The first edition of VCCircle Awards 2012 was held on February 14, 2012, at the ITC Sheraton, New Delhi to recognize and celebrate the impact of private equity and venture capital on Indian businesses. The Awards brought together top-performing PE & VC-backed companies in India, as well as investors, lawyers and investment bankers.

The awards were given across sectors in venture capital and private equity categories besides recognising the intermediaries – the law firms and the investment banks, who have facilitated most such investments in private equity space in 2011.

Amarchand Mangaldas bagged the ‘Law Firm of the Year (PE)’ Award. The other two law firms nominated in this category were AZB & Partners and Induslaw. This was the only category in which law firms were nominated.

Mumbai Partner Ashwath Rau received the award on behalf of Amarchand Mangaldas. While receiving the award Ashwath Rau said, “Thank you VCCircle for the award and for actually organizing this recognition of private equity and venture capitals in contributing to our country’s growth story".

Ashwath added, "We have had a good year and have done a number of deals. I think it has taken a lot more effort to close deals in the current environment and the credit goes to our clients for having achieved the same despite the uncertainty".

Ernst & Young received the ‘Best PE/ VC Investment Bank of the year’ Award. Avendus Capital and o3 Capital Advisors were the other nominees in this category.

The VCCircle awards will now be held annually and shall pick the most outstanding Indian companies who have not only had a tremendous growth in their respective industries but also have had a longstanding impact on the economy in general.

For this year's awards, VCCircle picked companies who have had at least one round of funding between 2007 and 2011.

The Jury included Arun Duggal,  current chairman of Shriram Capital Ltd; Luis Miranda, former chairman of IDFC Private Equity; Sri Rajan, Partner at Bain & Co. and Dr. Ajay Shah, Professor at National Institute for Public Finance and Policy.

The jury was assisted by VCCircle and VCCEdge teams in research and validation of data.

Click here for the entire list of winners.