Top 50 Rising Stars 2022 (in alphabetical order by CVC unit): Pranay Reddy, investment manager, Tencent Investments
Pranay Reddy is an investment manager for Tencent Investments, the strategic investment arm of internet group Tencent. Reddy is based in Hong Kong and focuses on investments in startups operating across the internet and technology industry.
Dan Brody, managing director for Tencent Investments, said of Reddy: “In the past two years since joining, Pranay has quickly helped shepherd a host of investments around the world and especially in India.
“Some deals that he has recently spearheaded or supported in India include investments into Cars24, Pocket.FM, KhataBook, Lokal and many others, as well as supporting transactions across Europe, Southeast Asia and around the world.
“Pranay quickly reaches insightful analyses regarding investment opportunities, and has already forged strong bonds across the industry by helping several fledgling founders properly understand the appropriate way to structure various aspects of investment deals.
“His positive attitude makes him a welcome addition to any team, and he is already garnering a reputation as an insightful investor for both early and late-stage investment opportunities.”
Prior to joining Tencent in January 2020, Reddy worked as associate of investment and M&A, for payment services firm Visa and in the strategy and corporate development team of mobility platform Ola.
Concerning his CVC journey, Reddy said: “While working in strategy role at Ola, I saw the meaningful perspectives and expertise that Tencent brought to the table as CVC investor, which clearly stood out compared to a typical financial investor.
“CVCs’ valuable domain expertise and experience operating large businesses, along with industry relationships can be quite valuable for investee companies, who can take leverage such opportunities and help build their businesses.
“Further, CVCs are able to take a longer-term perspective and allow the company and business models to mature patiently.”
