Our speakers

Sebastiaan van den Berg, Principal, HarbourVest Partners

Sebastiaan van den Berg joined HarbourVest's Hong Kong-based subsidiary in 2005 as a vice president and became a principal in 2009. He focuses on partnership investments in Asia Pacific and emerging markets. Sebastiaan joined the Firm from H&Q Asia Pacific where he focused on mid-market buyout transactions in Greater China, Korea, and Japan. His previous experience also includes positions with AlpInvest Partners N.V. in Amsterdam, Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C. in Hong Kong, and Goldman Sachs International in London. Sebastiaan serves on the advisory boards of several international private equity partnerships, including funds managed by Brait Capital Partners, Castle Harlan Australian Mezzanine Partners (CHAMP), CVC Capital Partners Asia Pacific, MKS Consulting, Unison Capital Partners, and Unitas Capital.

Sebastiaan received a Doctorandus degree in International Financial Economics from the Universiteit van Amsterdam in 1995 and an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 1996.  He speaks Dutch and French.

Sebastian Busche, Global Lead Partner Strategy - Financial Services & Insurance, Microsoft

Seedfund Bharati Jacob, Founder, Partner

Seema Jhingan, Senior Partner, LexCounsel, Law Offices

Seema Jhingan, a Senior Partner at LexCounsel, Law Offices, has more than seventeen years of experience. She has extensively advised in areas including Mergers & Acquisition, Telecommunications, Media & Entertainment, Venture Capital & Private Equity, Education, Licensing & Franchising, Software/IT, General Corporate and Commercial. Seema has substantial expertise in representing investors, developers, VC/PE funds, international corporations, sponsors/lenders and other strategic investors involved in the establishment, development and financing of infrastructure, education, IT and satellite projects in India.

Seema is recognized for her capability of structuring innovative investment models and has considerable transactional experience in representing investors, corporations and education companies on regulatory and licensing issues, complex acquisitions and divestments, investment structuring and exits, international collaborations and debt/equity funding, tax structuring and related documentation in the education sector ranging from formal sector (K12 to higher education) to non-formal sector (vocational programs, skill development, test prep, support services, content and multimedia providers and other unregulated areas).  

Additionally, Seema has been designated as a leading lawyer in the area of IT, Telecommunications & Media, by Asia Law and Practice and is a regular speaker at global and domestic forums. Seema is an author of several papers and published articles.

Seema Kakkar, MD, Remanika Apparels Pvt Ltd

Remanika, the brand  which stands for beautiful woman is what exactly Seema Kakkar's well known fashion brand has been catering to the fashion needs of young, vibrant and energetic woman in India for the last twenty years.

A graduate  in biology and wanting to become a doctor, Seema instead chose  to follow her passion of making bold independent  and stylish clothing line for the young women of India.

While pursuing her masters in marketing, Seema translated her dream and vision  into  successful brand and business that Remanika is today, spread over 36 cities and more than 160 outlets with a customer base that has since grown manifold. Carefully blending western cuts with traditional Indian embellishments, Remanika offers its customers casual wear, club wear and accessories with a distinct style and attitude.

Seema Pawaskar, Head CSR, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Limited

Senthil Natarajan, Managing Director, Kovai Pazhamudir Nilayam

Senthil Natarajan joined the Family Business “Kovai Pazhamudir Nilayam” in 2005 after completing M.Sc Software Engineering. Kovai Pazhamudir Nilayam, which had 6 branches spread in 3 cities in 2005 has now grown into a 50 outlet brand spread across 10 cities employing close to 1000 employees and is now expanding rapidly.

Kovai Pazhamudir Nilayam has not only extended its footprint in retail but also strengthened its backend by establishing itself into a strong sourcing and distribution company with state of the art warehouses. By now establishing a holding company, KPN Farm Fresh Private Limited to handle multiple arms of Imports, distribution and retailing, Senthil Natarajan aims at bringing global standards and more varieties to Indian consumers’ doorsteps.

@senthilsmiles

Seshu Kumar, Head - Rural Retailing, ITC Ltd

Seshu Kumar , Head , Rural Retailing , at ITC - International Business Division had graduated from IIM Ahmedabad 20 yearsback. He had an initial grounding in Sales and Distribution in Asian Paints Ltd. in Sales and Distribution before moving to the then fledgling Retail Industry as Manager - Retailing with Walt Disney India Ltd.

His tenure as part of a start up team with Walt Disney helped him learn all areas of Retailing including Systems, Processes for controlling chain stores, Visual Merchandising and how to create a fun experience in a retail store for the target segment i.e. children.

He followed up his start up experience in Walt Disney with a small stint as Consultant with KSA Technopak at KSA Technopak and then again joined a start up team in 2000 - this time in e-tailing industry with Fabmall.com (then Fabmart.com). Having quickly understood that Food Retailing is a bigger opportunity, Mr.Seshu Kumar spearheaded Fabmall’s foray into setting up the chain of Fabmall Supermarkets in Bangalore.

Mr.Seshu Kumar has joined ITC in 2004 and is spearheading ITC IBD’s initiative to set up a Chain of 700 Rural Hypermarkets over the next 10 years. During the last 6 years he had set up 24 Choupal Sagars and had built the Team, Systems and Processes to support the Mega Expansion.

Shachindra Nath, Group CEO, Religare Enterprises Limited

Shachindra Nath (Group Chief Executive Officer) Religare Enterprises Ltd., carries the overall responsibility for leading all pivotal operations and businesses of the group. He has been associated with Religare since the year 2000 and has been instrumental in building various businesses under the Religare umbrella from scratch. His strategic agility coupled with a hands on approach has been a key to Religare’s growth and success over the years. With a career span of more than 20 years, Shachindra is a highly accomplished professional backed by an exemplary academic record.

He is a University rank holder for his Bachelor’s degree in Law from the Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. He also went on to pursue a Post Graduate diploma in Intellectual Property Rights from the Amity Law College, Delhi.

Prior to joining Religare; Shachindra has worked in the manufacturing and financial services sector in various capacities.

Shafaq Uraizee Sapre, Executive Partner, Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan attorneys

Ms. Shafaq Uraizee Sapre is an Executive Partner in Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan and heads the Corporate Practice for the Western and Southern India region. Her practice includes a variety of domestic and international transactions with a focus on providing an integrated solution to clients. She has assisted several Indian and foreign clients in forming joint ventures, strategic collaborations and has also advised them from an Indian legal and regulatory perspective. She has advised major international businesses with their investment strategies, structuring and setting up of their operations in India. She has represented large and medium size companies from Germany and other European countries, in structuring their India business strategies and setting up of their operations in India.

She has advised large domestic and international companies in their inbound and outbound mergers and acquisitions. She has assisted several international and domestic venture capital and private equity funds with respect to the legal aspects of structuring and restructuring investments in India and globally across a multitude of sectors. She has led several legal due diligence teams and renders opinions on issues concerning litigation, arbitration, doing business in India and on contract laws. She has advised clients in relation to transactions involving structured finance and also represented clients in the real estate sector while acting for private equity investors, individual domestic and NRI investors and developers.

Shafaq has about 17 years of experience. She started her career as a litigating counsel for 6 years and thereafter, she was the Head of Joint Ventures at Nishith Desai Associates for 8 years. She was a partner at Bharucha & Partners before joining L&S in 2016.

Shafaq has spoken at several Indian and foreign conferences such as at the conferences organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry, General Counsel Summits and the Munich Private Equity Training 2010 (MUPET 2010). She actively writes for publications such as the International Financial Law Review (IFLR), Indian Business Law Journal (IBLJ), and Indian Venture Capital Journal (IVCJ)