Succession Planning to Continue Your Legacy
Pratap Chowdhury,
Principal
Pratap founded Cicero Capital (a “Search Fund”) with the aim of acquiring and operating one high quality business in India. Having worked for 10 years in finance, he noticed first hand the challenge succession poses to numerous hard working businesses owners who have spent their lives creating great businesses that have shaped our economy.
Pratap is uniquely positioned to provide these business owners the legacy they deserve. Pratap was an investor with secondaries Private Equity firm TR Capital, working first hand in providing exits to business owners while also working with the firm’s portfolio companies in day to day strategy and operations roles.
Having recently completed his MBA from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Pratap has raised funds from more than 15 domestic and international investors for Cicero Capital which include institutions, HNIs as well as business operators.
FAQs - Learn about Search Funds
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A search fund is an entrepreneurial path undertaken by an individual who forms an investment vehicle with a small group of aligned investors, to search for, acquire, and lead a privately held company for the medium to long term. This has consistently resulted in a path to becoming an owner-operator, and growing, well-run enterprises.
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Till date over 1,000 search funds have existed globally. The concept started in 1984 in the US and since then has spread to Europe, LATAM, MEA and Asia. Since 2024, India has seen the formation of 6 search funds, with new funds actively fundraising.
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Search Funds are nimble and typically move faster than other kinds of alternative investment funds. Deals timelines usually range between 3-6 months, given there is a single point of contact and decision maker.
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Unlike a private equity fund, or a competitor, a search fund is dedicated to maintain your legacy and create long term value. The searcher works with the promoter to ensure the promoter’s employees, business practices, and legacy remains intact.
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Cicero Capital is a unique composition of past and present business operators who have been through their own distinct operational grind and understand what it is to nurture and grow a business, long term. Led by Pratap who strongly believes the ultimate investment in a business is operational excellence, him along with decades of experienced business operators, is just the fodder your business needs in the next phase of its journey.
Our Select Investors
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Ambit Partners
Ambit Partners is a leading global Search Fund investment firm. Across the Partners’ careers, they have acquired 50+ companies, worked in 20+ countries, and supported 100s of entrepreneurs.
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Vivek Jain
Mr. Jain is the Managing Director of the Action Tesa Group, India’s largest manufacturer of engineered wood products. Mr. Jain has over two decades of leadership experience across operations, business strategy, marketing, and project management.
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Paul Robine
Mr. Robine is the Founder and CEO of TR Capital, a global secondaries PE firm with more than $2bn in AUM. Mr. Robine brings more than two decades of Private Equity investment experience.
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Zubin Bharti Mittal
Mr. Mittal is a long term tech investor and part of the Bharti Airtel promoter group, one of India’s leading telecom companies. Mr. Mittal is also a pioneering Search Fund investor in India.
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Will Thorndike
Mr. Thorndike is the Managing Partner of the Private Equity firm Housatonic Partners and his Family Office The Cromwell Harbor Partnership. Mr. Thorndike is one of the leading voices in the Search Fund world and the author of The Outsiders, a book which is #1 on Warren Buffet’s reading list.
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Partner Ventures
Partner Ventures is a Search Fund investment firm led by Blake Winchell. Mr. Winchell has for the past 44 years focused on private equity investments. He is also an adjunct professor of various Entrepreneurship courses at IE Business School Madrid, Spain.
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Spectra Investments
Spectra Investments is the leading Alternate Asset Investment Fund based out of Latin America with an AUM of $1.3bn. Spectra has invested in more than 700 portfolio companies in 13+ years since it was founded.
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Novidam
Novidam is a Search Fund investment firm based out of New York led by Alexander Schuil. Novidam has backed 100 Search Funds, invested in 20 companies and acquired or co-founded 4 direct wholly owned companies.
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Adit Ravi
Adit Ravi is a director at Argusoft, an IT Services company based out Gandhinagar, India. Mr. Ravi is a second generation entrepreneur and is also a pioneering Search Fund investor in India.
Contact Us
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