Pidilite Group
Asha Ventures is an inclusion and sustainability focused fund investing in early to growth stage companies.
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Kartik is presently CEO at Desai & Associates. Kartik was most recently Partner at KOIS where he was Partner in charge of Kois’ blended finance advisory business. He previously was Executive Director at Asha Ventures and has a decade of experience in venture capital, entrepreneurship, investment banking and international development in India and the US. Prior to joining the impact investment industry in 2007, Kartik worked for three years with DSP Merrill Lynch in its investment banking and private equity teams in Mumbai and also consulted for the United Nations Development Program and Rockefeller Foundation while studying in New York. Kartik has a Bachelors degree in Finance from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and a Masters degree in International Affairs from Columbia University (SIPA).
T.T. is currently an Associate Director at Lok capital. Previously, he has worked as a consultant with Bain & Co and has experience working as a Senior Investment Associate at Asha Ventures. He has also worked in the treasury and finance team at Sundaram BNP Paribas Home Finance (Chennai). TT completed his MBA from NYU Stern, Bachelors in Commerce from the University of Madras and was a Fellow at the YOUNG INDIA FELLOWSHIP, a multi-disciplinary program at Ashoka University.
Raghav is currently engaged in equity investments focussed on small-cap companies in the listed and unlisted ecosystem. Previously, he was working in the Investments team at Lightrock India. Prior to Lightrock, he was worked as a Senior Investment Associate at Asha Ventures. Raghav has also worked with Deloitte Consulting (New York) and Madgul Minerals (Kolkata), a real estate firm where he focused on corporate finance and strategy. Raghav graduated from Goizueta Business School at Emory University majoring in Strategic Management Consulting & Information Systems and Operations Management, coupled with a minor in Comparative Literature.
Riya is currently working as a Senior Associate with RMI India. She is also the steering committee member of GroW – Greening of Finance by women. Previously, she was working as an Innovative Finance Associate with UNDP and also worked as an Associate with Asha Ventures. Prior to Asha, she was a consultant on business and human rights to Charities Aid Foundation (London). Riya completed her Masters in Development Management from the London School of Economics and Bachelors in Economics from Hans Raj College, University of Delhi.
Rachana is working as the Investment Manager (Office of the Chief Investment Officer) at the British International Investment. Previously, she has worked as an Investment Associate at Asha Ventures and an engineer at Oracle. She also co-founded an investment platform called Niveshi. Rachana holds an MBA from INSEAD, Paris. Rachana graduated from the National Institute of Technology (Tiruchirappalli) and was a Fellow at the YOUNG INDIA FELLOWSHIP.
Alpana is currently working as a Product Manager at Coinbase. Previously she has worked as an Investment Associate at Asha Ventures and an Associate with the Consulting Services team of Intellecap. Alpana has completed her MBA student from the Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College, USA. She graduated from the YOUNG INDIA FELLOWSHIP Program at the Ashoka University and holds an engineering degree from the Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra.
Aparna is presently a partner at The Blended Finance Company. Earlier, she was leading blended finance and government engagement at Asha Ventures, focusing on Education, Skilling, Entrepreneurship, Livelihoods and Urban Development including Affordable Housing, Waste Management and Energy Access. Prior to Asha Ventures, Aparna was at BCG, Social Impact and Development Practice, where she worked on advising the Haryana government on transforming its K-12 education system. She started her career at Credit Suisse, NY in investment banking in the TMT sector. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Economics from Carleton College, U.S. and an MBA from INSEAD, France/Singapore.
Ashish Dhawan co-founded ChrysCapital, one of India’s leading private equity firms in 1999. He has served on the company’s board since its founding. He left his full-time position at ChrysCapital in 2012 after twenty years in the investment management business to found Central Square Foundation (CSF), a leading grant-making organization and policy think-tank focused on transforming the quality of school education in India. Ashish’s passion for education has led him to spearhead the founding of Ashoka University. Ashish also serves on the board of several education non-profits including Akanksha Foundation, 3.2.1 Education Foundation, Teach For India, Centre for Civil Society, Janaagraha, India School Leadership Institute and Bharti Foundation.Ashish is an MBA with distinction from Harvard University and a dual bachelor’s (BS/BA) holder with Magna Cum Laude honours from Yale University. He is on the India Advisory Board of Harvard and a member of Yale’s Development Council.
Mr. Chandra joined Bain Capital as a Managing Director in early 2008 and is a part of the firm’s leadership team in Asia. Before joining Bain Capital, Amit led Global Markets & Investment Banking business at DSP Merill Lynch. Mr. Chandra was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2007 and was named in Asia’s Heroes of Philanthropy list by Forbes in 2016. He is currently a Member of the Board of Directors of Tata Sons Limited, Genpact, L&T Finance, and Emcure Pharmaceuticals. He retired, in recent years, from the Boards of Piramal Enterprises, Tata Investment Corporation, and The Akanksha Foundation. He is also active in India’s not for profit space, and serves as a Trustee of the Tata Trusts, Founder/Board Member of Ashoka University, and Board Member of Give India (India’s leading philanthropic exchange).
Ajay Parekh is an Executive Director at Pidilite Industries Ltd, founded by his late father Shri B.K. Parekh in 1959. Pidilite Industries has been a pioneer in consumer and specialties chemicals in India. With a turnover of close a billion dollars, it is the market leader in adhesives and sealants, construction chemicals, colors and polymer emulsions. Fevicol, one of Pidilite’s flagship products, is the largest selling adhesives brand in Asia. Ajay holds a Bachelor in Chemical Engineering and has completed his Masters of Business Administration (U.S.A.) from University of California, Berkeley.
Mrs. Padmini Somani is the force and vision behind the Salaam Bombay Foundation. She has over 15 years of experience in the development sector actively working on a range of issues in health, education and skill building. She is on boards of several health and educational institutions and Government committees. She is an advocate on public policy and is recognized for her contribution to tobacco control in India and internationally by several institutions including the World Health Organization. She also heads the Narotam Sekhsaria Foundation which supports causes in the area of health, education and employment generation.
Vishwang Desai is the managing partner of the law firm, Desai and Diwanji and heads its corporate commercial practice. He has consistently advised large multinational corporations and Indian business groups, governments, multilateral agencies, lenders, PE funds, as well as financial investors in some of the largest M&A, PE and financing transactions in India / involving Indian companies. He has been named “lawyer of the year” by various global publications, and is regularly included in several top business lawyer lists compiled by global publications.
Gokul Laroia is Co-CEO of Asia Pacific for Morgan Stanley, Head of Asia Equities and a member of the firm’s Management Committee. Over a 20-year career at Morgan Stanley, Gokul has held a number of leadership positions across the region, heading up the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions, Capital Markets and Investment Banking divisions before assuming his current role in 2014. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, he spent four years at Citigroup. Gokul holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and an MBA from the University of Delhi.
