Renowned Indian-American businesswoman and co-portfolio manager Mala Gaonkar’s firm SurgoCap Partners made the biggest-ever launch for a hedge fund headed by a woman.
SurgoCap Partners started trading on January 3, 2023 and emerged as an instant hit with an estimate of $1.8 billion trading under management. SurgoCap is an investment firm that uses data science to invest in the idea of how technology can boost various sectors of business.
Gaonkar was born into a Konkani family in the US in November 1969. After a couple of years, her family moved to Bengaluru and she spent most of her childhood and teenage days in Garden City. Later, she moved back to the US and earned a degree from Harvard College in 1991. Later, she earned an MBA from Harvard Business School. She is also a Kauffman Fellow.
Before pursuing her MBA from Harvard Business School, Gaonkar worked for The Boston Consulting Group and Chase Capital Partners. The Indian-American businesswoman kickstarted her career with the investment firm Lone Pine Capital in 1998, in which she was a founding partner. Gaonkar also worked as the portfolio manager at the firm’s technology, media, internet, and telecommunications exposure and the co-portfolio manager of Lone Pine’s long-only funds, for around 24 years. However, she left Lone Pine in 2022 to launch her hedge fund, SurgoCap Partners.
