Bessemer Venture Partners Announces Three Promotions

MUMBAI, India, MENLO PARK, Calif., and LARCHMONT, N.Y., Feb. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP), a global investment firm, today announced that Vishal Gupta in the Mumbai office has been named a Managing Director, and Alex Ferrara of the Larchmont, New York office and Umesh Padval of the Menlo Park, California office have been named Partners.  

• Vishal Gupta joined BVP India in 2006 as an Associate. He was promoted to Vice President in 2007 and then to Director in 2008. Prior to joining Bessemer, he worked at Reliance Group in the Treasurer's office. Previously, he worked for SBI Mutual Funds and for DSL Software, a joint venture between HCT Tech and Deutsche Bank. The BVP companies that Vishal works with include Ind-Barath Power, NetAmbit, Orient Green Power, Shriram City Union Finance, and Shriram EPC.

• Alex Ferrara joined BVP in 2005 as an Associate and was promoted to Vice President in 2007.  Prior to BVP, Alex worked at Goldman Sachs in Technology, Media and Telecommunications Investment Banking.  Alex started his career as a software engineer at Salomon Brothers and subsequently as a derivatives trader on the New York Board of Trade. The BVP companies that Alex works with include ACTIV Financial, OMGPOP, Quadriserv, SelectMinds, and Yodle. Alex focuses on investments in the areas of financial services and the internet.

• Umesh Padval joined BVP in 2007 as an Operating Partner.  Previously, he was Executive Vice President of the Consumer Products Group at LSI Logic. He joined LSI Logic via its acquisition of C-Cube Microsystems, a public company where he was President & CEO.  Previously, Umesh held management positions at VLSI Technology, serving as Executive Vice President of both the consumer and computing products groups. He began his career at Advanced Micro Devices. The BVP companies that Umesh works with include Avalanche Technology, Avnera, Berkeley Design Automation, Kovio, and Tilera. Umesh focuses on investments in the areas of information technology and cleantech.

"These promotions reflect the truly outstanding contributions that Vishal, Alex, and Umesh have made to help our entrepreneurs build world-class companies," said Ed Colloton, Partner and COO. "Vishal, Alex, and Umesh have earned the respect of the entrepreneurs they work with, their colleagues at BVP, and their fellow venture capitalists.  We are very pleased to be able to recognize their important contributions and look forward to their continued success in these new roles."

About Bessemer Venture Partners

Bessemer Venture Partners is a global investment group with offices in Silicon Valley, Boston, New York, Mumbai, and Tel Aviv. The oldest venture capital practice in the United States, BVP has partnered as an active, hands-on investor in Ciena, Ingersoll Rand, Parametric, Skype, Staples, VeriSign, and W.R. Grace. More than 100 Bessemer-funded companies have gone public on exchanges in Canada, India, London, and the United States. To learn more, visit www.bvp.com.

SOURCE Bessemer Venture Partners