group of Companies & , Managing Partner, SAR Family Office

Range of Experience
Mr. Rakesh Malhotra, Founder, SAR Group, carries an illustrious business background spanning close to 28 years of experience in the field of design, development & marketing of power conditioning & electronics products, telecom equipment & projects, corporate management, human resource development, financial management, venture negotiations and business leadership. Mr. Rakesh Malhotra studied to be an engineer (B.E.) and after a brief stint in the industry (Siemens, Nelco and Mitsui) decided to become an entrepreneur who built Luminous Power Technologies (founded in 1988) from scratch. After entering into a joint venture with Schneider Electric in 2011 through majority stake sale of Luminous Power Technologies, he decided to start all over again. He is incubating a number of new businesses - Water, Energy Storage, Renewable Energy and B2B Ecommerce. He brings strong capabilities in technology, manufacturing, supply chain, distribution and brand development, besides a very deep understanding of entrepreneurial environment in the country. He also has wide experience in building brands and distribution in India, Asia and Africa with five successful businesses. Livpure Pvt. Ltd., (founded in 2012) one of the key ventures in the SAR Group, was established by him with a vision to be a global leader in water purification driven by innovative technology and excellence in manufacturing and services. Livguard Energy Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (founded in 2014) is the second incubation of the Group established with a vision to become a global energy storage venture.  

Additional Background Information
Rakesh is a  B.E. (Electronics & Telecom) graduate from Jadavpur University in West Bengal and a highly successful serial entrepreneur, Since then he has been instrumental in founding several other ventures in areas such as Electric Vehicle and Electric Drive Train, Engineering Design Outsourcing, Telecom Energy Efficiency and Mobile Handsets Manufacturing.

Mr. Malhotra regularly spends time with B school /engineering students across the country to share experiences and to develop interest in entrepreneurship among students. He serves on various industry and technology committees and regularly presents papers at conferences in the power space. He has many patent applications to his credit in the field of power electronics, storage and renewable energy.

Mr. Malhotra is a family person & loves to spend good quality time with his family. He is very fond of travelling, listening music and business reading.

Rakesh Pande, CEO, Kaya Skin Care Ltd

Rakesh Pandey, 50, is the Chief Executive Officer, Kaya Ltd. A Bachelor of Technology (Honours) in Chemical Engineering from ITBHU, he has also attended Management Development Programmes at University of Michigan (USA) and IIM-Ahmedabad amongst other centres of management excellence.

Rakesh has over 25 years of experience in India and Europe in the arenas of Projects, Manufacturing, Business Development, TQM, HR and Business Strategy. This included stints at British Oxygen, UK, Indian Oxygen and Hindustan Levers Ltd.Through his experience and knowledge, Rakesh has contributed hugely to the success of the companies that he has been with.

Rakesh Pandey has been the Chief Executive Officer of Kaya Skin Care ltd since 2002., the first service business foray for the company. As CEO of the Kaya Skin Clinic both for India and International, he aims to bring effective and innovative skin solutions to the Indian consumer, backed by world class technology and service and also extend the Kaya brand to other innovative solutions for the consumer.

Rakesh Pozhath, Partner, Bain & Company (Moderator)

Rakesh Pozhath is a Partner in Bain & Company’s Bengaluru office and is a leading member in the Financial Services practice in India. He has deep expertise in payments, transaction banking, banking tech, blockchain, fintech, and retail/SME lending. He is also an active contributor to the firm's Customer and Enterprise Technology practices. With nearly a decade of experience in management consulting, Rakesh has worked closely with multiple global and Indian payment infrastructure providers and large banks on real-time A2A payments, credit cards, and payment tech. He has led multi-year customer experience and digital transformation programs for top-tier regional and local banks, serving clients across India, Southeast Asia, and Europe. Rakesh has notable experience in advising clients on a variety of issues, including growth strategy, customer experience transformation, digital transformation, new product design and monetization, operating model redesign, and performance improvement. He earned an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, and a B. Tech in Computer Science from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.

Rakesh Pozhath, Partner, Bain & Company

Rakesh R Sony, Global Head - Strategy and M&A, Tata Consumer Products Limited

Rakesh Sony, Director, Proterra Investment Advisors India Pvt. Ltd.

Rakesh is the Director and head of India operations of Proterra investment partners. Proterra Investment Partners is an alternative investment manager focused on private equity investments in the natural resources sectors of agriculture, food, and metals and mining. It manages ~$2.2 bn across various strategies. 

Rakesh has over 18 years of experience of investments in mid market private equity space. Prior to Proterra, he was the partner at Motilal Oswal PE. Rakesh is a qualified CA and a graduate from St Xavier's Kolkata.

Rakesh Sony, Director, Motilal Oswal Private Equity

Rakesh Sony joined MOPE in October 2008 and actively involved in fund deployment and portfolio monitoring. With over 12 years of experience in capital market, he has expertise in enabling closely held businesses evolve into professionally run corporate organization through pragmatic resolution of family ownership, succession planning, corporate governance and the delegation of management responsibilities. He has entrepreneurial experience as co-founder and Managing Director of Microsec Capital- the largest investment bank in Eastern India

At MOPE, Rakesh is responsible for deal sourcing ,investing, portfolio company monitoring and effectuating exit the portfolio companies. He represents the Fund on the board of Parag Milk Foods, Effort BPO, Powermech, Mrs Bector Foods and Minda Industries

Rakesh is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and is  a graduate of the prestigious St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata

Rakesh Sony, Global Head of Strategy and M&A, Tata Global Beverages

Rakesh is Global Head- Strategy and M&A at TGB, responsible for development and deployment of strategies for the Organization, delivery of new businesses/acquisitions/ alliances to drive the sustainable, profitable growth agenda of our Company.

Rakesh joined Tata Global Beverages in 2017 and is based out of Mumbai. Rakesh with over 20 years of experience, has held key leadership roles in the Financial Services industry such as the Director & India head of Proterra Investment Partners and Partner at Motilal Oswal PE Fund. He has led over a dozen successful investments in the food and consumer space in India and has assisted Companies in their strategic transformation process.

He is a Chartered Accountant and a graduate from St Xavier’s College, Kolkata.