Primary Job Title CEO, Founder & Chairman Primary Organization 
Capital First
Location Mumbai, Maharashtra, India Regions Asia-Pacific (APAC) Gender Male
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V. Vaidyanathan founded Capital First Ltd by first acquiring an equity stake in an existing NBFC, changing the business model, and then executing a Management Buyout by securing an equity backing of Rs. 8.10 billion in 2012 from PE Warburg Pincus which included (a) buyout of majority and minority shareholders through Open Offer to public; (b) Fresh
capital raise of Rs. 1.00 billion into the company; (c) Reconstitution of the Board of Directors (d) Change of business from wholesale to retail lending; (e) Creation of a new brand "Capital First". Post the buyout he holds shares and options totalling 10.5% of the equity of the company on a fully diluted basis.
He believes that financing India's 50 million MSMEs and India's emerging middle class, with a differentiated model based on new technology platforms, offers a unique opportunity in India. As part of this belief, on acquiring control of the management, he exited legacy businesses of Real estate financing, Foreign Exchange, Broking, Wealth management, Investment management and instead transformed the company into a large retail financing institution with operations in 222 locations across India. Between March 2010 to March 2017, he has grown the retail financing book from Rs. 0.94 billion ($14 Mn) to Rs. 183.53 billion ($2.82 Bn), has grown the Equity Capital from Rs. 6.90 billion ($106 Mn) to Rs. 33.99 billion ($523 Mn), reduced Gross NPA from 5.36% to 0.95%, got the long term credit rating upgraded 4 notches from A+ to AAA. The market cap of the company has increased from Rs. 7.90 billion ($122Mn) to Rs. 76.00 billion ($1.17 Bn) in March 2017.
He joined ICICI Limited in early 2000 when it was a Domestic Financial Institution (DFI) and the retail businesses he built helped the transition of ICICI from a DFI to a Universal Bank. He built the Retail Banking Business for ICICI Limited since its inception, and grew ICICI Bank to 1400 Bank branches in 800 cities, 25 million customers, a vast CASA and retail deposit base, branch, internet and digital banking, built a retail loan book of over Rs. 1.35 trillion ($20 Bn) in Mortgages, Auto loans, Commercial Vehicles, Credit Cards, Personal Loans. He also built the SME business and managed the Rural Banking Business. These businesses helped the conversion of the institution to a universal bank renowned for retail banking.
He was earlier the MD and CEO of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co (2009) and an Executive Director on the Board of ICICI Bank (2006). He was also the Chairman of ICICI Home Finance Co. Ltd (2006), and served on the Board of CIBIL- India's first Credit Bureau (2005), and SMERA- SIDBI's Credit Rating Agency(2005). He started his career with Citibank India in 1990 and worked there till 2000 in consumer banking.
During his career, he and his organization have received a large number of domestic and international awards including the prestigious CNBC Asia Innovative company of the year IBLA-2017, Economic Times Most Promising Business Leaders of Asia Asian Business Leaders Conclave 2016, Malaysia, 'Outstanding Entrepreneur Award' in Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards 2016, Greatest Corporate Leaders of India- 2014,Business Today - India's Most Valuable Companies 2016 & 2015, Economic Times 500 India's Future Ready Companies 2016, Fortune India's Next 500 Companies 2016, Dun & Bradstreet India's Top 500 Companies & Corporates 2016 & 2015, "India's most trusted financial brand - 2016" by WCRC Leaders Asia, "Best Retail bank in Asia 2001", "Excellence in Retail Banking Award" 2002, "Best Retail Bank in India 2003, 2004, and 2005" from the Asian Banker, "Most Innovative Bank" 2007, "Leaders under 40" from Business Today in 2009, and was nominated "Retail Banker of the Year" by EFMA Europe for 2008. He is an alumnus of Birla Institute of Technology and Harvard Business School and is a regular contributor on Financial and Banking matters in India and international forums.
He is a regular marathoner and has run 23 marathons and half marathons. He lives in Mumbai with his family of father, wife and three children.
