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Venture capital firm SAIF Partners has appointed Alok Goel as its managing director.
Goel will look at early-stage investments at SAIF Partners, which has $4 billion assets under management.
“SAIF Partners has one of the finest portfolios in the industry today. I am excited to be a part of this team and leverage my experience in Internet and mobile businesses to help early-stage companies become world-class businesses,” Goel said in a statement.
Prior to SAIF Partners, Goel was heading FreeCharge.in as chief executive officer and redBus.in as chief operating officer. While South African media house Naspers acquired redBus for $100 million in 2013, ecommerce major Snapdeal acquired FreeCharge for around $400 million in April this year.
Before redBus, Goel worked at Google for five years in various roles, including product management of Google Display Network. He was also heading search and mobile products in India, besides serving as product manager for search and Geo Local, India.
“Goel brings wealth of experience in business strategy, product, marketing, operations as well as P&L management. Having built and scaled successful Internet companies, his experience will be vital to our firm,” said Ravi Adusumalli, managing partner at SAIF.
SAIF Partners, which provides seed, early and growth-stage capital for emerging companies in India and China, began partnering entrepreneurs in India in 2002. Since then, it has backed over 40 companies in India, including MakeMyTrip, JustDial, PayTM, BookMyShow and Urbanladder.
