Team

Our Outlook

Startup Connect aims to break inequitable patterns of who gets funding and which solutions get priority. We push our investors, mentors, and partners to think boldly and alternatively to traditional, VC-based modes.

Our community is defined by our pillar stakeholders—founders, experts, strategic partners, and investors—who share in the Startup Connect mission to equip bold entrepreneurs from all backgrounds to disrupt the status quo to create sustainable change.

Team

Dedication. Expertise. Passion.

Startup Connect is made up of extraordinarily passionate and driven individuals who share a passion for impacting the lives of people in emerging markets using entrepreneurship and technology.

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Raja Mukherjee

Co-Founder

Serial Entrepreneur, Venture Builder & Investor. IBS - Hyderabad, IIM -Calcutta & Common Purpose Alumni. Founding member – DRFHE and creator of mega brands – edclick.com, livizi, Mansion House Brandy, Madira Rum, Positive Homes and many more.

Ramani Iyer

Co-Founder

Co-Founder Justdial Ltd, Serial Entrepreneur, Venture Builder and Investor

Nidhi

Co-Founder

Serial Entrepreneur. Narsee Monjee. Ex Citi, Strategy & Alliances. India’a 1st Woman Author on Sales. Spearheading Learning & Development, Branding and Events.

Azhar

Management Team - Operations

10 Years+ in Sales. Spearheading Sales, Marketing & Outreach

Nimalatha

Management Team - Projects

Strategist, Trade Finance Specialist and mentor. Ex. BCG, Huawei, ITC Infotech and Cognizant. Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of AP, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Deepak

Management Team - International Business

22+ years of experience. Served Japanese Government for 14 years. Facilitated more than 250 Japanese investments in India.

Partner - Operations

Arun Mani

Legal Advisor

Law and Management professional with 16+ years of experience. He is a dual qualified lawyer, admitted as an Advocate in India and a qualified solicitor, England & Wales. He also holds a MBA degree from Manchester Business School, University of Manchester.

Rajat

Technology Advisor

Experienced professional with a passion for Technology, building innovative products and data analytics.

Raunak

Compliance Advisor

8th Rank Holder, All India CA. Spearheading Finance, Accounts, Compliance & Audit.

Partner - Strategy

Dr. Naveen Das

Associate Partner - Strategy

IIT Kharagpur, IIM Calcutta, and PhD from NLU Jodhpur. Officiating Vice Chancellor – ADAMAS University.

Ranjan Dutta

Associate Partner - Strategy

Have held leadership positions in Genpact, IBM, Wipro, HCL and TCS. IIM Lucknow Alumni.

Babji

Associate Partner - Strategy

Have held leadership positions in CyQureX Systems, Wipro, ColorTokens, Rooman Technologies and Genpact.

Dr. Rajiv Dalmia

Associate Partner - Strategy

Amazon#1 Best Selling Author, Angel Investor, Strategist, Future Relevant Evangelist, Mentor. IIMK, St. Xavier’s College. Executive Leadership P&L positions at Software Group, Capco, Cognizant, TCS, and Infosys, with 100+ countries experience.

Swamy Gorawar

Associate Partner - Strategy

Angel Investor, 15yrs + in Healthcare, Cloud Technologies Ex-VMware. Mimecast.

KL Subramanian

Associate Partner - Strategy

Have held leadership positions in Mastercard and Citi.

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Ashish Sarawagi

Associate Partner - Strategy

Ashish, an IIM Lucknow alumni, is an accomplished professional with over two decades of experience working for some of the biggest names in the financial industry, including Citi and Bank of America. He has worked in various roles and across different countries, bringing his expertise and passion to every project he takes on.

Manoj Manicketh

Associate Partner - Strategy

Manoj comes with a professional experience of being in leadership positions & driving P&L responsibilities for over 30 years in organisations like Eureka Forbes, Nakajima, Sterling resorts, Xerox, Airtel & Globacom.

Abhijit Majumder

Associate Partner - Strategy

He retired as Chief General Manager, SBI heading the ATM
Channels of the Bank. He was CGM (Karnataka) from 2018 - 2021, GM J&K and Himachal Pradesh from 2016-2018, DGM Rajasthan 2013 -2016, Bank compliance office Offshore banking Bahrain (2007-2011).

Srihari Prasad

Associate Partner - Strategy

Experienced Sales and Alliances professional with a demonstrated history of working in the computer software industry. A competent professional with qualitative experience in Business Planning, Management, Cloud, SaaS, and Business Intelligence.