A Digital Industry veteran and Ex-Business Head, Digital at Sony Pictures, Uday has invested in over 35 tech startups in the last 7 years. His preferred sectors are Enterprise Tech, Deep tech, SAAS, Space tech and Automation.
Mitesh Shah
Co-founder,IP Ventures
Mitesh began his career with Mandhana Industries
Limited, an apparel manufacturing company in 2001,
where he handled various projects including the
company’s IPO in 2010 and its exclusive global
licensing deal with Salman Khan’s Being Human brand.
He joined Ola as CFO in December 2013 and played a
pivotal role in the evolution of one of the biggest
start-up stories of India. Then came Bookmyshow,
where he spearheaded the finance department and
played an active role in strategic business management.
Pranav Marwah
Co-Founder, ThinQbate
Pranav moved back to India from the United Kingdom in 2011, after earning a degree in law at the University of Warwick. His initial career plan involved joining the fourth-generation family business - this changed quite quickly when he became acquainted with India’s vibrant and burgeoning start-up ecosystem. Pranav’s first investment stemmed from a passion for technology and sport. Encouraged by the overwhelming success of the company, and stimulated by the time he spent with the young and dynamic founders, he was inspired to forge a more unique career path for himself. In 2015, Pranav conceptualised and founded 'thinQbate', Mumbai’s foremost start-up incubator, focussed on building sustainable growth across a variety of sectors. Pranav remains actively engaged with each of thinQbate’s portfolio companies and derives tremendous satisfaction from helping build early-stage companies in sectors ranging from agri-tech to smart water management from the ground up. Independent of this, Pranav has also built a portfolio of investments in companies in the sports sector, making a total of 24 direct investments over the last 5 years
Manu Iyer
CEO & MD, Bluehill Capital
Manu Iyer runs Bluehill Capital, an early-stage VC fund, focusing on hardware, clean-tech and deep-tech startups, through which capital has been deployed for 8 investments in the space to date. He is also Partner in Bluehill Retail, a retailing and distribution business that partners with several international and Indian electronics, lifestyle and apparel brands. He is a B.Tech Electrical Engr from IIT Madras and has completed his MBA from Duke University in the US. After working in Financial Services in the US, he had shifted base to India, to start off on his own. He is an active angel investor, through Indian Angel Network and Inflection Point Ventures, and a TIE Charter Member. He serves on a board of several startups and also works closely with various startups in the ecosystem to guide and mentor them.
Vaibhav Karnavat
Partner, Karnavat & Co.
Vaibhav is a part of his family business, Karnavat & Co. since 2005. A CA by profession, Vaibhav has been an angel investor for over 5 years. Apart from this, he also oversees the family investment office which is invested in the domains of food exports and eCommerce. For 8 years he was the CEO at Jewelex International Pvt. Ltd. In this position, he was directing and monitoring the sales, manufacturing, product development, finance, operations and administration teams. Vaibhav got his degree in Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting and Finance) from Mumbai in the year 2002 and completed his CA from ICAI in the year 2004.
Vishal Chiripal
Promotor/Director, Chiripal Group Of Companies
Vishal serves as the Promotor/Director at Chiripal Group Of Companies and is looking after the operations and Marketing activities of the group. Mr. Chiripal is a key person at Chiripal Group in developing new areas of business and exploring new markets. He is driving new initiatives in the Denim business of the Group. He has been instrumental in setting up several new marketing concepts and also spearheads the group's digital initiatives.
He provides strategic leadership to Chiripal's CSR initiatives thereby making the Group the largest Corporate Blood Donor. He is the Chairman of Happiness Reserve Foundation (HRF), a non-profit organisation which conducts Robotex, India focusing on enhancing STEM education to children. He is also an angel investor, a member of Estonia Business Angel Network, Indian Angel Network and Mumbai Angels, with his widespread investments mainly in startups in the space of EV, Fintech, Edutech, Robotics, and Aerospace.
He has experience of over 19 years in the textile Industry. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from K.S School of Business Management, Ahmedabad and Adelphi University, New York. He also holds a Master's degree in Business Management (Marketing) from Clark University, Boston. He is a fitness enthusiast with an interest in running and playing squash.
Angels on Panel
Uday Sodhi
A Digital Industry veteran and Ex-Business Head, Digital at Sony Pictures, Uday has invested in over 35 tech startups in the last 7 years. His preferred sectors are Enterprise Tech, Deep tech, SAAS, Space tech and Automation.
Mitesh Shah
Mitesh began his career with Mandhana Industries Limited, an apparel manufacturing company in 2001, where he handled various projects including the company’s IPO in 2010 and its exclusive global licensing deal with Salman Khan’s Being Human brand. He joined Ola as CFO in December 2013 and played a pivotal role in the evolution of one of the biggest start-up stories of India. Then came Bookmyshow, where he spearheaded the finance department and played an active role in strategic business management.
Pranav Marwah
Pranav moved back to India from the United Kingdom in 2011, after earning a degree in law at the University of Warwick. His initial career plan involved joining the fourth-generation family business - this changed quite quickly when he became acquainted with India’s vibrant and burgeoning start-up ecosystem. Pranav’s first investment stemmed from a passion for technology and sport. Encouraged by the overwhelming success of the company, and stimulated by the time he spent with the young and dynamic founders, he was inspired to forge a more unique career path for himself. In 2015, Pranav conceptualised and founded 'thinQbate', Mumbai’s foremost start-up incubator, focussed on building sustainable growth across a variety of sectors. Pranav remains actively engaged with each of thinQbate’s portfolio companies and derives tremendous satisfaction from helping build early-stage companies in sectors ranging from agri-tech to smart water management from the ground up. Independent of this, Pranav has also built a portfolio of investments in companies in the sports sector, making a total of 24 direct investments over the last 5 years
Manu Iyer
Manu Iyer runs Bluehill Capital, an early-stage VC fund, focusing on hardware, clean-tech and deep-tech startups, through which capital has been deployed for 8 investments in the space to date. He is also Partner in Bluehill Retail, a retailing and distribution business that partners with several international and Indian electronics, lifestyle and apparel brands. He is a B.Tech Electrical Engr from IIT Madras and has completed his MBA from Duke University in the US. After working in Financial Services in the US, he had shifted base to India, to start off on his own. He is an active angel investor, through Indian Angel Network and Inflection Point Ventures, and a TIE Charter Member. He serves on a board of several startups and also works closely with various startups in the ecosystem to guide and mentor them.
Vaibhav Karnavat
Vaibhav is a part of his family business, Karnavat & Co. since 2005. A CA by profession, Vaibhav has been an angel investor for over 5 years. Apart from this, he also oversees the family investment office which is invested in the domains of food exports and eCommerce. For 8 years he was the CEO at Jewelex International Pvt. Ltd. In this position, he was directing and monitoring the sales, manufacturing, product development, finance, operations and administration teams. Vaibhav got his degree in Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting and Finance) from Mumbai in the year 2002 and completed his CA from ICAI in the year 2004.
Vishal Chiripal
Vishal serves as the Promotor/Director at Chiripal Group Of Companies and is looking after the operations and Marketing activities of the group. Mr. Chiripal is a key person at Chiripal Group in developing new areas of business and exploring new markets. He is driving new initiatives in the Denim business of the Group. He has been instrumental in setting up several new marketing concepts and also spearheads the group's digital initiatives. He provides strategic leadership to Chiripal's CSR initiatives thereby making the Group the largest Corporate Blood Donor. He is the Chairman of Happiness Reserve Foundation (HRF), a non-profit organisation which conducts Robotex, India focusing on enhancing STEM education to children. He is also an angel investor, a member of Estonia Business Angel Network, Indian Angel Network and Mumbai Angels, with his widespread investments mainly in startups in the space of EV, Fintech, Edutech, Robotics, and Aerospace. He has experience of over 19 years in the textile Industry. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from K.S School of Business Management, Ahmedabad and Adelphi University, New York. He also holds a Master's degree in Business Management (Marketing) from Clark University, Boston. He is a fitness enthusiast with an interest in running and playing squash.
Vinod Keni
Atul Bal