Professional Team

Abhijit Ray, Director

A founding team member of Unitus Capital, Abhijit transitioned from the Capital Markets team at Unitus, which he joined in early 2006. At Unitus, he worked with MFIs on debt and equity arranging transactions, along with providing financial advisory services. Prior to joining Unitus, Abhijit brought 13 years of diverse experience encompassing development finance, commercial banking and microfinance – most recently, he was AGM with the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) where he oversaw SIDBI’s microfinance portfolio in the state of Andhra Pradesh, and also acted as the business development manager for SME projects. Abhijit has appraised more than 50 MFIs in India for debt funding and has assessed capacity building needs of more than 35 MFIs, spearheading most of the assessments. Abhijit started his career with the State Bank of India (SBI), where he worked in diverse areas, in six different locations within India. He has attended the School of Applied Microfinance Programme (Mombasa, Kenya) and the Strategic Leadership Programme in Microfinance at the Harvard Business School. Abhijit holds a Bachelors degree in economics from Kolkata University and is a Certified Associate (CAIIB) of the Indian Institute of Banking and Finance.

Gautam Verma, Director

Gautam joined Unitus Capital in January 2010 with 11 years of experience in the financial services industry, with more than 8 years as an investment banker specializing in structured credit products and asset securitizations. Over the course of his career, he has worked with a wide range of specialty finance companies and alternative asset management clients. Most recently, Gautam was an Executive Director in the Credit Fixed Income Group at UBS (Stamford, USA) and prior to that he was a Director in the Structured Credit Products Group at Natixis Capital Markets in New York. At both UBS and Natixis, Gautam structured, negotiated and managed capital raising transactions for credit hedge funds and preferred equity and high yield debt placements for corporates. He also provided strategic advice on M&A and recapitalization transactions to specialty finance and alternative asset management companies. Earlier in his career, Gautam worked for CIBC World Markets (New York) and Citibank (Chennai, India). Gautam has a Bachelors degree in Engineering from IIT Mumbai, an MBA from FMS Delhi and an MIA in International Finance & Business from Columbia University.

Jim Miller, China Country Director

Jim joined Unitus Capital in July 2010 with 18 years of fund raising and management experience in venture-funded companies in China, as Vice President of Strategic Planning at UTStarcom Inc., COO of China-Hong Kong Wireless Ltd., and CEO of AaaHaa Media Inc. He is currently on the board of directors and Vice Chairman of Shangdong Shenghua TV Information Services in Jinan, China, and on the board of directors of PeopleStrong HR Services Ltd in Gurgaon, India. Jim received his Bachelors in Chinese Studies at Yale University, his PhD in Comparative Literature at Princeton University, and he served as assistant professor of Chinese and Comparative Literature at University of California, Berkeley.  

Bhakti Mirchandani, Vice President

Bhakti joined Unitus Capital in January 2009 with 9 years of experience. Prior to UC, Bhakti worked in Corporate Strategy and Investment Management at Barclays Capital/Lehman Brothers, where she was also the firm's Microfinance Specialist. Her work included one of the first microfinance CLOs. Bhakti co-founded the Global Microentrepreneurship Awards (later incorporated into Citi, for which the U.N. presented her with an innovation award), was a consultant to Women’s World Banking, and worked in Homebuilding Equity Research at Salomon Smith Barney. Bhakti holds a B.A. in Chemistry (cum laude) from Harvard College, an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School and an MBA from Harvard Business School, where she received the Dean's Award, the program's highest honour. Bhakti co-chaired five microfinance investor and social enterprise conferences with an aggregate 1700 participants and published numerous microfinance articles. 

Abhishek Fogla, Associate Vice President

Abhishek joined Unitus Capital in mid 2008 from Micro-Credit Ratings International Limited (M-CRIL), where he completed 32 MFI credit ratings in nine countries across Asia, Africa and Europe. Prior to his position at M-CRIL, Abhishek was with ICRA Management Consulting Services Limited, where he worked for financial institutions on consulting and modeling assignments related to credit risk and Basel-II capital adequacy norms. He holds a degree in Telecommunications Engineering from R.V.C.E in Bangalore, an M.B.A from Management Development Institute in India and a Masters in Management from ESCP-EAP Business School in Paris, France. Abhishek has also attended the Program on Strategic Leadership for Microfinance at the Harvard Business School.

Amit Kumar Rathi, Associate Vice President

Amit joined Unitus Capital in February 2010 from TVS Capital Funds, a Chennai based Private Equity Fund which provides growth capital to mid cap companies in Consumer Consumption Sector. During his stint with TVS as an Associate Director, Amit was an integral part of the investments made by TVS in Landmark & Dusters. During his initial stint at TVS, Amit was involved in the fundraise activity and managed the finances of the Fund. Prior to TVS, Amit was with the Transaction Services Division of KPMG, where he led various financial diligence assignments across multiple sectors. Amit has also spent 3 years each with The World Bank group (IBRD) as a Manager in Trust Funds Accounting Department and in the Assurance division of Ernst & Young. Amit is a Chartered Accountant with 10 years of post qualification experience. Beside a degree in Commerce he has also cleared the CPA exam.

Gauravjeet Singh, Associate Vice President

Gaurav joined Unitus Capital in early 2010. Previously, Gaurav worked with Nomura’s India investment banking practice at Mumbai, where he was responsible for M&A and fund raising for clients besides selectively evaluating Nomura’s proprietary investments in India. Gaurav moved to Nomura from SBI Capital Markets where he was advising corporates on M&A and private equity placements. Besides his vocation as an investment banker, Gaurav is also an entrepreneurial enthusiast and co-founder of YourStory – an online venture to promote the entrepreneurial ecosystem in India. Gaurav studied business management at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, and holds a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in Operations Research and Mathematics respectively from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi.

Neha Mudaliar, Associate 

Neha joined Unitus Capital in February 2009 with 6 years of diverse work experience. Prior to joining UC, Neha worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Assurance and Business Advisory Services, with Ernst & Young in Global Tax Advisory Services, with Ambit Corporate Finance in their Investment Banking division and with Unitus, Inc. on their Portfolio Management team. She was also part of the senior management of an American start-up, which primarily consulted to MFIs in the field of renewable energy technologies. Neha is a Chartered Accountant and an M.B.A from Indian School of Business with a specialization in Analytical Finance. She has also cleared Level I of the CFA Program.

Deepak Srinivas, Associate

Deepak joined Unitus Capital in January 2010, with over 4 years of experience in investment banking. Prior to joining UC, Deepak worked with the Mumbai and Delhi offices of Darashaw & Co., a premier Indian investment bank. Deepak’s experience is largely in fixed income and he specializes in raising funds through non-convertible debentures. While he was at Darashaw, Deepak helped raise funds for various central public sector undertakings, state level undertakings, urban local bodies and private sector corporates. He holds a Bachelors degree in Finance from the College of Business Studies, Delhi University and an MBA from Symbiosis Centre for Management and HRD, Pune.

Arun Asok, Analyst

Arun joined Unitus Capital in May 2010. He is an MBA graduate from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, 2008-2010 with a study abroad stint at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, Vienna, Austria. Prior to his MBA he did his B.Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras with a Major Degree in Computer Science and Engineering and a Minor degree in Trends in Business and Finance. 

Priya joined Unitus Capital in June 2010 with close to two years of experience in financial media. Prior to joining UC, Priya worked with Business Standard and wrote on capital markets and Sebi. Priya also holds an MBA from the Indian School of Business with a specialization in Finance and is an Economics major from St Xavier’s college in Mumbai.

Stephanie Kogan, Senior Consultant

Stephanie joined Unitus Capital in late 2009 and is based in London, where she focuses on raising capital in the European markets for our clients.  Stephanie also worked with the Capital Markets Team at Unitus, Inc in 2008.  Previously, Stephanie was a Vice President in the Capital Markets group at Bear Stearns in London, where she originated, structured, and marketed transactions for corporate and sovereign clients in the emerging markets.  Stephanie has also worked in Structured and Project Finance at Allied Irish Bank, and as an Emerging Markets Research Analyst with The Economist Group.  As a volunteer with the Business Council for Peace, Stephanie has been a mentor and consultant to female entrepreneurs affected by the Rwandan genocide.   Stephanie has an MA in International Affairs from the London School of Economics and a BA in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania.

Vikas Sarda, Head of Finance and Operations

Vikas joined Unitus Capital in June 2009 with ten years of diverse experience in financial control, strategic & financial planning, budgeting, analysis & reporting and system implementation & management. Prior to UC, he worked as Vice President with Amba Research, a financial services provider. Vikas has also worked with other leading companies like Max New York Life Insurance and WNS Global Services. He brings experience in developing processes/ procedures which reduce dependencies, ensure system integrity and establish control. Vikas is a Chartered Accountant and has a bachelors in commerce from Delhi University.