Shirish Saraf

Shirish Saraf’s Biography

Shirish Saraf is the Founder & Vice Chairman of Samena Capital and Chairman of the Investment Committee. Samena's investments include bloom Hotels, Virtus Medical Holding, Softlogic in Sri Lanka, Dynamatic Technologies and Tejas Network in Bangalore and Ugro Capital in Mumbai. He grew up in Oman and was educated in England. He spends his working life in Dubai, Hong Kong & India, but calls London home.

In 2014 Shirish led Samena’s landmark acquisition of a substantial stake in RAK Ceramics, the world's largest ceramic tile manufacturer with bases in India, Bangladesh, UAE & China and revenues in excess of $1 billion. He previously served as Vice Chairman of the Board and Chairman of the Executive Committee until 2021.

Asian Investor listed Shirish Saraf as one of Asia’s 25 most influential people in Private Equity in 2013, and he is a frequent speaker at conferences, including the World Economic Forum. He co-founded Abraaj Capital, which grew to become one of the largest private equity firms in emerging markets, managing in excess of US$6 billion. Shirish is a keen sportsman and... Shirish Saraf is the Founder & Vice Chairman of Samena Capital and Chairman of the Investment Committee. Samena's investments include bloom Hotels, Virtus Medical Holding, Softlogic in Sri Lanka, Dynamatic Technologies and Tejas Network in Bangalore and Ugro Capital in Mumbai. He grew up in Oman and was educated in England. He spends his working life in Dubai, Hong Kong & India, but calls London home.

In 2014 Shirish led Samena’s landmark acquisition of a substantial stake in RAK Ceramics, the world's largest ceramic tile manufacturer with bases in India, Bangladesh, UAE & China and revenues in excess of $1 billion. He previously served as Vice Chairman of the Board and Chairman of the Executive Committee until 2021.

Asian Investor listed Shirish Saraf as one of Asia’s 25 most influential people in Private Equity in 2013, and he is a frequent speaker at conferences, including the World Economic Forum. He co-founded Abraaj Capital, which grew to become one of the largest private equity firms in emerging markets, managing in excess of US$6 billion. Shirish is a keen sportsman and regularly plays cricket, tennis and golf. He also has a keen interest in literature and is currently writing a novel in verse.

An active philanthropist, Shirish set up the Samena Foundation with the aim of facilitating global charitable and benevolent causes for underprivileged children. Samena is currently supporting the Phaya Taung Monastery in Myanmar which houses 1000 orphans. Shirish was a Board Director at the Little Dreams Foundation, set up by Orianne & Phil Collins. He founded the Shirish Saraf Scholarship at his alma mater, Charterhouse, offering a full scholarship for all-round excellence to underprivileged children to enable them to attend the prestigious Surrey school. more less

Shirish Saraf’s Newsfeed

Bloom Hotels Raises Rs 100 crore in a Fresh Funding Round

Samena Capital Founder and Vice-Chairman Shirish Saraf stated, “We have decided to increase our investment commitments in Bloom within a short period of time in view of the quick brand roll out that is underway, combined with effective execution by the management team.”

Shirish Saraf’s Background

Samena Capital

Founder & Vice Chairman

May 2008 - Present

London, UK

Samena Capital is an investment group focusing on the SAMENA region which comprises the Subcontinent, Asia, Middle East and North Africa. Samena currently manages total capital commitments of US$1 billion and has made in excess of 60 investments, across two primary investment strategies, private equity and credit.

Samena Special Situations Fund

Chairman Investment Committee

2017 - Present

London, UK

Launched in 2017 Samena Special Situations Fund III LP has a target fund size of US$600 million. Investments include Softlogic, in Sri Lanka, Virtus, a healthcare platform serving Hong Kong, Macau and Southern China and tourism, Bloom hotel group in India and hospitality group, SM Asset, in Myanmar.

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Board Positions

Virtus Medical Holdings

Board Member

Mar 2018 - Present

Hong Kong, HK

Virtus Medical Holdings, is a private medical provider built on a unique doctor partnership model. The company is the result of a merger of medical practices from 40 doctors, coupled with the financial backing of about US$83m from Samena Capital and Cenova Capital, as well as a group of specialist doctors and management engaged in the company.

bloom Hotel Group

Board Member

Jan 1990 - Present

Delhi, IN

With hotels in New Delhi, Goa, Rishikesh, Gurgaon and Bangalore, bloom hotels offers affordable micro-rooms for travellers wanting good value, simple, clean and comfortable accommodation.

RAK Ceramics

Vice Chairman & Chairman, Audit Committee

Jun 2014 - Oct 2021

Ras Al-Khaimah, AE

RAK Ceramics is one of the world's largest brands of ceramics, floor tiles and sanitary ware, with bases in India, Bangladesh, UAE, China and Iran. Since Samena's landmark investment RAK has seen strong growth and Samena aims to put the company amongst the top 5 ceramics players in India by 2020.

Softlogic Holdings plc

Board Member

Jan 2018 - Present

Colombo, LK

Samena took a substantial stake in Softlogic, which is one of the largest conglomerates in Sri Lanka, with leading businesses in healthcare, consumer and retail.

Tejas Networks

Non-Executive Additional Director

Aug 2016 - Present

Bengaluru, IN

Tejas Networks has emerged as a leading name in the global optical networking equipment market today. Tejas successfully listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange less than ten months after Samena Special Situations Fund invested.

Dynamatic Technologies Limited

Board Member

Nov 2016 - Present

Bengaluru, IN

Dynamatic Technologies Limited is a global business which designs and builds highly engineered products for Automotive, Aeronautic, Hydraulic and Security applications.

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Philanthropy

Samena Foundation

Founder

2016 - Present

London, UK

The Samena Foundation is an initiative set up to focus on identifying Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives which are sustainable, tenable and ecological.

Charterhouse School

Shirish Saraf Scholarship

2015 - Present

Godalming, UK

The Shirish Saraf Scholarship offers the chance for a boy or girl from India to join Charterhouse School. This includes a boarding place, supported by a means-tested bursary, of up to 100% of the school fees and extra provision to cover other expenses, including travel to and from India.

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Investments

Ugro Capital

Investor

Mumbai, IN

UGRO Capital Limited (formerly Chokhani Securities Limited), was formed in 1993, is a BSE listed, Non–Banking Financial Company that aims to be a SME and MSME focused financial platform, serving select sub-sectors in the the market.