Neeraj Bharadwaj moves from Apax to fellow VC firm Accel

Silicon Valley-based growth capital firm Accel Partners has poached Neeraj Bharadwaj from rival firm Apax Partners to build its investment momentum in India.

Bharadwaj will try to identify companies in which Accel can invest between $10 million and $50 million. He will look for opportunities across sectors in medium-sized Indian companies. Accel already has a venture capital presence in India which targets smaller investments and active involvement in high-potential companies at an early stage of their life cycle. So far, Accel has made VC investments in analytics firm MuSigma, biotechnology company Inbiopro, fast food chain Kaati Zone, consumer products company Myntra, and medical devices company Perfint.

"The Indian market is a key element of our global strategy, as evidenced by the launch of this new growth investing effort to complement our existing early stage activities in the region," said Peter Wagner, a partner in Accel's Palo Alto office, who was involved in Accel setting up shop in India in 2008. "Accel and Neeraj have known and respected one another for over a decade, and share the vision of helping the best Indian entrepreneurs accelerate the development of category-defining growth-stage businesses."

Bharadwaj was earlier managing director and country head for Apax Partners India. Before moving to India to open an Apax office there, he was a partner with the same firm in the US. Bharadwaj has also worked with McKinsey, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

Accel Partners has $6 billion under management and offices in Palo Alto, London and Bangalore.