India
Prof Nikhil Agarwal , Senior Advisor of the Indian Chamber of Commerce, has been appointed as High Commissioner for India. High Commissioner Agarwal represents India in the International Academics Committee of the Grand Assembly of the World Business Angels Investment Forum
Nikhil.Agarwal@wbaforum.org
Dr Nikhil Agarwal is India’s foremost Innovation and Policy expert. He is currently Convener of the Denver-based policy think tank, IndiaGlobal. In 2017, he was nominated as Fellow of IC2 Institute at the University of Texas, Austin. He was CEO of the AP Innovation Society of the Government of Andhra Pradesh in India between 2015 and 2017. Dr Agarwal was involved in developing large-scale innovation projects such as a 300-acre cyber security industrial park and several rural innovation labs, incubation centres, and start-up ecosystems. Further, he was involved in the setting up of INR, a $1B start-up fund. He is also the founder of Entrepreneur Café, a global movement that has spread to 110 cities on six continents, connecting over 45,000 entrepreneurs. Dr Agarwal has founded businesses and advised firms on strategic matters over the past 20 years of his career. His interviews and his work have been extensively covered in the international media, including the Harvard Business Review Blog, Forbes, CNN Money, BBC Radio, and The New York Times, to name a few. Professor Agarwal has served on many international think tanks and holds leadership positions in global organizations. Between 2006 and 2013, he served as a high-level advisor to the United Nations Global Alliance on ICT and Development (UNGAID). He is an International Advisory Board Member at the World Entrepreneurship Forum (WEF) and the Open Mind Foundation. He was the first Asian to be elected as Co-Chair of the prestigious Internet Society Advisory Council (ISOC-AC) for 2008-2010. He is a recipient of ‘Excellence in Promoting Innovation in Governance’ from the government of Rajasthan, India. Professor Nikhil Agarwal is an alumnus of the University of Cambridge and the University of Edinburgh.
India
Zakir Hussain, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of USense Innovative Solutions, has been appointed Senator at the Grand Assembly of the World Business Angels Investment Forum. Senator Hussain represents India in the Global Impact Investors Committee of the Grand Assembly.
Zakir.Hussain@wbaforum.org
Zakir Hussain is a leader, innovator, and a visionary who changed the face of User Experience and Design domain on the Indian subcontinent. Hailing from a remote village in Tamil Nadu, India, he went on to become the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of USense Innovative Solutions. The USense brand also expanded to the United Kingdom, Bahrain, UAE, and Saudi Arabia under his guidance. An Arts graduate from Lucknow University, Mr Hussain began his career as an entry-level designer in the field of advertisement. From junior designer to senior visualizer, his skills were tested at various levels as he sharpened his creativity to a great extent. Gradually changing gears, he shifted focus to the IT sector, where his expertise would bloom while his career took a major turn. As Creative Director, he would manage high-end clients such as HP, Microsoft, and the Reserve Bank of India. One of the key assignments handled by Zakir was JIO 4G. India’s largest telecom provider, JIO 4G, was under his responsibility, starting from project management, planning, and research to various app design initiatives.
Another major turn in Mr Hussain’s career was in 2008, when he initiated his own start- up, ILM Innovates, where he served as CEO and Innovative Consultant. Motivating his 25-member core team, he mentored the young minds with entrepreneurial skills and guidance. Taking his entrepreneurial initiative to the next level, Zakir introduced a similar concept to develop rural areas of India. In the form of Human United Mission, he makes his contribution towards the uplifting of society. Under his guidance, HUM is steadily growing and pursuing its objectives of poverty eradication, rural entrepreneurship, and women’s empowerment. Zakir is also an Angel Investor to start-ups such as Edusense Note, Visitor Management System, and Incident Tracking System. He has been named as one of the best 5 designers by Adobe. He has also been recognized for his start-up with a nomination to the ‘Top 50 Start-ups’ at Startup Istanbul, 2017.
India
Arijit Bhattacharyya, Consultant of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Arijit.Bhattacharyya@wbaforum.org
Serial Entrepreneur, Angel Investor, Public Speaker, Artist, Author, Community Builder, Game Programmer, Virtual Reality Specialist, AI Evangelist, Blockchain Specialist & Rotarian. Arijit is a Business Scalability Expert and a Finance, Technology & Growth Consultant focusing on Small & Medium Enterprises (SME), Mid level corporates and also advising companies on private equity investments in the startup and SME space. He has advised senior leaderships across MNCs and small businesses on improving operating margins and driving profitability. His expertise lies in the areas of Business Strategy, New Market Development, Risk Management, Market Entry, Systems & Processes and Fund-raising. In the capacity of a mentor, he has helped entrepreneurs incubate their ideas into businesses, formulating go-to-market strategies, launching products and ensuring they work on sustainable business models. His expertise is hired by businesses that want to scale up, manage risk, reduce cost and grow more than industry benchmark. Founder & CEO – Virtualinfocom- India’s first game development & VR app development company since 1998 Creator of 43 + Superhero’s & 21 Comics characters. TEDx Speaker Founder: Cosplayseller – India’s first ecommerce portal for cosplay items. Founder: Virtualgamedeveloper – India’s one of the first virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality solution studio since 2006. Founder: virtual reality sol – India’s one of the first game development, animation, virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, machine learning (ML) training studio. Co-Founder: Glamworldface- media & entertainment platform for creative people. Founder: imsuperhero – platform for kids to make their own superheros and share to the world Founder: Animgaming- platform for indie developers to showcase and get funding from global publishers and investors. Founder: Yogatraining4u- platform to teach good life, yoga, nutrition, MMA, BJJ & rehab Founder: Animationreviews- portal to share news about movies, VFX, animation Co-Founder: Entrepreneursface - helps entrepreneurs to start up their business by helping them from the ideation stage to execution Mentor & Angel Investor: IIM Calcutta Innovation Park , Naman Capital, Ah Ventures, Megaline(UK), Broffice (Ukraine) , Fastercapital (Dubai), Maxcap(China) Mentor & Judge: Techstars startup saturday. Mentor: Govt of West Bengal, India in MSME Dept, Startupindia Govt of India initiative. Business Mentor: Faster Capital (Dubai) Adviser: B Incubators, TCDIC, CIIE, PSPU & Few co-working space and incubation centers in Asia. Indian Chamber of Commerce for the StartupPad in India. Adviser: Innovation center in Japan; Adviser: Indian Chamber of Commerce Startup Pad, MSME cluster in India along with scalable business opportunities. Movie producer: Produced 7 Short movie and 12 pocket films till date along with 2 Spanish movie VFX co-producer. Investment Banker. Judge : Casual Connect- international indie game developer competition Judge : dare2bedigital game developer competition Active Speaker & Mentor : Cyber security projects Creator of BSc in Game Development Virtual Reality and AR syllabus in MAKAUT B2B point of contact for Nordic – India- China – Russia. IT & ITES PROJECTS Game: Produced more than 200 plus game with more than 275+ celebrities and models(India, Russia, UK, Ukraine, Africa, Italy, France, Finland, Nepal, USA) as 3D simulated game character with over 250 millions user base. Ultrabook based apps n games: Developed Asia’s first ultrabook (Intel) based game as software development partner.Ultrabook based apps n games: Developed Asia’s first ultrabook (Intel) based game as software development partner. VR: Since 2004 maing VR based apps n games on helmet system to headset- cave- boomtube. AR: Industrial AR solutions mainly into healtech, edutech and real-estate. AI & ML: Implemented AI into marketing applications, financial analysis app, automation, gaming apps, social network applications. Marketing & Business Development: For approx 12 plus mid-level product companies Arijit developed new market for their products and brought new B2B customers. Blockchain: Core team member of making crypto wallet based in Russia, mentor of Thailand’s first crypto café, adviser & BD for blockchain based smart home solution based in USA, various fintech based solution using blockchain etc. Blockchain based real-estate solution. Animation: Various industrial animation and simulation solution including oil rigging, real estate, medical, technology, FMCG etc. IOT: CMO of smartdome USA based smarthome solution company, responsible to expand their business in EU, Middle east and Asia. Superhero: Produced over 87 plus popular superhero’s along with took license of India’s popular superhero Shaktimaan and made two games out of it. NON IT PROJECTS Coworking place: International business development of one of the largest Ukraine based coworking place. Product for blinds: New market development and business development. ECRS: CMO for geriatric solution company based in UK. (Took exit in 2016). Gentry: Business development for tailor made Shoe Company based in Ukraine. Redcarpet: Managing partner & responsible for business expansion. Yogatraining: Business development for health n nutrition based startup based in Thailand. Bridge: Business development for B2B platform based in middle east, expanded in USA. Gointernational: Helped to develop new market and new customers for B2B platform based in Nordic country. (exit in 2018) ELINE: International business development for Ring based gesture control system. CONTRIBUTION TO EDUCATION INDUSTRY: Creator of syllabus (makaut) of BSc in Game Development & Virtual Reality Member of Board of studies of the department of computer science in two University in India Trained over 6000 students from 2001 to 2008 in my own institute in several computer languages, multimedia & animation along with game programming Over 100 plus workshops on game development, android app development, iOS app development, blockchain, machine language Mentor at Atal Innovation Mission - Govt of India Corporate advisory board member in three University in India & UK Serving as visiting faculty to few colleges in Asia VISITING FACULTY: SP Jain University (India) NIIT technologies (India) MDI (India) BIBS (India) Digimation (UK) SPEAKER: For the last several years Arijit is speaking in various national and international platforms about entrepreneurship, fund raising, game development, virtual reality, scale-up business, wealth management, startup ecosystem and IP. Example: games gathering kiev, National Entrepreneurs Network, TiE, CII, China VR Film Festival, Good Game Show (Korea), Passion for game (Singapore), Startup Saturday, IIT EDC, IIM Innovation Lab, Digimation-UK, FICCI Frames, Next Growth Conclave Nepal, Franchise India, IAMAI, Tedx, NAB China, Xian Film Festival- China, Children Film Festival India etc. He is also Corporate Advisory Board Member of few Universities in India. Advisor of three animation and gaming institute in Russia, UK and India. He is the creator of India’s one of the first 3D games based on mythology and culture. He has been invited as a resource person by various institutions from time to time like IIM , IIT, XLRI, VSSUT University, Brainware University,ICAI, NSHM Knowledge Campus, Bengal Engineering & Science College, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Praxis Business School, Manipal University, Globsyn School of Business, SRM University, Poornima University, Camellia Group of colleges, iLead, IEM, BP Podder, Heritage Institute, SP Jain and so on.
India
Madhu Vasepalli, Managing Partner of the Ocimum Clinics.
Madhu.Vasepalli@wbaforum.org
Full Name Dr. MADHU VASEPALLI Designation MD, OCIMUM HEALTH CARE PVT LTD FOUNDER, DEEP TRUST Contact details (phone number, email id) +91 88855 00443 drvmadhu@gmail.com madhu@deepindia.org Company Name OCIMUM HEALTH CARE PVT LTD DEEP TRUST Company Website www.deepindia.org | www.ocimumdental.com |www.ocimum.in LinkedIn Link Twitter Link @drvmadhu Short Bio (200 words max) By founding a trust DEEP (Disease Eradication through Education and Prevention) Trust, I have forayed into the domain of public health by addressing the issues related to healthcare for the people at the bottom of the pyramid. DEEP has as its core a strong commitment to improving the standards of health by strengthening the existing health care systems, by collaborating and partnering with the public and private partnerships in a meaningful engagement to help eradicate avoidable, unnecessary diseases through education and prevention. A mobile application to this effect was launched under the auspices of the DEEP Trust, which has at its objectives the need to improve the effectiveness of the healthcare workers, who form the first line of healthcare information seekers on behalf of the government. ASHA workers were empowered with tab, and the application Maitree , which is used to record and track pregnant woman. It also helps them impart the educative content effectively and consistently to the beneficiaries of the MCTS , a govt. of India initiative. This initiative has received good response from the different quarters of healthcare providers and has been readily accepted by the ASHA’s. Short Profile of company (100 words max) DEEP also known as Disease Eradication through Education and Prevention is a trust which has been active to foster the primary level of healthcare which if put in order will prevent diseases from occurring. These include actions that can be driven from an individual level to mass partaking for succeeding the goals enshrined. Initiatives for Mother and Child called MAITREE, Health screening initiative called DEEP CLINICS, promoting healthy lifestyle initiative namely DEEP MARATHONS -HAPPY SUNDAYS and DEEP for WATER- WASTE- SANITATION to spread the knowledge about hygiene are a few which have been implemented across the states of India. MAITREE bridges the gap between the frontline health worker and the beneficiary who in this case is an expecting mother. The objective of this initiative is to increase institutional deliveries and thereby reduce maternal mortality and infant mortality. An application software is used by ASHA workers to capture the screening results which is monitored, and required health care support is provided. Each ASHA worker is trained to perform better and improve their efficiency for the benefit of the mother and child tracking. DEEP CLINICS enables Accessibility, Affordability and Accountability which are the factors that drive health sector. Dearth of doctors in the rural areas affects the health of the people in the hinterland which in turn impacts the health outcomes of the various programs initiated by the government. Deep Trust works alongside the Government and private bodies by actively engaging the informal health workers like the RMP etc., who dot the rural landscape as they are the first point of contact for many a rural health care needs. We have adopted the entire AP Police force, Schools and have initiated a screening test for all individuals. DEEP MARATHONS - Physical inactivity is now identified as the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality with major implications for the prevalence of non communicable diseases (NCDs) and the general health of the population worldwide. By conducting Marathons, Happy Sundays Deep trust aims to inculcate a very healthy lifestyle in the society. These large scale runs aims to forefront the message for the need to adopt a healthy lifestyle. With the support of Govt of AP, we have successfully initiated three marathons in Andhra Pradesh at Amaravati, Vizag and Tirupati in the year 2016 during January, July and Oct respectively and Happy Sundays for all major towns and cities in AP is being initiated.
India
Iftekhar Pathan, Co-founder of the Meraklis Technologies.
Iftekhar.Pathan@wbaforum.org
Mr. Iftekhar Pathan, is an entrepreneur and has over 28 years’ of professional experience. After building a strong foundation and background in commerce, mass communication, and public relations from the Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune, he has rigorously used his expertise while working on various national and international ventures. • Founder Trustee of Aundh Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS) a PPP hospital project in Pune (Maharashtra) • Former member think tank,of the World Entrepreneurship Forum (Lyon, France) • Co founder of Aero Nero Solutions Pvt.Ltd.(TEERTHA) Co founder of Meraklis Technologies Pvt.Ltd. (Social Good- Software platform) • Played a key role for the entry of Tonino Lamborghini SpA (Bologna, ITALY) in the Indian market • Worked on joint projects between governments of Australia (NSW) and Germany (Leipzig) in the field of IT and alternative energy • Integral part of the first rural Entrepreneurship (WEF) project in Baramati (Maharashtra) • Special interest in Entrepreneurship and presently nurturing a few start-up companies. • Travelled extensively and worked with various chambers of commerce, state heads and business community worldwide • Speaker at national and international forums.
India
Gautamkumar Chheda, Associate Vice President at BVG Group, India.
Gautamkumar.Chheda@wbaforum.org
Experience : 15 plus year of experience post NICMAR in Sales, Marketing& Business Development, Project Management, Operations on site, Management of Multiple Sectors like Infrastructure, Industrial, Power, Renewables, Chemical, Nuclear, Waste Management, O&M, Facility management. Currently working as a Head International Business Development and operations for various projects in India & abroad with P&L responsibility.
International Client Exposure: Developed Business in more than 24 countries and Business Visit to Various countries for both Business development, Operations and overall P&L i.e U.S.A, U.A.E, Italy, France, Indonesia, Singapore, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Zambia, Nigeria, Botswana, Ethiopia, Nepal, Egypt, Tanzania, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Ghana etc.
Technical Competencies: Project Management Professional (PMP) from PMI, USA Post Graduate Diploma in Advanced Construction Management from NICMAR Full time Certificate Course in “Infrastructure Project Finance” – B.O.T Study from ICFAI Tata TATA Business Excellence Model, TBEM External Assessor – Silver B.E Civil & Irrigation water management from M.S.University of Baroda
Experience of Handling Team & Resources: Head International Business Development, Operation Management with P&L responsibilities. Team of 33 employees were reporting to me directly and 137 employees indirectly & 3570 works indirectly.
Human Resource and Stakeholder Management Possess Strong performance based leadership and interpersonal skills – team oriented, positive attitude, Strategic vision to advance organizational goals, Self-driven, motivated, high morals and values, Ability to manage multiple tasks and effectively manage competing priorities, Excellent oral and written communication skills, Can maintain confidentiality, exercise high degree of initiative, discretion, diplomacy and judgment..
India
Akshay Shinde, Managing Partner at Ashwatth Investments, India
Akshay.Shinde@wbaforum.org
Advisor and Consultant to SMEs since 2012. Awarded Ph.d in 2017. Visiting Faculty at NMIMS, India's leading B-School, from 2017 to 2020.
India
Amit Sarkar, Managing Partner at Versari Advisors India LLP, India
Amit.Sarkar@wbaforum.org
I've set up my own Firm M/s Versari Advisors India LLP in May 2019 after working as a professional with marque names like EY, KPMG, Grant Thornton and BDO India LLP. In my last professional stint, I was leading the Indirect Tax practice for BDO India LLP and was also a member of their India Leadership Team. In my journey of last 2 decades in the profession, I had the privilege of advising and assisting clients in various stages of their growth journey - from start-ups, to promoter-led organisations, Listed Companies and MNCs.
In addition to my core specialization of indirect taxes, I have also demonstrated advisory skills in EU VAT laws, Customs & International Trade, Fund Raising, Mergers & Acquisitions and Start-up Mentoring for various clients.
India
Ajit Goswami, Senior Vice President at the IDBI Asset Management, India
Ajit.Goswami@wbaforum.org
A Competent Banking, Investments,Payments & Financial Services professional with over 17 years of enriching experience in Business Development & Digital Products/technologies with an excellent track record of sales achievements.
Proficient in Profit Centre Management, Distribution Channels, Wealth management, Digital Solutions & Fintechs.
Effective communicator, self-driven individual demonstrating excellent behavioural skills & excellence in the successful rollout, management & turnaround of opportunities through intelligent planning & execution along with Leading & motivating individuals in line with organizational goals.
India
Chandra Shukla, Advisory Council Member of the Harvard Business Review & Vice President at TD, India.