Nikhil Kaushik

A USD 10 million AUM angel investing platform focusing on startups in the Pre Series A stage

• Led $1 million (primary + secondary) transaction in Ed Tech space beginning from deal initiation to investment
• Led INR 30 mn deal in Sports tech space and in the process of closing INR 60 mn pre IPO deal shortly

Top 5 manufacturer of pharmaceutical capsules in India

Strategic Leadership

• Developed long-term strategic plan for repositioning and scaling organization which included capacity enhancement and tech based upgradation of manufacturing facilities to meet US FDA standards
• Developed clientele with Top 10 Indian Pharma companies as customers including Alkem Labs, Macleods, Aristo Pharma, Sun Pharma, Dabur, Emcure, etc
• Lead execution of strategies to increase market share in highly competitive commodity like market while improving margins. Revenues grew from INR 196 million with 12% EBITDA Margin in FY13 to INR 557 million with 17% EBITDA margin in FY23

Operational Management

• Championed use of first AI based solution for removal of defects in product to significantly improve outgoing product quality while increasing efficiency. This practice led to manpower cost savings of INR 2 million per month on recurring basis
• Pioneered use of hide gelatin (in place of expensive bone gelatin) in India by blending it with various grades to improve cost while ensuring final quality remains unaffected. This contributed to improving EBITDA margins by 2%
• Streamlined operations to ensure efficient man and material movement in operations area while defining roles and responsibilities to enhance productivity in factory. Operational Efficiency was maintained at > 90% and OTIF > 95%

People Management

• Restructured incentive structure of entire organization (300 - 350 employees) to focus on throughput, quality and operational efficiency which improved overall yield and profitability while ensuring that employees earned more in clear and transparent manner
• Redefined sales function in to 100% incentive based variable structure with no fixed costs which led to increased drive and motivation in sales people to achieve and beat targets while increasing their earnings by multiple times

Financial Engineering

• Efficiently utilized capital which enabled FHL to go from INR 20 million debt in FY13 to zero debt in FY23 without any working capital debt while increasing capacity by ~ 2x during same period
• Divested 100% stake in FHL to strategic at 10x FY23 PE multiple in all cash deal without any staggered payments

A $7 billion AUM emerging market focused Private Equity fund

Investments

• Completed $100 million Series C investment (CVCI, Barings Asia, New Silk Route and Promoters) in KS Oils Ltd, leading edible oil player with market cap of INR 13 billion. Investment funded company's foray in to palm plantations in Indonesia
• Completed a follow-on investment in Himadri Chemicals & Industries Ltd, a specialty chemicals company with a market cap of INR 12 billion. Facilitated and managed company for Series B and Series C investments by IFC, Washington ($25 million) and Bain Capital ($85 million) respectively

Portfolio Management

• Managed portfolio of about $200 million invested in 7 companies (4 companies listed on Indian bourses) across sectors like Power EPC, Specialty Chemicals, FMCG, Mining, Automotive components and Financial Services
• Restructured and negotiated exit for CVCI from SVIL Mines Ltd ($37 million investment), privately held marble mining to retail company, to achieve higher shareholding with no additional capital outflow for CVCI
• Executed ratchet and negotiated exit in Padmini Mechatronics Pvt Ltd ($20 million investment), unlisted automobile component manufacturer, to increase CVCI's stake in company

Exits

• Completed exit from HT Media Ltd, owner of newspaper brands like Hindustan Times, Hindustan and Mint, over stock markets
• Divested CVCI's stake (10.4% stake for $10 million investment) in Techno Electric and Engineering Ltd, Power EPC company, over stock markets
• Completed divestment of CVCI's stake in KS Oils Ltd over stock markets to achieve 3x CoC for CVCI
• Completed exit from Abhishek Industries Ltd, textile and paper manufacturer, over stock markets. Given low liquidity in stock and significantly large shareholding (6.1% stake for $10 million investment), exit was completed over 6 months

A $100 million AUM Swiss based sector agnostic Private Equity fund focusing at SME's in the growth stage

Involved in multiple transactions beginning from deal initiation to investment (negotiation, deal structuring, term sheet, legal documentation, funding) in the life sciences, power, technology, media, engineering and infrastructure sector. Few of the concluded transactions include:

• Completed INR 250 million transaction in Parabolic Drugs Ltd, a INR 3 billion Chandigarh based pharmaceutical company for expansion of its product portfolio and ramping up of research and development facilities
• Completed INR 320 million transaction in Sai Sudhir Infrastructures Ltd, a INR 1 billion Hyderabad based infrastructure company for its expansion plans
• Maintained Deal pipeline involving managing relationship with various intermediaries like Investment Banks, Consultants, etc to ensure adequate deal flow

Part of GE Corporate R&D servicing various GE businesses worldwide

• Managed an international team (15 people across 3 countries) to design a prototype for a water-based Rechargeable Fuel Cell - awarded the Six Sigma Green Belt Quality Certification for successful demonstration of Six Sigma techniques in the design

• Implemented Knowledge Management System used by leading educational institutions in USA