Asha Impact - Providing Life and Hope to the Underserved

KARTIK DESAI

Executive Director

Kartik leads Asha Impact, an impact investing and policy advocacy organization operating a multi-family office for Indian business leaders and philanthropists to jointly invest in social enterprises and engage with the government. He has led investments into and serves on the boards of start-ups across housing, financial services, waste, education and technology. Kartik is a board member of the Impact Investors Council, co-chair of the ANDE India Learning Lab on SME Finance, member of the PM’s ‘Champions of Change’ group of young CEOs and member of Niti Aayog’s working group on ‘Housing for All’ and ‘Swachh Bharat’.

Prior to founding Asha in 2014, Kartik has a decade of experience in venture capital, entrepreneurship, investment banking and international development in India and the US. He helped set up two $60 million impact investment funds, Lok Capital II, focused on financial inclusion in India, and Aavishkaar Frontier Fund, setting up its operations in South Asia, in between founding QNA, India’s first open-data polling platform for citizen engagement on national debates and being a judge on The Real Deal, a reality TV show on social impact investing on NDTV. 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. VENKATRAGHAVAN

Senior Investment Associate

TT covers the affordable housing sector at Asha Impact including both housing development and housing finance. He manages the investments in Janaadhar, Vastu Housing Finance, Swarnapragati and policy advocacy & ecosystem initiatives including the Indian Housing Federation and National Housing Bank. Previously, TT worked in the treasury and finance team at Sundaram BNP Paribas Home Finance (Chennai) and an audit analyst with Deloitte (Hyderabad). TT completed his Bachelors in Commerce from the University of Madras and was a Fellow at the YOUNG INDIA FELLOWSHIP, a multi-disciplinary program at Ashoka University.

RIYA SAXENA

Associate, Asha Trust

Riya covers the Asha Impact Trust’s work on innovative blended finance instruments such Social Impact Bonds in India. She manages sector specific advocacy projects on rural housing and ecosystem building activities such as impact measurement initiatives by the Impact Investors Council and ANDE. Previously, Riya worked as a consultant on business and human rights to Charities Aid Foundation (London) and as a business development intern at Acumen Fund (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.

RAGHAV RUNGTA

Investment Associate

Raghav covers the energy access and education sector, while building out Asha's investment thesis in the agriculture sector. Previously, Raghav worked with Deloitte Consulting (New York), where he built out a proprietary subscription based labor analytics product 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.

VASANTI DUBEY

Manager, Ops & Admin

Vasanti is a banker with 25 years of experience of working with the State Bank of India. After moving to Hong Kong in 2001, she worked with a number of private sector companies in various managerial positions.She had rich experience of working as Director of M/s VJ Overseas Ltd, Hong Kong, an Import/Export company and was managing independently their Hong kong operations for over five years. Thereafter, she established her own Import/Export company M/s VS Global Hong Kong, which provided financial incorporation services to Indian corporates looking for establishing businesses in Hong Kong.

ADITI GUPTA

Principal, Asha Investments

Aditi leads investments for Asha Impact. She strongly believes that for-profit enterprises are the engines of access creation at scale. Her prior experience includes Co-Founding Contrarian Capital, an early stage investment fund focused on technology led businesses built for the mass markets. At Contrarian, she led investments in consumer and enterprise technology businesses across finance, healthcare, education, and enterprise SaaS. She previously worked with Motilal Oswal Private Equity and Yes Bank. At Yes Bank, she managed the microfinance and affordable housing corporate lending book as part of the Development Banking team. She has also done short term assignments with IFAD and Fino PayTech in the past. Aditi holds an MBA in Finance from FMS, Delhi and a Bachelors in Technology from Indraprastha University.

Aparna Dua

Senior Manager, Asha Trust

Aparna leads portfolio management for Asha Impact and manages the activities of the Trust, focusing on policy engagements in Affordable Housing and Urban Development, Energy Access as well as the work on blended finance instruments. She brings with her 6+ years of experience in areas ranging from development sector consulting to finance and economic research. Prior to Asha Impact, Aparna was at BCG, Social Impact and Development Practice, where she worked on advising the Haryana government on transforming its K-12 education system. Prior to BCG, she worked with an education think tank, Universal Learn Today, leading a team of trainers to reform teacher training in Punjab Government schools. She started her career at Credit Suisse, NY as an investment banking analyst 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

RACHANA RAMCHAND

Alumni

Rachana is an Associate at the Central Development Corporation which is a Development Finance Institution (DFI) wholly owned by the UK government. Previously, she has worked as an Investment Associate at Asha Impact 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 SRIVASTAVA

Alumni

Alpana is an MBA student at the Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College, USA. Previously she has worked as an Investment Associate at Asha Impact and an Associate with the Consulting Services team of Intellecap. Alpana graduated from the YOUNG INDIA FELLOWSHIP Program at the Ashoka University and holds an engineering degree from the Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra.

FOUNDER

VIKRAM GANDHI

After a successful career in investment banking spanning more than two decades in New York and Hong Kong, Vikram Gandhi, setup Asha Impact in 2014. At present, Vikram is a Senior Lecturer at the Harvard Business School. He is a Board Member and Chairman of the Asian Regional Committee of Grameen Foundation, a Board Member of Janalakshmi Financial Services, and a member of the Investment Committee at Gawa Capital. Vikram is a Founding Member of Harvard University’s South Asia Initiative and also a Founder of Ashoka University. Before Founding Asha Impact, Vikram was the Vice Chairman of Investment Banking and Global Head of Financial Institutions Business for Credit Suisse, in New York and Hong Kong. Prior his tenure at Credit Suisse, Vikram worked at Morgan Stanley, where he was Co-Head of Global FIG in New York. An MBA from the Harvard Business School where he was designated a Baker Scholar; a qualified Chartered Accountant and a B.Com with high distinction from the University of Mumbai, Vikram, in his capacity as the Founder, CEO of VSG Capital Advisors, continues to work closely with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Greenhill & Co. as a Senior Advisor.

FOUNDER

PRAMOD BHASIN

Pramod’s career spans a professional and entrepreneurial journey in Financial Services and Business Process Management across the globe. He is the founder of Genpact and was its President & CEO untill June 2011. He co-founded Asha Impact in 2014, with a vision to promote social impact enterprises. He was earlier the CEO of GE Capital in India & Asia and prior to that worked with GE Capital in Stamford, CT in the Leveraged Buy Out group. He is presently the Chairman of Clix Capital, which is a broad based NBFC, focused on providing digital platforms and financial services to commercial companies and consumers across India. Pramod also serves on the Boards of DLF Ltd, SRF Ltd and NDTV and organisations such as Help Age, Vandana Foundation, and Vishwas, ICRIER, and The Shri Ram School. He is also the Chairman and co-founder of the Skills Academy, an organization focused on skills development in the rural and semi urban areas of India to enhance employability for the people. Pramod is a Chartered Accountant (CA) from McLintock & Co, London and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Shri Ram College of Commerce.

ASHISH DHAWAN

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.

AMIT CHANDRA

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

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.

SAMIR BHATIA

Samir is an entrepreneur who brings a strong mix of entrepreneurial passion and deep knowledge of the SME lending space. He started SMEcorner, a digital platform for SME loans, in response to a significant and growing SME financing gap in India that could be effectively served by the SMEcorner platform. Samir brings 30 years of experience from leading companies such as Citibank, HDFC Bank, Barclays Bank, and Equifax. He is an avid marathon runner and an animal lover. Samir is a Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountant of India and a Cost Accountant from the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of India.

PADMINI SOMANI

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

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

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.

Factor E

Factor E is a venture development firm with a mission to improve lives in the developing world through increased access to sustainable energy and related services. It supports early-stage entrepreneurs through a unique blend of risk capital and world-class technical resources. Factor E finds, validates, funds, de-risks, and grows a rich pipeline of social ventures that aim to solve profound global problems.

About Asha Impact

Asha Impact was founded in 2014 by Vikram Gandhi and Pramod Bhasin as a network of like-minded business leaders and philanthropists to leverage their collective expertise, networks and capital for social impact.

Asha Investment Platform

The Asha Investment Platform is a capital-on-call ‘virtual fund’ to mobilise domestic capital from high net worth individuals and family offices to fund high quality for-profit social entrepreneurs solving major social problems by leveraging business principles in a scalable and sustainable manner across the country.

Asha Impact Trust

The Asha Impact Trust is a non proﬁt entity to capture lessons from the experiences of investee companies and sector experts, and share these targeted insights with policymakers to create social impact at scale. The Trust also works to build the capacity of the impact investing ecosystem in India and globally.

Asha Impact's investor circle comprises business leaders with deep sector expertise, local knowledge of Indian markets,
experience in scaling organizations and a track record of generating financial returns over a long period of time.

FOUNDER

VIKRAM GANDHI

FOUNDER

PRAMOD BHASIN

ASHISH DHAWAN

AMIT CHANDRA

AJAY PAREKH

SAMIR BHATIA

PADMINI SOMANI

VISHWANG DESAI

GOKUL LAROIA