About the Winpe Leadership Awards 2024
The Winpe Leadership Awards honor firms and individuals that are breaking new ground through gender-inclusive policies in the world of private equity and venture capital.
By appreciating the efforts of high-performers to drive sustainable change, the annual awards ceremony generates incentives, builds momentum, and encourages motivation to work towards more wide-ranging gender reform across the length and breadth of the industry.
The 2024 edition of the Winpe Awards will highlight 10 winners who have demonstrated their commitment to ensuring better prospects for women. Selecting our award winners is a jury of eminent global leaders who possess deep industry knowledge and experience in building gender-diverse businesses.
Award Categories
Firm of the Year - Private Equity
Firm of the Year - Venture Capital
PE Backed Company of the Year
VC Backed Company of the Year
Investor of the Year - Male, Private Equity
Investor of the Year - Male, Venture Capital
Investor of the Year - Female, Private Equity
Investor of the Year - Female, Venture Capital
Award Guidelines
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- The Awards Categories are open to all Private Equity and Venture Capital firms having an India team, and their portfolio companies based in India
- There are four types of awards: Firm of the year, Portfolio Company of the Year, Deal of the Year, and Investor of the year. Winners will be adjudged separately for private equity/ venture capital; and male/ female where applicable. You can apply for/ nominate a firm, a portfolio company or an individual in any number of categories
- The scoring criteria will be based on the parameters like Diversity Commitment, Diversity Initiatives, Diversity Numbers, Policy Impact, and Business Performance. The idea of the award is to recognize the commitment to change and impact, it is not driven by numbers.
- The submitted work must state recognisable actions/steps taken in calendar year 2023 towards achieving tangible results
- The last date to submit entries for the Awards is 15th January 2024
- Nominees are required to fill in all the mandatory fields
- Nominees must share a sample of the relevant work in AV, PDFs, Links, Social Media posts etc.
- Only those entries that are duly filled will be considered for the award
- Wrongly categorized entries will not be considered for shortlisting
- There is no application/nomination fee
Jury
Kunal Sood
Managing Director,
Pantheon’s Asia Investment Team
Kunal Sood
Managing Director,Pantheon’s Asia Investment Team
Kunal is a Managing Director in Pantheon’s Asia Investment team and a member of the Asia Investment Committee. Kunal is involved in all aspects of Pantheon’s activities in Asia and is responsible for primary (fund), secondary and co-investment opportunities across Asia-Pacific markets. Prior to Pantheon, Kunal was at a middle-market direct private equity investment firm and previously at CITI Group and ICICI Bank. He has a Masters from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi and a Bachelors in Engineering from Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology. Kunal is a member of the Limited Partners Council and Secondaries Special Interest Group for India Venture Capital Association (IVCA). Kunal was previously based in Hong Kong and is now based in Singapore.
Ralph Keitel
Head of Fund of Funds,
responsAbility's
Ralph Keitel
Head of Fund of Funds,responsAbility's
Prior to assuming the role as CIO for SIFEM (the Swiss DFI) in March 2023, Ralph was Principal Investment Officer in the Private Equity and Investment Funds department of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group. During his 16-year tenure, he headed IFC’s private equity fund activities in Eastern Europe, Africa, Latin America and East Asia and was based in Washington DC, Johannesburg and Singapore.
Prior to joining IFC, Ralph was with Caisse de Dépot et Placement de Québec (CDP) in Montréal, where he managed a portfolio of venture capital funds in North America and Europe. Previously, he spent nearly 5 years with TBG (now part of the KfW Group, Frankfurt), providing seed early-stage venture capital financing for technology start-up companies before assuming responsibility for TBG’s portfolio of funds.
Ralph holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Bonn (Germany) as well as a post-graduate degree in Finance and Management (Dean’s Honour List) from McGill University in Montreal (Canada).
2023 Winners
Asian Footwears
Deal of the Year
Private Equity
String Bio
Deal of the Year
Venture Capital
Hyperface
Deal of the Year
Venture Capital
Firm of the Year
Private Equity
Firm of the Year
Venture Capital
Nithya Easwaran,
Multiples Alternate Asset
Management Private Limited
Investor of the Year
Female - Private Equity
Sushma Kaushik,
Aavishkaar Capital
Investor of the Year
Female - Venture Capital
Ashley Menezes,
ChrysCapital
Private Equity Leader of the Year - Male
Kanwaljit Singh,
Fireside Ventures
Investor of the Year
Male - Venture Capital
PeopleStrong
Portfolio Company of the Year
Private Equity
Omidyar Network
Portfolio Company of the Year
Venture Capital
2023 Jury
Harisha Koneru Haigh
Managing Director, Private Investments & Real Assets,
Northwestern University Investment Office
Harisha Koneru Haigh
Managing Director, Private Investments & Real Assets,Northwestern University Investment Office
Skilled allocator with 25+ years of investment experience. Last 17 years in the Endowment & Foundation sphere. Lead sourcing, underwriting and management of managers across asset classes. Experienced in asset allocation and liquidity management. Key member of leadership team that led NU’s Investment Office during CIO transition. Track record of hiring, training and mentoring junior and midlevel professionals. Lead diversity initiatives for NU’s Investment Office.
Hemal Mirani
Managing Director,
HarbourVest Partners
Hemal Mirani
Managing Director,HarbourVest Partners
Hemal first joined HarbourVest in 1997 and spent eleven years developing relationships with leading Asian private equity managers and working with our investors and consultants across the region to advance and optimize their private market investment programs. She rejoined HarbourVest after six years with CVC Capital Partners in Hong Kong, where she was head of investor relations in Asia and Chief Administrative Officer.
Hemal received a BA in Commerce from Sydenham College (Bombay) in 1989, an MA in International Studies with a Japanese language concentration from the Joseph H. Lauder Institute, and an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School in 1997. The latter two were part of a joint degree program at the University of Pennsylvania. Hemal speaks fluent Japanese.
Kanchan Samtani
Managing Director & Senior Partner,
India Leader – Principal Investors & Private Equity,
Boston Consulting Group
Kanchan Samtani
Managing Director & Senior Partner,India Leader – Principal Investors & Private Equity,
Boston Consulting Group
Kanchan is based in Mumbai and serves as an Executive Committee member for Boston Consulting Group, the firm’s apex decision-making body globally. She leads BCG’s Transactions & Integrations practice in APAC. She has also founded and leads BCG’s Principal Investors and Private Equity practice in India.
Kanchan has more than 20 years’ experience in management consulting primarily across TMT (technology, media & telecom) and private equity. Over the last 5 years, she has worked closely with most leading private equity investors in India, advising them on portfolio strategy, pre-deal diligence etc. She also works extensively with corporates as well as growth stage companies on topics spanning the transaction lifecycle e.g. fund raise / IPO, M&A, post-merger integration and divestitures.
She received her MBA degree from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta.
Maninder Saluja
Partner, Head of Private Equity Funds & Co- Investments, Executive Committee Member,
Quilvest Capital Partners
Maninder Saluja
Partner, Head of Private Equity Funds & Co- Investments, Executive Committee Member,Quilvest Capital Partners
Mani is a Partner at Quilvest Private Equity and Head of Funds & Co- Investments globally. He joined Quilvest in New York in 2005 and opened Quilvest's Hong Kong office in 2010. He is a member of the Executive Committee.
While at Quilvest, Mani developed the Asia and emerging market private equity programs and currently oversees Fund & Co-Investments globally, with a particular focus on Asia and the United States. Mani initially joined Quilvest in NY as a member of the direct investment team focused on lead and co-investments primarily in the United States.
Prior to joining Quilvest, Mani worked at Alvarez & Marsal, a prominent crisis management and restructuring advisory firm, where he worked with creditors and distressed companies in various operational and financial turnaround situations.
Prior to A&M, Mani worked as the Director of Finance and Strategic Planning for a data center and data communications provider in the Northeastern United States. Mani started his career in the Media & Communications and International investment banking practices of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, both in New York and Hong Kong.
Mani received his MBA from the Harvard Business School and a BBA with a concentration in finance from the University of Michigan. He is an advisory board member or board observer on a number of Quilvest's funds and co-investments. In addition, Mani is on the board of EMPEA, the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association. He is married with three children.
Mei Ni Yang
Managing Director,
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan
Mei Ni Yang
Managing Director,Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan
Mei Ni Yang is based in Hong Kong and is part of the senior team leading private equity funds in the Asia-Pacific region. Mei Ni has more than 20 years of experience in the private equity and venture capital industry.
Prior to joining Ontario Teachers’, Mei Ni was a Partner and Head of Private Equity for Asia-Pacific at Mercer, where she was a member of the global IC and was responsible for investment research, business development and portfolio construction. She started her career at Citigroup Investment Banking and held various senior positions at JP Morgan Partners, Hamilton Lane and UBS.
Mei Ni received her B.S. and B.A. degrees from The University of Pennsylvania, where she graduated from the Huntsman Program, a dual-degree program between The Wharton School and College of Arts and Sciences. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst registered in Hong Kong.
Steven Evers
Managing Director & CEO, Head Office,
Triple Jump
Steven Evers
Managing Director & CEO, Head Office,Triple Jump
Steven Evers is a co-founder of Triple Jump where he is responsible for overall strategy, business development and portfolio management. Prior to joining Triple Jump, Steven held positions in banking and consulting at FMO, KBC and at the ING Bank. Steven has been active in the impact investing sector for 15 years, working both in the field and as a fund manager.
Steven has an MBA from the IESE Business School in Barcelona and a degree in Economics from the University of Amsterdam. He is a Dutch National and speaks Dutch, English and Spanish.