Top internet dealmaker Aashish Bhinde to leave Avendus Capital

BENGALURU: Aashish Bhinde, India's top dealmaker for digital companies, will leave investment bank Avendus Capital by next year to take a sabbatical and personal time off. Bhinde will transition from the investment bank and financial services company Avendus, which is now owned by private equity major KKR, by March 2017.

Bhinde has advised 60 transactions worth over $3.5 billion during his career as head of the digital practice at Avendus, working with companies such as online classifieds portal Quikr and online payments player Freecharge. Avendus co-founder Gaurav Deepak will now take charge of the digital practice.

"It's been a phenomenal run and the most important part was working with rockstar entrepreneurs who I respect," said Bhinde, who spent 11 years at Avendus. Some of the recent deals he advised were Bookmyshow's $82 million raise, and to more complex transactions like fashion portal Jabong's $70 million sale to Flipkart.

"I am just taking a personal break as I have been working non-stop for the last 21 years," said Bhinde, who will turn 45 in December. He said that he hasn't finalised any plans yet, and, will explore everything "from meeting a lot social impact firms to doing yoga and trekking".

Bhinde, an MBA from IIM-Calcutta and engineer from BITS-Pilani, has also worked at private equity firm VIEW Group and FMCG player Colgate Palmolive. During the dotcom bubble in 2000, he also dabbled as an entrepreneur by setting up a business-to-business marketplace for audio equipment, which eventually shut down.