Mirae Asset Venture India appoints ex-Steadview Capital MD Puneet Kumar as its new CEO

Mirae Asset Venture India, the private investing arm of South Korea’s Mirae Asset Financial Group, has appointed Puneet Kumar as CEO.

Kumar succeeds Ashish Dave, who exited the firm in mid-2025. In his new role, Kumar will lead Mirae Asset’s venture capital and private investing platform in India, with responsibility for sharpening investment strategy, deepening collaboration with the group’s global venture businesses, and strengthening the firm’s position as a partner for founders and co-investors, the company said in a statement.

Mirae Asset Venture India invests across sectors such as technology platforms, consumer, artificial intelligence and deep technology. Its India portfolio includes companies such as stock-trading app Dhan, ecommerce grocery firm BigBasket, logistics platform Shadowfax, social media company ShareChat, and fintech startup KreditBee.

The firm’s private investing business in India manages more than Rs 1,477 crore in assets under management across two Category II Alternative Investment Funds as of November 30, 2025. Globally, Mirae Asset’s venture capital vertical manages about $4.4 billion in assets.

The appointment comes at a time when Mirae Asset is expanding its India-focused technology investments. Recently, South Korean gaming major Krafton announced an India-focused technology fund in partnership with internet conglomerate Naver and Mirae Asset. The company said a significant portion of this fund would be managed by the Mirae Asset Venture Investments team in India.

Before joining Mirae Asset Venture India, Kumar was managing director at Steadview Capital, a global technology-focused hedge fund with more than $3 billion in assets under management. During his tenure, Steadview invested in over 30 private companies, including Eternal (then Zomato), Nykaa, Freshworks, Innovaccer, Chargebee, Ultrahuman, Atomberg and MoEngage. Steadview’s private portfolio also saw nine companies go public during this period.

The firm’s broader technology portfolio includes Dream11, Unacademy, Ola, Urban Company, PolicyBazaar, Lenskart, Zenoti, INDmoney and Zetwerk.

Prior to Steadview, Kumar spent time as a vice president at Nexus Venture Partners between 2017 and 2019, where he worked on investments across SaaS, consumer, agritech, gaming and new-age consumer companies. These included Observe.ai, Rapido, Pando, Squadcast, Maximl, LiveHealth and Intello Labs.