Description:

Bala Deshpande joined NEA in 2008 as Senior Managing Director for New Enterprise Associates (India) Pvt. Ltd based in Mumbai. She is responsible for creating and building a platform for NEA India. NEA India's investments will primarily be in the mid-market growth space with deal sizes upwards of $ 10 million. This would include opportunities driven by emerging secular trends such as growing urbanization, emergence of new services plays and consolidation of fragmented industry structures. She is on the Board of InTravo Technologies Limited (earlier know as RT Outsourcing Services Limited), Financial Software & Systems Private Limited, Intellisys Technologies & Research Limited, Nova Medical Centers Private Limited, Vishwa Infrastructures & Services Private Limited, Air Works India Engineering Private Limited, Naaptol Online Shopping Private Limited, Pantaloon Retail (I) Limited and Info Edge (I) Limited. Prior to this, she was Senior Director of Investments at ICICI Venture where she had been since 2000. At ICICI Venture, she used her operational experience to identify opportunities for investment and to play a strategic role in shaping the future of investee companies. Her private equity experience has seen the full cycle from nurturing young companies to executing multiple exits including IPO’s, buy-backs, strategic sales, and capital market divestments. Prior to ICICI Venture, Ms. Deshpande worked with leading multinational companies such as Bestfoods, Cadburys, and ICI. She was a part of the Strategic Planning Team at Bestfoods and was also nominated for the Women Leadership Forum held at Bestfoods, New York. Ms. Deshpande has a master’s degree in Economics and Business Administration from Jamnalal Bajaj, Mumbai.