- Team
“Teamwork is the secret that makes common
people achieve uncommon results”
- FOUNDER & CEO
Nirav Sheth
A veteran in the Financial Services Industry, Mr. Nirav Sheth, is appointed Designate Partner, by Kathyawad Holdings Pvt Ltd, the investee partner of the firm.
An Investor Relations enthusiast and a serial entrepreneur, comes with an overall experience of 18 years plus, of which 15 years in corporate life, with some of the esteemed organisations.
Coming from a business family, Mr. Sheth possesses vital experience in building and managing businesses. Widely instrumental in Mentoring Sustainable Startup Businesses, he is also on Advisory Board of a few esteemed brands.
Widely instrumental in Network Building Skills, Mr. Sheth holds memberships with esteemed organisations, viz., EU Chamber of Commerce & Industries, Climate Policy Initiative, UK Dept. of International Trade, etc., to not only leverage the opportunity to get access to business policymakers, but also to support and guide businesses in engaging with their cross-border expansions.
- Co- Founder & COO
Pankaj Anand
Co-Founder & COO at Kathyawad Ventures, Mr. Pankaj Anand with over 20 years of extensive experience and exceptional business acumen, has held key CXO positions at renowned multinational corporations such as UTC, Nokia, GE, Xerox, and KHD, along with Fintech, Proptech, and Healthtech entities.
Prior to this role, Pankaj successfully ran his consultancy focusing on brand scalability and corporate advisory while spearheading fundraising for startups and small to mid-sized corporations. His outstanding proficiency has earned him multiple accolades and industry recognition.
Pankaj Anand’s illustrious career stands as a testament to his strategic vision, leadership excellence, and unwavering commitment to driving financial innovation and growth across diverse sectors.
- Venture Partner - Startup Curation
Arvind Arryan
Arvind is an Ex-Director of Innovation & Emerging Technologies, from PwC, with 2 decades of international experience in working for Start-up Accelerators & with Venture Capital & Venture Builder firms, thereby amassing experience from both sides of the table for building and driving business from scratch as well as in funding and investment for start-ups.
He has over 20 years of international experience in corporate innovation, venture building, and start-up ecosystems, with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST B School) and Melbourne Business School. He was the 2nd in line at Jaarvis Ventures and headed the investments and raised USD 16M and scaled up the 5 ventures of Jaarvis to hit topline revenue of HKD 130M + and also set-up technology accelerators in India and Hong Kong and helped investors exit with 3.8x returns in 2 years time.
As a Venture Partner at Kathyawad ventures, he leads investments in both debt and equity financing for Indian tech start-ups and helps them to scale internationally as well.
- Venture Partner - Investments
Amit Thakkar
Amit has over 17 years of experience in corporate finance, investment banking and consulting.
His last engagement was with Indiabulls Asset Management Co Ltd where he was instrumental in building and scaling up the AIF business from scratch to over USD 300 Mn in last 6 years. He joined as Vice President – Investments where primary role was full deal cycle including investing, portfolio management and exits. Along with investments, he was also responsible for management of operations for real estate funds including distributor tieups, fund raising, investment monitoring, fund compliance, fund accounting and administration, investor relationship etc.
Before Indiabulls, he was associated with Jones Lang LaSalle as Associate Director-Corporate Finance where he has worked with large corporates, having main business of FMCG, IT/ITeS, Retail and Logistics, in creating value for their real estate. The solutions included investment, acquisition / disposition, fund raising, consolidation, JV / strategic tie ups, advisory, structuring etc of real estate assets. Prior to joining Jones Lang LaSalle, he was working with Associate Group, a Mumbai based developer as General Manager – Business Development & Finance; where his role was acquisition of projects/ land parcels, structuring & fund raising, project monitoring and P&L management. He was also involved in securing project approvals, construction management, sales and marketing. Before Associate Group, he worked with DTZ for five years specialising in raising private equity, formulation of joint ventures, valuations and strategic advisory for real estate and infrastructure companies. Prior to DTZ, Amit was part of Investment banking team of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) where he concluded assignments for fund raising, corporate restructuring and strategic divestment for clients in Shipping, Chemical, FMCG and Real Estate industry.
Amit is a Rank Holder Chartered Accountant and completed his Bachelors in Commerce from Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics, Mumbai.
- Venture Partner - Innovations
Ashish Kumar
Ashish is currently a venture capitalist and has previously been a technology entrepreneur with over 16 years of experience in Fund Management, Investment Strategies and M&A/ Investment Banking.
Ashish was previously a Fund Manager at the Indiabulls Real Estate Fund where he was involved in identifying, underwriting and executing investments into real estate projects. He helped raise, deploy and exit over US$250m across multiple strategies. Ashish has been involved in transactions cumulatively valued over $1 billion and over 10 million sq.ft. through his career.
Prior to this, Ashish was a senior member of the Shapoorji Pallonji (SP) Investment Advisory team which advised the CPPIB/ SP strategic alliance on real estate investments in India. Prior to this, Ashish worked with Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL), where he assisted corporate property owners monetize their assets while identifying optimal transaction / financial holding structures considering the impact of ownership, leasing, sale or financing.
Prior to JLL, Ashish worked with DTZ, BDA Partners and Deloitte Consulting in India as an investment banker and management consultant.
Ashish holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management from Mumbai University and a Post Graduate Management Qualification from the Indian School of Business (ISB) in Hyderabad.
- Venture Partner - Alliances
Gaurav
Gaurav is a Cannes Lions 2014 Winner for his contribution to the Missed Call – Mobile Radio Platform Kan Khajura Tesan for Hindustan Unilever Ltd. He is a Solutions’ Architect and has worked across brand categories and media properties. He also teaches at premier B-Schools like MICA, Ahmedabad, IIM Kozhikode, SIMC, Jaipuria Institute of Management, ITM, etc., and is an Educationist at heart.
He has over 20 years of experience in Business Development & Alliances in companies like Bertelsmann Music Group, Contests2win, Media2win, Disney UTV, Omnicom Media Group, where he worked in the Mobile Marketing and the Innovations teams, with Near.Store, & QUIKAF. He was also stationed at Oman as a Brand Consultant and worked very closely with Omantel, the largest mobile network operator in Muscat when they were launching their mobile internet platform. He was responsible for setting up a new revenue stream at C2W Digital (the digital solutions’ arm of Contests2win) called Sales Accelerator that helped FMCG companies sell more via mobile, IVR, and online. At present he is an Evangelist at OmniCard, a fintech company that has a PPI license from the RBI and a UPI license from NPCI.
Near.Store was a start-up that had both a hardware and a software solution to help kirana shops go online and be e-commerce ready by merely scanning their products to generate bills. He, along with his team successfully onboarded about 1000 retail shops in Mumbai. QUIKAF was a last-mile quick delivery start-up that helped D2C brands deliver their customer orders in Mumbai within 15 minutes.
He also had his own Solutions company, What’sCooking Solutions which he managed for nearly 5 years where he partnered with various start-ups and packaged their products as solutions for clients. In that stint, he worked on technologies like beacons, NFC, WiFi proximity marketing, sentiment analysis, employee advocacy, and various mobile solutions (both online and offline).
He was also the Director of the Digital Marketing program at S P Jain School of Global Management. He was responsible for getting Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, and many other companies to the campus for industry outreach programs.
Corporate training is another thing he loves. He has undertaken sessions for Abbott Nutrition and the Publicis Groupe. He has also been mentoring start-ups in the areas of sales, marketing & creative and even with client connects. Gaurav holds an MMS (Master in Management Studies) degree from the University of Mumbai.
- Global Venture Partner - Romania & EU Markets
Malina Lucia Turcut
Mălina is a seasoned financial executive with over 18 years of experience and a strong track record of success in leading and managing finance activities in various industries. With extensive leadership experience, she has played a key role in the planning, implementing, managing and running of all the finance activities of the companies she has worked with.
Beyond her financial expertise, Mălina has also demonstrated her ability to contribute to the development of brands by identifying and maintaining strategic partnerships. Her experience in coordinating activities with multinational companies and managing businesses in various industries have given her a unique set of skills and insights that enable her to effectively identify and execute on strategic partnerships that drive growth and create value.
Mălina is also a proven leader in the development of organizational culture, bringing an enviable work ethic and inspiring teams to achieve their best results. She believes in excellence cultivated through education and responsibility, and is committed to developing high-performance teams that deliver results that exceed expectations. Her ability to manage teams and achieve results has been demonstrated throughout her career, making her a valuable asset to any organization.
Overall, Mălina is a tenacious and driven individual with a very well-defined set of skills that make her an ideal advisor for any company looking to develop their finance strategy, build strategic partnerships, or cultivate a strong organizational culture. She is committed to achieving results that drive growth and success, and her expertise and experience make her an asset to any organization she works with.
