Shirish Saraf
Profile Verified by The Marque
Last Updated: 22 Sep 2026
Founder & Vice Chairman
London, GB
Profile Verified by The Marque
Last Updated: 22 Sep 2026
THE MARQUE
In Their Own Right
Biography
Shirish Saraf is the Founder & Vice Chairman of Samena Capital and Chairman of the Investment Committee. Samena's investments include bloom Hotels, Virtus Medical Holding, Softlogic in Sri Lanka, Dynamatic Technologies and Tejas Network in Bangalore and Ugro Capital in Mumbai. He grew up in Oman and was educated in England. He spends his working life in Dubai, Hong Kong & India, but calls London home.
In 2014 Shirish led Samena’s landmark acquisition of a substantial stake in RAK Ceramics, the world's largest ceramic tile manufacturer with bases in India, Bangladesh, UAE & China and revenues in excess of $1 billion. He previously served as Vice Chairman of the Board and Chairman of the Executive Committee until 2021.
Asian Investor listed Shirish Saraf as one of Asia’s 25 most influential people in Private Equity in 2013, and he is a frequent speaker at conferences, including the World Economic Forum. He co-founded Abraaj Capital, which grew to become one of the largest private equity firms in emerging markets, managing in excess of US$6 billion. Shirish is a keen sportsman and regularly plays cricket, tennis and golf. He also has a keen interest in literature and is currently writing a novel in verse.
An active philanthropist, Shirish set up the Samena Foundation with the aim of facilitating global charitable and benevolent causes for underprivileged children. Samena is currently supporting the Phaya Taung Monastery in Myanmar which houses 1000 orphans. Shirish was a Board Director at the Little Dreams Foundation, set up by Orianne & Phil Collins. He founded the Shirish Saraf Scholarship at his alma mater, Charterhouse, offering a full scholarship for all-round excellence to underprivileged children to enable them to attend the prestigious Surrey school.
The Record
Background
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2008 — Present
Founder & Vice Chairman
Samena Capital
Samena Capital is an investment group focusing on the SAMENA region which comprises the Subcontinent, Asia, Middle East and North Africa. Samena currently manages total capital commitments of US$1 billion and has made in excess of 60 investments, across two primary investment strategies, private equity and credit.
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1991 — 1994
Director, Capital Markets
ANZ Investment Bank
ANZ is a financial brand and New Zealand's largest company based on profits and assets.
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2002 — 2007
Co-Founder & Managing Director
The Abraaj Group
Saraf co-founded Abraaj Capital which was a pioneer in frontier markets and now one of the largest private equity firms operating in global growth markets. Saraf made a planned and successful exit for personal reasons, fortuitously just before the financial crisis.
In The News
Newsfeed
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16 July 2026 · Funds Europe
Samena’s Shirish Saraf: financial engineering is not the answer in volatile markets
Read more
Formative Years
Education
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Charterhouse School
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London School of Economics
BSc Economics and International Trade & Development
Areas Of Focus