Investors

Mr. Krishna Jha

Krishna is a first generation entrepreneur. In 1999 he quit his software job to co-found ITFinity, one of the first wireless data companies globally. The company was backed by stellar angel investors including the heads of McKinsey, Chryscap, Edelweiss etc.
ITFinity went on to create significant innovations in telecom software and consumer services space, with a customer list comprising of top telcos and phone manufacturers. The company was highly profitable and ranked among Deloitte Fast 500 tech companies for three years in running.
In early 2007 ITFinity was acquired by OnMobile, the telecom spin-off from Infosys, providing super normal returns to its investors.
Krishna is also a member of Indian Angel Network.

Mr. Soumitra Sharma

Soumitra has over 3 years of industry experience, including over a year of M&A and Corporate Finance Advisory experience involving transactions worth more than USD 15 billion.
Soumitra’s most recent assignment was as an Investment Banking Analyst with Citigroup Global Markets India, where he worked on M&A transactions and acquisition financing assignments. Prior to this, Soumitra worked as Assistant Manager in Deloitte India’s Financial Advisory practice, where he advised both Indian and international clients on cross border M&A, fundraising, financial appraisals, market entry strategies and turnarounds. Previously, Soumitra was a Business Analyst at Evalueserve India, where he advised international clients on investment opportunity analysis, product strategies, competitive intelligence and market assessments.
Soumitra has written extensively on international platforms such as TIME and the Wall Street Journal, and also contributed chapters to books on global economic issues. He has a published patent on public-private partnership based equity financing model for SMEs, to his credit.
Soumitra holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University (IT-BHU), and an MBA (Analytical Finance) from the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad. This included spending a spring term on MBA exchange at Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University (Chicago).

Mr. Adit Parekh

Adit has over 5 years of entrepreneurial, technology, management consulting and venture capital experience. He spent 4 years working with start-ups and SMEs in the Biotech, Telecom, Logistics and Travel space. The Biotech firm in the bay-area was angel backed while the Telecom firm in Bangalore got acquired by SemIndia. He was part of the investment team at Aavishkaar, a social venture capital fund along with currently being a member of the Mumbai Angels, one of India's leading angel groups. Adit pursued his Bachelors in Electrical Engineering from Brigham Young University and completed his MBA from Goa Institute of Management.

Mr. Sanjay Mehta, IAN member, CEO Maia Intelligence

Mr. Sanjay Mehta has 13 years of working experience in software product space. Mr. Mehta’s vision to develop indigenous Indian business intelligence tool is today a reality with MAIA Intelligence 1KEY business intelligence product. Mr. Mehta believes that in coming months and years Indian Software Product companies will be a serious threat to foreign branded software.
Mr. Mehta is currently the CEO of MAIA Intelligence. He is leading a team of technocrats with a vision to change paradigm in BI space and make BI available to masses. Mr. Mehta has a wide knowledge on various verticals from Manufacturing, BFSI and Distribution. The IT reporting need of Indian business user mass is different. Indian CIO TCO need is different which is understood by Mr. Mehta very well.
In his career Mr. Mehta has created software brands in like Udyog Excise which has more than 10000+ users in India. Mr. Mehta key strength is leadership qualities and creating business and scaling up to size Mr. Mehta has worked on strategic alliances with software majors for an OEM business.
Mr. Mehta holds a Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Electronics from Mumbai University and is a Microsoft Certified Professional.
Mr. Mehta has been one of the founder and Director of Udyog Software India Ltd. He is currently a director & is on the board on XBRL India.

Mr. Bharat Banka, IAN member, CEO Aditya Birla PE

Bharat heads Aditya Birla Private Equity as its Founding CEO. He led the initiative to set ABPE practice, build team and raise ~$200 million in its maiden domestic fund. With diverse experience in business, strategy, principal investing, M&A, post-merger integration, capital markets & CXO-level roles, he brings unique value-creation abilities, commercial acumen for portfolio companies and strong team management skills.
In earlier role as Head of Group Finance at the Aditya Birla Group, he played a pivotal role in expanding the Group through complex M&A and organic means. Before joining the Aditya Birla Group in 1994, he was responsible for primary capital markets, corporate advisory and led the PSU practice at the Indian JV of J. P. Morgan with ICICI.
His career highlights include formation of India's 5th largest $5 billion mobile company (Idea Cellular); creation of India's 2nd largest $7 billion cement business (Ultra Tech Cement); formation of India's large non-ferrous $8 billion metals company (Hindalco) and formation of US$ 2 billion conglomerate (Aditya Birla Nuvo); all through a series of multi-billion dollar innovative acquisitions, capital market interventions, mergers and post-merger integration.
Bharat is a Fellow Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), an Associate Cost Accountant from the Institute of Cost & Works Accountants of India (ICWAI), member of Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Mumbai, India
He is a member of National Committee on Capital Markets, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and a member of the Board at GEI Industrial Systems, Anupam Industries and V-Mart Retail. He is on Advisory Councils of an upcoming healthcare solutions company and an upcoming unique social media company.

Mr. Kaushal Aggarwal, IAN member, MD Avendus Capital

Co-founder and Managing Director
Kaushal guides Avendus’ Institutional Equities business. He has over thirteen years of global investment banking experience. He is based out of Mumbai.
Prior to co-founding Avendus, Kaushal worked with Kotak Mahindra, a leading Indian financial services firm.
He holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore and a BTech in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi.

Mr. Sadeesh Raghvan, IAN member

Sadeesh Raghavan has worked and lived all over the world. He did his undergraduate at IIT Madras, then his MBA at UCLA USA, and has worked in the US, China, Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, and for the last 4 years has been based both in India and Malaysia/Singapore. He was Managing Director at Accenture where in his last role he ran their Products(Manufacturing & Distribution) practice across Asia Pacific and then most recently all their India businesses. He has spent his career advising MNCs and the top Asian players on their market entry and growth programs and strategies revolving around the rapidly growing Asia Pacific market. He is very active in venture philanthrophy and angel investing and sits on numerous boards including the Global Advisory Board and Investment Committee of Acumen Fund, a US based not for profit venture philanthrophy fund.

Mr. Rehan Yar Khan, IAN member, CEO Flora 2000

Rehan has 16 years experience in building and managing companies. He started his career as a chartered accountant in the UK, but quickly moved into management and then to entrepreneurship. He went on to found Flora2000.com , where he built the business from scratch. Rehan's strengths are the knowledge of the consumer internet domain; building management systems and boot strapping companies. Rehan is an active member of IAMAI, a St. Xaviers (Bombay) alumnus and University of London alumnus. He is also currently an investor and director in an Internet startup.

Mr. Amit Patni, IAN member, Chairman Nirvana Ventures

Amit is Co-founder & Chairman at Nirvana Venture Advisors and is a promoter shareholder of Patni Computers. Patni Computers Ltd. was a pioneer in Indian ITES. The promoter family stake in Patni Computers was divested in May 2011 in a sale to iGate Corporation at value of $1.5 billion. Amit has 22 years’ experience in technology, software and projects. He has extensive experience in the computer hardware and components market in India and overseas. In his various roles, Amit has independently ensured implementation of Greenfield projects and launched new business operations. As a Whole time Director of PCS Technologies Ltd., a listed Indian company in the computer hardware and manufacturing space, Amit was responsible for setting-up the copper clad laminates business. Subsequently he was Managing Director of PCS International Pvt. Ltd. with the responsibility of expanding PCS Technologies hardware business in UAE and Africa. Thereafter, Amit developed Health Management Systems, a healthcare software product that was marketed by PCS Technologies Ltd. Amit is a Director of the Board of Patni Financial Advisors the family office of the Patni Family. Amit has done his BS in Accounting and Masters from Babson College, USA.

Mr. Jiten Apte, IAN member, CEO Wizarth Advisors

Jiten Apte co-founded Wizarth with Ajit Deshmukh, with a shared dream of creating a full service investment bank focused on cross-border transactions. The idea for this new business was born when Jiten and Ajit sold their prior IT services company, Y-Point Technologies. Jiten currently serves as the CEO of Wizarth. Additionally, he has helped build the US front-office of the company. Finally, Jiten has been the lead in closing several of the most important deals closed by Wizarth. He brings to the table over 15 years of industry experience in numerous functional areas, including international management, finance, business development, and technology. Prior to starting Wizarth, Jiten started and successfully exited Y-Point Technologies, an offshore IT services firm. He was also an early equity partner in Isochrone, where he successfully built their offshore product development practice focused on IT security products vertical. Prior to starting his entrepreneurial career, Jiten was employed at various Research and R&D Laboratories in Hewlett Packard, IBM and AT&T Bell Labs. While at AT&T, Jiten has completed a mini-MBA in Finance from Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania, has taken a Ph. D. from the Computer Science Department of Duke University, and a B. Tech. in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. During his employment and student career, Jiten has authored numerous research papers, and holds several US patents.

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