Raj Pai is a Founding Partner of GEF Capital Partners and co-head of the South Asia investment practice. He is based in Mumbai, India where he focuses on middle market growth equity opportunities in South Asia.
Mr. Pai joined Global Environment Fund as a Managing Director in 2008 before founding GEF Capital Partners in 2018. While at Global Environment Fund, Mr. Pai worked across multiple portfolios and was involved in the establishment of the South Asia investment program. In addition to overseeing guidance and operations of the South Asia program, including as ESG coordinator, Mr. Pai served as the nominee representative for several portfolio companies, including IEX (exited via IPO in 2017), iClean (sold to Takasago Thermal, Tokyo) and others. He participated in the exit of Reva Electric Car to Mahindra Electric.
Mr. Pai has over 23 years of professional experience spanning entrepreneurial, operational and venture investing activities in India and in the US. Prior to joining Global Environment Fund, Mr. Pai was a Managing Director at CID Capital, a 30-year old growth equity investment firm investing growth and expansion stage capital in the US. During this period, Mr. Pai oversaw and/or worked on a number of the firm’s investments, leading efforts in technology, life sciences and clean technology. Prior to CID, Mr. Pai worked in consulting and in operational capacities for various Fortune 1000 technology companies globally, including American Management Systems (AMS), British Telecom and AT&T.
Mr. Pai currently serves on the board of directors of ESDS, Inc. and is also the nominee representative for Global Environment Fund for Concord Enviro, Rishabh Instruments and Prince Pipes.
Mr. Pai received a B.S. in Computer Engineering from the University of Bombay, a Master of Computer Science from Arizona State University and an MBA from the University of Chicago. He is a dual US–India citizen and speaks three native Indian languages as well as English.
