The Desi VC with Akash Bhat

Anshu Bansal is a serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist. He co-founded Hyrecar, a peer-to-peer car sharing marketplace that allows anyone to rent their cars to Uber and Lyft drivers safely and reliably. In today’s episode, learn how a late-night Uber ride in 2014 sparked a groundbreaking business idea that would reshape the ride-sharing industry in the US. Anshu takes us through his incredible entrepreneurial journey—from his programming days at H&R Block and Amazon Prime Music to building the “Airbnb for ride-share cars.” Along the way, he faced direct competition from Uber, financial struggles that nearly led to bankruptcy, and even sold his own car to keep the company afloat. Against all odds, he turned things around and ultimately took the company public in a remarkable comeback story. Learn how they validated their concept by going undercover at Uber Driver Hubs, built their first MVP using just a spreadsheet that generated $9,000 in month one, and navigated crucial pivots when faced with competition from Uber itself. ⌛ Timestamps: IntroductionEarly CareerThe Birth of HyrecarCracking the Business Model(Proving the IdeaIgnored by UberReinventing Car OwnershipThriving in the UnknownLessons from Amazon & MicrosoftHiring in Startups vs. Big TechThe Real Meaning of Entrepreneurship (32:43)Personal Struggles & EntrepreneurshipFinding the Right Co-FounderFrom Near Collapse to IPOBuilding a VC FundJumping into CybersecurityThe Biggest Lessons as an OperatorAdvice to His Younger Self Support the podcast: ⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter/X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack

Aquibur Rahman is the Co-founder and CEO of Mailmodo, an interactive email marketing software that helps marketers create app-like experiences in email by adding forms, shopping cart, calendar, NPS and other widgets. It helps companies collect feedback from their users, book meetings with prospects, recover abandon carts, generate leads, all within the the body of the email. The company is backed by Peak XV Partners (prev. known as Sequoia India), Y Combinator, BoldCap, Titan Capital & All In Capital.Aquib has been a marketer his entire career. Prior to founding Mailmodo, he headed marketing at Cleartax, a leading tax & investing platform, where he built and grew the practice from the ground up. And before that he had short but impactful stints at P&G, iProf Learning Solutions (I) Pvt. Ltd., and CarDekho.From a small village in Bihar to Super30, IIT Dhanbad, IIM Ahmedabad, and now the Silicon Valley, Aquib has come a long way and defied the odds at every step. Humble, soft-spoken, and incredibly knowledgeable, he brings deep insights into marketing, growth, and startup success.In today's episode, we dive deep into marketing strategies for founders and startups. Aquib shares actionable insights on why founders should position themselves as the face of their companies and how they can do it effectively, proven strategies for scaling market as a strong source of lead generation and brand building in the early stages, and a step-by-step playbook for executing founder-led marketing effectively.This is a MUST-watch episode for every founder and marketing person at startups ⌛ Timestamps: ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter/X⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack

Yousuf Khan is a Partner at Ridge Ventures, a seed and Series A stage venture fund investing in enterprise and B2B startups. With a deep understanding of startup growth and scaling challenges, Yousuf not only drives Ridge’s investment portfolio forward but also provides hands-on support to founders, offering guidance rooted in his extensive experience across leadership roles. He currently serves as a board director for Ridge-backed companies, including Archera, Cerby, Chisel Labs, Lightyear, Rafay, and Rewind. Before joining Ridge, Yousuf held several pivotal positions in leading technology companies. He was the first CIO of Automation Anywhere ($6.84 billion company), played a dual role as CIO and Vice President of Customer Success at AI-driven cloud platform Moveworks ($2.1 billion company), and served as CIO at two public companies, Pure Storage (PSTG) and Qualys (QLYS). His deep industry expertise also includes advisory roles with companies like Zoom, Productiv, and Material Security. In this episode, Yousuf shares his journey into venture capital, discussing key insights on building a career in VC, the importance of founder empathy, and the role of self-awareness and diversity in investing.He offers practical advice on how VCs can create information arbitrage, draw value from feedback cycles, and support founders through challenges at scale. The conversation also delves into best practices and strategies for enterprise software founders, covering topics like customer obsession, board meetings, and leadership at scale. ⌛ Timestamps: 0:001:403:444:265:207:139:0011:4414:4116:4618:2519:3922:0725:0727:0032:3436:4039:0041:0643:0147:3759:061:06:071:08:101:10:351:14:151:20:161:24:541:26:581:30:10 🎥 Subscribe to see watch more unfiltered, unscripted conversations that will inspire, educate, and entertain! ⁠YouTube⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠Twitter/X⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠Substack

We had the privilege of hosting Sriram Viswanathan, Founding Managing Partner of Celesta Capital. Based in San Francisco, Celesta Capital is a global, multi-stage venture capital firm managing $1.1 billion in assets. The firm specializes in cross-border investments between India and the United States, with a focus on deep-tech. Since its inception in 2013, Celesta Capital has invested in over 100 companies including those in space-tech, bio-tech, artificial intelligence, drug discovery, semi-conductors, cloud infrastructure, imaging, construction, diagnostics among others. Sriram Viswanathan has more than 30 years of technology business operations and venture capital experience. Prior to Celesta, Sriram was the founder of IndusAge Partners, a cross-border venture firm investing in companies in India-US corridor. Sriram spent nearly 20 years at Intel Corporation in various senior management roles, including VP of the Intel Architecture Group (IAG) and later as the VP of Intel Capital and General Manager of Intel’s Incubation and Innovation Group. In this episode, we explore Sriram’s journey, from his time at Intel during its peak, where he first delved into deep tech, to his unique experiences intersecting with Hollywood. We explore building a winning organizational culture, Sriram’s core values, and how Celesta Capital reflects the shared principles of its four partners. Sriram shares insights into Celesta’s investment thesis, rooted in the operational expertise of its team, and offers lessons on what makes a successful venture capitalist, from the importance of relationships and authenticity to navigating leadership changes. We discuss the immense opportunities in deep tech, particularly in India, the impact of geo-politics and regulation on investing, and strategies for attracting LPs to deep tech funds. With advice on choosing the right VC partner, building with an exit mindset, and running efficient board meetings, this conversation is packed with valuable takeaways for founders, investors, and anyone navigating the world of deep tech and venture capital. 🎙️ Fun fact: Sriram also hosts @techsurge-deeptech podcast. Give it a listen! ⌛ Timestamps: 1. Episode Trailer | 00:00 2. Guest Introduction | 01:23 3. Episode Kickoff | 04:12 4. The secret behind longevity at Intel | 05:24 5. Why Intel bet big on deep tech | 08:51 6. How Intel evaluated deep tech in the 90s | 11:13 7. Convincing Steven Spielberg to use Intel's InTru3D for Shrek | 13:13 8. Building a culture of longevity in organizations | 17:08 9. Laying the foundation for a career in venture investing | 19:57 10. Traits of a successful venture capitalist | 23:58 11. The tough decisions in VC: leadership changes | 30:04 12. Why VC is about people and relationships | 32:32 13. Choosing the right VC partner over a big-name fund | 36:15 14. “Elon doesn’t run SpaceX” | 37:40 15. How to run efficient board meetings | 39:08 16. Authenticity as a superpower | 40:14 17. Celesta Capital’s investment philosophy | 41:40 18. The three pillars of a VC fund and founding Celesta Capital | 45:00 19. Key investment criteria at Celesta | 50:10 20. “Venture capital sucks” | 53:28 21. Why deep tech is a major opportunity in India | 58:25 22. How geo-politics and regulation shape investing in India | 01:01:21 23. Why LPs are excited & going long on deep tech | 01:03:55 24. Balancing returns across markets with different maturities (India & the US) | 01:05:40 25. Attracting new LPs to deep tech | 01:07:46 26. Building deep tech with an exit mindset | 01:11:45 27. Lessons learned from venture investing | 01:13:28 28. Sriram’s decision-making framework | 01:16:22 29. Episode Outro | 01:20:16 🎥 Subscribe to see watch more unfiltered, unscripted conversations that will inspire, educate, and entertain! 🔗 SUBSCRIBE on YouTube 🎧 Follow us on Spotify 📸 Follow us on Instagram 🐦 Follow us on Twitter/X 💼 Follow us on LinkedIn 🎵 Follow us on TikTok 💌 BTS content on...

In this episode, we sit down with ⁠Sheel Mohnot⁠, co-founder of ⁠Better Tomorrow Ventures⁠ (BTV), a San Francisco-based $350M AUM fund that leads pre-seed and seed rounds in fintech companies globally, typically writing first checks ranging from $500K to $4M. BTV also runs The Mint Accelerator, a program providing mentorship, resources, and community support for fintech founders. At its core, BTV invests for a better future, driven by the belief that fintech can genuinely improve people’s lives. Sheel is an operator-turned-investor. He built and sold FeeFighters, a Stripe-like payment gateway and processor product called Samurai, which was acquired by Groupon pre-launch in 2012, as well as Innovative Auctions. He also co-founded Thistle, a healthy meal delivery company that raised minimal VC funding and now employs over 500 people. In this episode, we dive deep with Sheel to uncover the lessons he’s learned from building and exiting two businesses, the profound influence of family on his journey as both a founder and now an investor, and why he believes seed-stage investing allows BTV to have the greatest impact. He shares candid insights about what it means to be the first call for his founders, the perks and challenges of being an operator-turned-investor, and the importance of portfolio diversification. Sheel also reflects on traits of an ideal investor, finding life’s purpose, and even tells a story about the time he smoked a cigarette just to close a deal as a founder. Whether you’re an aspiring investor, an entrepreneur, or just someone looking to grow as an individual, this episode is packed with stories, lessons, and actionable insights. It’s the perfect way to kick off the year—leaving you inspired and introspective! ⌛ Timestamps: 00:00 - Episode trailer 02:15 - Family's influence on Sheel 04:44 - First encounter with Fintech 05:43 - Lessons from working in India 09:05 - Impression of India while growing up 11:57 - Correlation between family, values and investing 15:28 - Why VCs seek billion-dollar outcomes 17:53 - Importance of discipline in venture investing 20:40 - Who is Sheel? 22:21 - Value of approachability 27:30 - Importance of putting oneself ‘out there’ 28:57 - Hard problems, emerging markets & power of writing 30:35 - Dealing with imposter syndrome 34:10 - The hidden role of a VC 38:09 - Benefits of portfolio diversification 39:06 - Advantages Operator-turned-VCs hold over pure investors 40:15 - Traits of the ideal investor 45:17 - Finding life’s purpose 47:12 - Advice for indecisive founders 52:38 - Angel investing as a precursor to VC 53:43 - Key Learnings as a second time founder 54:52 - Smoked a cigarette to make a sale 57:09 - Insights from successful leaders & why startups fail 59:07 - Sheel’s fashion & style 🎥 Subscribe to see watch more unfiltered, unscripted conversations that will inspire, educate, and entertain! 🔗 SUBSCRIBE: https://youtube.com/@thedesivc?si=f3U31CkDeiFzk21c 🎧 Follow us on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/41OVDhM 📸 Follow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/bhatvakash 🐦 Follow us on X: https://x.com/bhatvakash 💼 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/bhatakash 🎵 Follow us on TikTok: https://tiktok.com/thedesivc 💌 Sponsor The Desi VC Podcast: akash@thedesivc.com

After 150 audio-only episodes on Spotify & Apple Podcasts, The Desi VC is finally stepping into the world of video! The first video episode drops on January 1st. Join host Akash Bhat every fortnight as he interviews: Get ready for: 🎥 Subscribe now to see unfiltered, unscripted conversations that will inspire, educate, and entertain! 🔗 SUBSCRIBE: https://youtube.com/thedesivc 🎧 Follow us on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/41OVDhM 📸 Follow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/bhatvakash 🐦 Follow us on X: https://x.com/bhatvakash 💼 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/bhatakash 🎵 Follow us on TikTok: https://tiktok.com/thedesivc 💌 Sponsor The Desi VC Podcast: akash@thedesivc.com

Dhruv Dhanraj Bahl is the Founder & Managing Partner at Eternal Capital, a 120-crore fund investing in transformative startups across technology, healthcare, and consumer sectors in India. He is the former COO of BharatPe, and a leader with extensive experience in scaling businesses and driving operational excellence across Airtel, PayTM, and Fortis Hospitals, where he spearheaded growth and strategy initiatives. This is the first of a two-part series, with the second part coming out next week. Stay tuned! Episode Notes: IntroductionDhruv’s transition from operator to investorInsights from launching a new fund in India in 2024Developing investment skills and discipline as a venture fund managerStrategies for fund managers to unlock capital for portfolio companies in later roundsPerspectives of external vs domestic investors/LPs on India’s venture landscape Social links Dhruv on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Dhruv⁠⁠ on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn⁠⁠

Dhirendra Mahyavanshi is the Co-Founder of Turtlemint, an online insurance platform backed by Nexus Venture Partners, Peak XV, Jungle Ventures, GGV Capital, Blume Ventures among others. The company is on a mission to makes it easy to understand and buy insurance. Before founding this company he held leadership positions at Quikr and ICICI Lombard. He holds an MBA degree from The IIM Calcutta. . . . Episode Notes: . . . Social links ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Dhirendra on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Dhirendra⁠⁠ on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn⁠⁠

Archana Jahagirdar is the founder and managing partner of Rukam Capital, to find out. Set up in 2019, the Delhi-based venture capital firm invests in early-stage consumer products and services companies with significant growth potential. The VC has funded as many as 20+ startups, including noted brands such as Go DESi, Sleepy Owl Coffee, Burger Singh, BECO, The Indus Valley, Curefoods and more. . . . Episode Notes: . . . Social links Archana on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Archana⁠⁠ on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn⁠⁠

Anshuman Singh is the Co-founder of ⁠Scaler⁠, an edtech company designed to upskill college graduates and young software engineers in advanced computer science topics. The company has raised $55M from Lightrock, Peak XV Partners and Tiger Global Management, at a valuation of $700M. Before Scaler, Anshuman had co-founded InterviewBit, a platform aimed at helping software engineers prepare for technical interviews. During this time, he noticed that many talented individuals were struggling with the practical skills required to excel in real-world tech jobs, despite holding degrees in computer science. This realization laid the groundwork for Scaler. . . . Episode Notes: . . . Social links Anshuman on Twitter⁠⁠⁠Anshuman Singh on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn⁠

Sagar Kochhar is the Co-founder of Rebel Foods, and CEO of Eatsure. After completing his engineering degree from NIT Kurukshetra and an MBA from SCMHRD Pune, he began as a design engineer with Larsen & Toubro, then moved to Perfetti Van Melle and Vodafone in marketing roles. At Rebel Foods, he initially joined as Sr. VP of Operations, playing a crucial role in building brands from scratch to multi-million-dollar valuations. Since becoming Group CMO in 2016, Sagar has led brand growth across geographies, focusing on innovative campaigns and community engagement to strengthen brand equity and deliver memorable consumer experiences. In 2020, he launched and became the CEO of Eatsure, a food delivery platform and brand created by Rebel Foods that focuses on providing safe, quality-assured food from a curated selection of restaurant brands. It’s known for its "100% Safe Food Guarantee," where every meal is prepared following strict hygiene and safety protocols. Eatsure's app aggregates multiple brands under one platform, offering a wide variety of cuisines through a virtual food court concept. It also uses technology to track and assure quality across Rebel Foods’ cloud kitchens, enabling customers to order from different brands in one single order. . . . Episode Notes: . . . Social links Sagar on TwitterSagar on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn

⁠Karthik Prabhakar⁠ is the Managing Partner at ⁠PeerCapital⁠, an early-stage investment fund in India focused on seed to Series A rounds. Karthik has been a part of the Indian tech ecosystem since 2005, with a wealth of experience in venture capital, product development, and marketing. Prior to PeerCapital, Karthik was the Managing Director at Chiratae Ventures (formerly known as IDG Ventures). . . . Episode Notes: . . . Social links ⁠Karthik on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Karthik on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠

⁠Aditya Nambiar⁠ is the co-founder of ⁠Fennel⁠, a modern feature engineering platform that enables you to author, compute, store, serve, monitor, and govern both real-time and batch ML features, backed by Foundational Capital. Before diving into entrepreneurship, Aditya built products at Google and Facebook, and is an IIT-B alumnus. . . . Episode notes: . . . Social links Aditya on Twitter⁠Aditya on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn⁠⁠

Mayuresh Raut is the Co-founder & Managing Partner of Seafund, investing in pre-Series A startups in India with investments in companies such as Wigzo, Inc42, Zippee, ClooTrack among others. SEA Fund’s mission is to help the next set of technical founders, with small amounts of early capital in getting to market to build efficient and scalable businesses. He is an Engineer and an MBA and is an alumnus of Virginia Tech and INSEAD, has over 21 years of leadership experience with global clients in Manufacturing, Construction & Analytics in Financial Services & Healthcare and has been investing in startups for over 10 years. . . . Episode Notes: . . . Social links ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mayuresh on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mayuresh on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn⁠

Swati Bhargava is the Co-Founder of CashKaro.com, India’s largest Cashback & Coupons site, backed by Kalaari Capital, Korea investment partners and Affle. Swati first started Pouring Pounds with her husband Rohan Bhargava in the UK in 2011. Seeing the huge opportunity in India they launched CashKaro.com in April 2013. Swati is an alumnus of the London School of Economics and has worked at Goldman Sachs in London for 5 years before embarking on the path of entreprneurship. In this episode we’ll cover her decade long journey building a consumer business and all things she’s learned about being a founder and growing as leader. . . . Episode Notes: . . . Social links Swati on Twitter⁠Swati on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn

Anish is the Co-founder and CEO of Open, a neo-banking platform which provides business banking services to SMEs and startups. With over 17 years in the fintech industry, Anish has a rich entrepreneurial background. In 2001, he co-founded his first startup, iFuturz Wireless, focusing on mobile value-added services. In 2007, he founded CashNxt, a plug-and-play mobile payment and financial inclusion platform for semi-urban and rural markets, which was later acquired by a Latin American company. In 2009, he built Neartivity Wireless, an NFC-based payment processing platform. In 2013, he co-founded Zwitch, India’s first developer-focused payment platform, which was acquired by Citrus Payments in 2015. At CitrusPay and later at PayU, Anish interacted with numerous SMEs and realized that banking was broken for small businesses, with owners struggling to track their income and expenses, leading him to found Open. . . . Episode Notes: . . . Social Links: Anish on TwitterAnish on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn

Edul Patel is the Co-founder & CEO of Mudrex, a crypto exchange platform on a mission to democratize investing, with its primary goal being to make crypto investing easy and accessible to all. The company has raised over $22M from Y Combinator, Nexus Venture Partners, Tribe Captial, QED Investors and Arkam Ventures. Edul brings with him over 10 years of experience deep-rooted in finance, entrepreneurship, and building tech-driven applications. Previously Co-Founded Niffler, which was acquired by Tapzo where he led the product team to build the core infrastructure and the app. . . . Episode Notes: . . . Social Links: Edul on Twitter⁠⁠Edul on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn

Navin Honagudi is the Managing Partner at Elev8 Venture Partners, an India-focused $200M Growth-stage fund. Elev8 focuses on Series B and C rounds of financing in hyper growth companies. He bring 18+ years of experience investing in early and growth stage technology firms and also held the positions of Co-founder and Partner at Kae Capital. . . . Episode Notes: . . . Social Links: Navin on Twitter⁠Navin on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn

Sanket Shah is the Founder of invideo, an AI-powered video creation platform for creators, boasting over 25 million users worldwide. As a trusted leader in the industry, InVideo serves customers in 190 countries and has raised over $52 million from investors including Tiger Global, Peak 15, RTP Global, Titan Capital, and Hummingbird Ventures. Prior to InVideo, Sanket founded MassBlurb, which was acquired by Mobikon in 2016. . . . Episode Notes: . . . Social Links: Sanket on TwitterSanket on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn

Ashok is the Co-founder and CEO of IDfy, an online fraud detection and identity platform that provides background verification services to banks and financial institutions. He started his career in semi-conductors, building high-speed network processors. His MBA degree took him away from Engineering and into the world of Business Strategy. He worked with British Telecom in London for 5 years before deciding that his heart lay in creating value grounds-up. The company has raised over $54M from IndiaMart, KB Investment, Blume Ventures, Elev8 Venture Partners among many others. . . . Episode Notes: . . . Social Links: ⁠Ashok on TwitterAshok on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn