IIM Bangalore Honors Investment Pioneer, Industry Titans and Social Innovator with Distinguished Alumni Awards 2025

Prashant Jain, IIM Bangalore PGP 1991, India’s most respected Mutual Fund CIO 

Prashant Jain is one of India’s most respected and longest serving Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of a mutual fund house in India. He is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of 3P Investment Managers and former Chief Investment Officer at HDFC Mutual Fund. He holds the distinction of being the only fund manager in India and one of the few globally, to have continuously managed a scheme for over 28 years (fund named HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund, earlier known as HDFC Prudence fund, a hybrid equity debt fund). Apart from being the most awarded fund manager in India, he also has the distinction of being the first fund manager in India to have managed 1 lac crore of equity funds.

Prashant worked for SBI Mutual Fund (1991-1993) as well as Zurich India Mutual Fund (1993-2003) in different capacities. He moved to HDFC Mutual Fund, subsequent to the takeover of Zurich India Mutual Fund by HDFC in 2003. He co-founded 3P Investment Managers in 2022, a firm focused on long-term investing. This fund currently manages around Rs 17,500 crores for nearly 970 families.
He earned his PGDM from IIM Bangalore in 1991. Before this, he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Kanpur. He is also a recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award from IIT Kanpur.
Prashant credits the Institute and its faculty for his successes, and says: “The education and learning at IIMB have played a key role in shaping my career, equipping me with the tools to keep on learning and the confidence to face challenges.”

Sandhya Shekhar, IIM Bangalore PGP 1984, Pioneer in ‘Knowledge Management’

Sandhya Shekhar has occupied many CXO positions. She was the first CEO of IIT Madras Research Park. She has extensive industry experience, having worked as Director – Asia Pacific Consulting, Gartner Inc., CTO, BconnectB.com; Head – Knowledge Management Research, Aptech and as Group Consultant, NIIT. She currently works with the industry, academia as well as the start-up and innovation ecosystem. She serves as an Independent Director on the governing boards of Uno Minda Ltd., MI Torica, Mynda Onkyo, MITIL Polymer Pvt Ltd. and UCAL Ltd. 

Sandhya Shekhar is an alumna of IIM Bangalore and IIT Madras, and is a university rank holder in her under graduation. She earned her PhD from IIT Madras, with her dissertation winning the global award for Outstanding Doctoral Research from the European Foundation for Management Development and Emerald. She is an author of several books, papers and articles. Her co-authored book on Knowledge Management was the first book in India on the subject. Working across three distinct fraternities of corporates, educational institutions and the innovation ecosystem has helped her understand and uncover huge synergies, cross-pollinate ideas, and triangulate learnings. 

Honored to receive the DAA from her alma mater, Sandhya says, “I am deeply humbled by the magnanimity of numerous people involved in the process, who thought me worthy of this award. I joined IIM Bangalore as a clueless youngster.”

Mathew Cyriac, IIM Bangalore PGP 1994, Founder of PE Firm & Deep Tech Fund 

Mathew Cyriac is Executive Chairman of the PE firm Florintree Advisors and Co-founder at deep tech fund Yali Capital. He had earlier served as founding member and PE Co-head of Blackstone India. He has been recognized for many firsts in his 30-year career spanning investing roles in India and the US. Mathew’s journey – from IIMB gold medallist to a global investment professional – epitomizes excellence, innovation and purpose-driven inclusive leadership.

A mechanical engineering graduate from the College of Engineering, Guindy, Mathew worked at Tata Motors before joining the world of finance with Bank of America, and then moving to Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. He held key roles at Credit Suisse in Los Angeles, California and Quintant/iGATE Fremont, California, before returning to India to join Blackstone.

As a founding member and PE Co-head of Blackstone India (2006-2017), he pioneered control-oriented investing – acquiring majority stakes in portfolio companies to drive operational turnarounds – now a key strategy in the Indian PE industry. His leadership has transformed companies like Gokaldas Exports, MTAR Technologies, CMS Infosystems and Data Patterns, creating new benchmarks for value creation.

At Florintree Advisors, a homegrown PE firm, Mathew has built a reputation of actively investing time and capital in growth stage companies, resulting in stellar IPOs for companies like Data Patterns, ideaForge and MTAR. At Yali Capital, Mathew has partnered seasoned tech investors and operators to fund start-ups like C2i Semiconductors and 4baseCare, powering India’s deep-tech innovation in semiconductors, AI and genomics.

Mathew’s bond with IIMB is profound – from mentoring students as a corporate finance guest lecturer to investing in ventures founded by IIMB alumni and hiring IIMB talent as CXOs, both at Florintree and portfolio companies. Humbled to receive this prestigious recognition, Mathew says, “Receiving the news for this award, I experienced the same excitement that I felt, when I received the admission letter from IIMB, 33 years back. The two years at IIMB built a very different level of confidence in me which became a guiding force in my life.”

Vineet Saraiwala, IIM Bangalore PGP 2015, Social Impact Entrepreneur 

Vineet Saraiwala is Founder and CEO of Atypical Advantage, India’s largest livelihood platform for persons with disabilities. The platform supports over 30,000 individuals with disabilities and partners with 400-plus corporates across India. It has enabled more than 5,000 dignified livelihood opportunities for persons with disabilities. Vineet’s work has opened up meaningful job opportunities for persons with disabilities across sectors including FMCG, semiconductors, automobiles, IT and other manufacturing industries in India. Beyond employment, Vineet has partnered with more than 550 NGOs, as well as state and union government bodies, to drive sensitization workshops and skill development programs.

After completing his MBA from IIM Bangalore in 2015, Vineet joined Big Bazaar, where he led the firm’s initiatives to make shopping accessible and facilitated the hiring of over 500 persons with disabilities across its stores.
On the award, Vineet says, “IIM Bangalore gave me the wings to dream beyond limitation and the foundation to build a movement for inclusion. This recognition is not just mine – it belongs to every person with a disability who dared to dream, every ally who believed in the cause, and every organization that opened its doors to diverse talent. I hope this award inspires many more to build a world that truly belongs to everyone.”

IIM Bangalore Distinguished Alumni Awards

 Instituted in 2007, the Distinguished Alumni Awards are presented to alumni in recognition of their achievements of exceptional merit and excellence in their chosen field of endeavor – be it industry, management, entrepreneurship, research, academia, or social service. Each awardee receives a citation and her/his name is engraved on the Wall of Fame in the Institute. 

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