Our Team
Our distinguished HOV team takes a special interest in the success of every portfolio company, in part because they make a significant personal capital contribution to each HOV fund.
Meet the Team
Par Chadha,
Managing Partner:
Founded HandsOn Ventures in 2001.
In a career that has evolved from a technology entrepreneur to the creator of global service enterprises privately held or publicly traded on US and Foreign Stock Exchanges, Mr. Chadha’s accomplishments include more than 80 mergers, acquisitions and public offerings. In addition, through his vision, multiple private equity funds have been created and profitably deployed to acquire a myriad of assets ranging from mergers and acquisitions of businesses to the purchase of billions of dollars of commercial and consumer debt. Today, he serves as Chairman of the Board of HOV Services, Ltd, a HandsOn Ventures portfolio company.
Before launching HOV, Mr. Chadha was Chairman and CEO of OSICOM Technologies, Inc., a technology company he founded with his wife, Sharon Chadha, in 1981. OSICOM was an innovator in the transition from mainframe-based to server-based networking technologies, and later from overlay networks to converged data, voice and video networks. OSICOM became a public company in 1987 and, as a result of 14 technology acquisitions, became the incubator to three leading public technology companies: Sorrento Networks, Inc. (the pioneer in metro optical networking); Entrada Networks, Inc. (a leader in local area, wide area and storage area networking); and Netsilicon, Inc. (a pioneer in networking systems-on-silicon). OSICOM commanded a market value of more than $1.5 billion in 2000 when they again embarked on a venture to build through acquisition a portfolio of potentially synergistic businesses at HandsOn Ventures, LLC.
Mr. Chadha’s vast experience growing and building businesses at home and abroad, as well as his hands-on involvement in the entire portfolio, have proven to be an invaluable asset to the growth and development of the entire HandsOn Ventures portfolio, including HOV Services Ltd.
Mr. Chadha holds a B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Punjab Engineering College, India, and completed graduate-level coursework in computer science at the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Vadim Brinzan,
Managing Partner:
Founded HandsOn Ventures in 2001.
Mr. Brinzan has been working with HandsOn Ventures on various JV-type transactions since 2004 while an investment banker at Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. Prior to joining HOV, Mr. Brinzan served as a Director in Merrill Lynch’s Principal Investing group in New York (2001-2007), where he helped manage a multi-billion dollar portfolio of Merrill Lynch investments in public and private companies in consumer finance, financial services, business process outsourcing, and other sectors. Mr. Brinzan started his career at Merrill Lynch in Mergers & Acquisitions group in 2001 specializing in diversified industrials and power & energy sectors. Previously, Mr. Brinzan worked as a management consultant with Oracle Corporation in the U.S. (1999) and PricewaterhouseCoopers in Russia and other CIS countries, where he played leading roles in mass privatization projects in Ukraine and Moldova (1994-1996), as well as advised companies in various industries and sectors in Russia
(1996-1999).
Mr. Brinzan holds an MBA degree with honors from Harvard Business School and a M.S. in Physics with high distinction from Moldova State University.
Sunil Rajadhyaksha, Manager:
Founded HandsOn Ventures in 2001.
He co-founded Codec Pvt. Ltd. in 1989, an HOV acquisition and now a publicly traded company. With more than 30 years executive leadership experience, Mr. Rajadhyaksha has served as COO or Global President of companies deployed in the US and India. Mr. Rajadhyaksha’s achievements include launching international operations for Bay Area Credit Service and its 1000 plus seat call center, and creating and deploying strategic and operational direction for Merit Optical Communications.
Mr. Rajadhyaksha holds a B.S. degree in telecommunications and electronics from University of Pune, India, and a M.S. degree in electrical engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology.
Surinder Rametra, Manager:
Founding member, HandsOn Ventures since 2002.
In 1983, Mr. Rametra founded Sun Computers and Software, Inc. and took the company public in 1994 under the name ATEC. He served as ATEC’s Chairman and CEO until 2003. Mr. Rametra currently serves as an Executive Director of the HOV Services Limited, a HandsOn Ventures portfolio company.
Mr. Rametra’s career encompasses leadership of private and public enterprises. He is also a founding member of Silver Oak Hospital in Chandigarh, India and Shanti Foundation, a charitable organizations devoted to health care and educational activities.
Mr. Rametra has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Punjab Engineering College, India, a Master's degree in Industrial Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, India and an MBA in Finance from New York University.
Mr. Rametra is married, has three children and is blessed with four grand children.
Xin Cheng, Ph. D. Manager:
Founding member, HandsOn Ventures since 2001.
Mr. Cheng’s direction and hands-on involvement in HOV’s business development efforts globally, more specifically in India, China and other Asian countries, has been crucial. His expertise and entrepreneurial successes have been an incalculable asset to the growth and development of HOV Services, Ltd, as well as the rest of the HOV portfolio. In mid 2002, he retired as Chairman and CEO of Sorento Networks, Inc. a company he launched in 1997. He has also served as President of Meret Optical Communications, Inc., Osicom Technologies, Inc., and of Dowslake Microsystems Corporation. He is a critical member of the HOV team.
Mr. Cheng holds a B.S. Degree in Physics from Nanjing University, China, and a M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of California, Irvine.
Rick Hunter, Manager:
Joined HandsOn Ventures in 2005.
Previously, Mr. Hunter was President of Bay Area Credit Service, a HandsOn Ventures acquisition in 2003. He has 30 years experience in the Accounts Receivable Management sector and provides strategic direction for group companies servicing or purchasing consumer and commercial debt in the US and in India. Mr. Hunter has also developed several debt collection management systems responsible for administrating billions of dollars of assets.
Mr. Hunter holds an Associate of Arts Degree from Diablo Valley College.
Nafeesa Khandwala, Manager:
Joined HandsOn Ventures in 2005.
Ms. Khandwala served as Executive Vice President at Bay Area Credit Service from 1990 until joining HOV. With immense experience in operations, customer service and product support, Ms. Khandwala directs the strategic development of support systems and processes for group companies providing finance and accounting services in the Accounts Receivable Management Industry in the US and India. Her knowledge of the collection industry has been instrumental with recent acquisitions of companies within that sector.
Ms. Khandwala holds a B.S. Degree in Business Administration (Accounting) from San Jose State University.
Sarah Chadha, Manager:
Joined HandsOn Ventures in 2006.
Ms. Chadha joined the HOV Mergers and Acquisitions team in mid 2006. She is engaged in fund building, participates in all stages of the HOV M&A lifecycle, including supporting administrative, transitional and due diligence operations, and management of portfolio companies. She has participated in various M&A transactions and is focused on both inorganic and organic growth throughout the entire HOV portfolio.
Ms. Chadha holds a B.A. degree in International Economics and Economics from the George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
Jito Chadha, Manager:
Joined HandsOn Ventures in 2007.
Mr. Chadha joined the HOV Mergers and Acquisitions team in mid 2007. He is directly responsible for the vision and execution of HOV’s alternative energy endeavors, as well as, the development and growth of the entire HOV portfolio.
Mr. Chadha holds B.S. degrees in Biology and Chemistry from University of California, Irvine.
James Charles, Advisor:
Joined HandsOn Ventures in 2005.
Mr. Charles is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in New York and Puerto Rico. He is currently a financial consultant providing transaction services. He was the Chief financial Officer of Interpharm Holdings from January 1999 to January 2004. From 1994 to 1999 he was a financial consultant to several public companies including acting as a Chief Financial officer of a Printing Company. He was a partner in the firm of Ernst & Young from 1966 to 1994.
Mr. Cogburn, Principal:
Joined HandsOn Ventures in 2003.
Mr. Cogburn, President of Meridian Consulting Group, is a nationally recognized expert in the field of construction services, construction management and litigation support with a career spanning more than thirty years and decades of experience relative to nuclear, coal, natural gas, and landfill gas power plants into the development of renewable energies. He has provided executive leadership, recently serving as President of HOV Services, Ltd, and is currently serving as a Director of HOV Services providing guidance and leadership in the various service offerings.
Mr. Cogburn is also a key member of the team developing HOV’s renewable energy investment platform.
Vik Negi, Principal:
Joined HandsOn Ventures in 2001.
Mr. Negi joined HOV at an early stage in its inception and over the years has helped complete various M&A transactions for the group. Most recently, as the CFO of the first fund launched by HOV, he has helped in successfully distributing fund assets to its members through an Initial Public Offering. Prior to joining HOV, Mr. Negi worked with the World Bank at its Emerging Nations desk.
Mr. Negi holds an MBA degree in Finance and Information Technology from the Kogod School of Business at American University and a B.S. Degree in Commerce and Accountancy from St. Xavier’s College, India.
Mr. Cheng, Principal:
Joined HandsOn Ventures in 2009.
Mr. Cheng assists HOV with utilizing emerging technology to reinforce brand strength and recognition throughout HOV portfolio companies.
He has worked as Interactive Marketing Manager for Universal Music Publishing Group, and as a consultant for Walt Disney Imagineering R&D, leveraging bleeding edge technology to create compelling products and services.
Mr. Cheng holds a B.A. degree in Design|Media Arts from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Mr.Desai , Analyst:
Joined HandsOn Ventures in 2009.
Based in Mumbai, India, Mr.Desai is instrumental in assisting the HOV family with M&A activities focused on offshore and domestic BPO markets. Prior to joining HOV, he worked as a sell-side analyst with a prominent Mumbai based midsized institutional brokerage where he tracked the Indian IT/ITES sector for close to three years. Mr.Desai’s experience in covering the Indian IT/ITES sector has helped add to the existing HOV knowledge base.
Mr.Desai holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Mumbai.
Matt Brown, Analyst:
Joined HandsOn Ventures in 2008.
Mr. Brown joined the HandsOn Ventures team in early 2008, assisting with due diligence operations and the launch of HOV Energy. As a member of the HOV Energy team, Mr. Brown is responsible for analyzing, coordinating and developing HOV’s renewable energy endeavors. With extensive experience in energy technologies ranging from geothermal, biomass and alternative fuels, to CSP and photovoltaic synthesis, he is a key member of the HOV Energy platform.
Mr. Brown holds a Suma Cum Laude B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, San Diego.
