Ascent Capital Team

Having founded one of the first independent private equity firms in India, Raja has spent over two decades working with India’s finest entrepreneurs to build category-defining businesses. Raja is most passionate about finding bold/ambitious founders, and helping them chart a course for long-term success. He has served on the boards of many public and private companies including those where Ascent Capital was the first institutional investor, such as Big Basket, India’s largest Online Supermarket. Over the span of four distinct growth equity funds, Raja has led unique investments and overseen successful exits across multiple market cycles. Previously, Raja served as a senior officer in the Indian Civil Services, as Commissioner of Income Tax, as Regional Director of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), India’s capital markets regulator, and as an Executive Director of a Mutual Fund AMC. During his service with SEBI, he oversaw the launch of hundreds of IPOs, regulated market intermediaries and was associated as an active member of SEBI’s Advisory Committees. Raja holds an M.Sc and an M.Phil in Science and is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program from Harvard Business School.