Akshay Bhargava, former chief executive of Infosys's [Get Quote] BPO arm Progeon, has joined 3i -- Europe's leading venture capital and private equity company -- and will head 3i's new focus on the global business process outsourcing market.

3i is aiming to create a significant presence in the $170bn global BPO market and its team will focus on private equity opportunities which may be buyouts with a value up to $1 billion or growth capital investments up to $150 million where it will typically invest in profitable companies that manage the traditional back office functions of finance, accounting, human resources and procurement services as well as specialist sector outsourcing.

Akshaya (49) is an ex-banker, having spent 22 years with Citibank in a variety of senior positions in India, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom.

Until recently he was the CEO of Progeon, the BPO subsidiary of Infosys, India's second largest IT services company. Under Akshaya's leadership, Progeon grew from a start-up, to a company with $86 million in revenues, over 7,000 employees and 22 Fortune 500 customers in less than four years.

Akshaya's remit at 3i is to build a new team to focus on a two-pronged strategy of identifying attractive investment opportunities and leverage offshore BPO for its portfolio companies.

3i will focus initially on companies with minimum revenues of Euro 100 million mainly in the financial services sector in the UK, Germany, the United States and India, which can provide the platform to build next generation BPO leaders of tomorrow.

In a media release, Akshaya said: "We believe that BPO is a major global trend that can have a transformational impact across several industries. 3i has an enviable reputation as a private equity innovator and I think we are very well placed to take advantage of this trend, drawing on our direct BPO management expertise and global footprint."

Chris Rowlands, 3i's head of group markets, also said in the joint statement: "There are many exciting opportunities in the BPO market internationally. We are delighted that Akshaya has joined 3i to lead this new sector focus across our private equity business."