StartupXseed | StartupXseed Ventures LLP

Meet Our Team

Great things in business are never done by one person, they are done by team of people

Mr. V. Balakrishnan

General Partner

Mr. V. Balakrishnan, also known as "Bala" is also the Founder & Chairman of Exfinity, a Private Equity Fund focused on investing...

Mr. V. Balakrishnan, also known as "Bala" is also the Founder & Chairman of Exfinity, a Private Equity Fund focused on investing in the Technology space. In the past Bala has served as a Whole-Time Director of Infosys Ltd. from June 11, 2011 to December 31, 2013 and has also served as the Chairman of the Board at Infosys BPO Limited and Chairman of Infosys Lodestone.

He has been a recipient of the "Best CFO" award from CNBC and Finance Asia and is also on the board of several start-up companies.

Mr. B. V. Naidu

Managing Partner

Mr. BV Naidu is the Managing Partner of the Fund and brings in 30 years of experience as an entrepreneur, mentor...

Mr. BV Naidu is the Managing Partner of the Fund and brings in 30 years of experience as an entrepreneur, mentor and Indian IT growth facilitator. He had played a seminal role for the growth of the IT Industry of India in his capacity as Director of Software Technology Parks of India (STPI). Mr Naidu has facilitated the growth of the software exports from less than $8 million with 13 companies in 1991 to $12.0 billion from more than 1800 companies in Bangalore by 2007. Apart from StartupXseed he is also an IC member on KITVEN Fund. He is one of the most influential leaders of India.

He has founded and/or helmed many organizations as well as Policy groups like IESA, Vision Group, Invest Karnataka, Karnataka Knowledge Commission, Karnataka ICT group and many others to catalyse the growth of Industry in India.

Mr. T. V. Mohandas Pai

General Partner

Mr.T.V. Mohandas Pai popularly known as Mohan brings with him decades of operational and leadership experience.

Mr.T.V. Mohandas Pai popularly known as Mohan brings with him decades of operational and leadership experience. Mohan is the Chairman of Manipal Global Education, he is also an ardent supporter of the Akshaya Patra Foundation and is one of the members of the board of trustees of Akshaya Patra. In the past Mohan has served as a Member of the Board of Infosys from May 2000– July 2011. He was voted 'CFO of the Year' in 2001 by IMA India, has won the 'Best CFO in India' award from Finance Asia in 2002, and 'Best chief financial officer in India' in the Best Managed Companies poll conducted by AsiaMoney in 2004.

Mohan is on the board of several start-up companies and continues to mentor them on their journey leap forward.

Dr. Krishna Mikkilineni

General Partner

Dr. Krishna Mikkilineni is the former Head of Operations, Automation and Engineering as well as CTO of Honeywell Technologies Inc.

Dr. Krishna Mikkilineni is the former Head of Operations, Automation and Engineering as well as CTO of Honeywell Technologies Inc. Prior to that he was the MD of Honeywell India which was established by him 3 decades ago. He was responsible for growing the company from few engineers to an overall headcount of more than 12000 in 20 years.

While at Honeywell he was the member of Executive Management team and President of Honeywell Technology Solutions Worldwide. He was instrumental in leading the global initiatives, establishing global processes and developing competency to successfully initiate and execute global projects for Honeywell.

He did his doctoral studies from University of Florida in Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Mr. V. Ramakrishna

General Partner

Mr.Ramakrishna.V popularly known as Ram, has over 40 years of rich experience in setting up and managing Information Technology...

Mr.Ramakrishna.V popularly known as Ram, has over 40 years of rich experience in setting up and managing Information Technology and Telecom organizations successfully. In the past Ram has been successful as a strong technocrat, as a CEO, as an Entrepreneur and as a Transformational leader. Ram was one of the key members of the founding team of HCL way back in 1976 and acted as the Chief Delivery Officer (CDO) of HCL when he retired from the services of HCL. Ram has been involved in setting up various new technology ventures from scratch as a Founder, such as Usha Computers, Arvind Mills Telecom Division and VeriFone India.

Ram, currently advises information technology companies on business & technology strategy, business & delivery transformation, scaling up for growth and operations. He also mentors CEOs of several technology start-ups. He is actively involved as a member of the Board of Directors in a number of technology companies.

Mr. Ravi Thakur

General Partner

Ravi Thakur is the Co-Founding Partner at StartupXseed Ventures and comes with over 21 years of Leadership ...

Ravi Thakur is the Co-Founding Partner at StartupXseed Ventures and comes with over 21 years of Leadership and Entrepreneurial experience. At StartupXseed, he is responsible for the lifecycle of VC investments including Strategy, Investments, Operations and Exits. He is actively involved in Startup Ecosystem and ardent about nurturing the young entrepreneurs on their path to success. In addition to that, he also serves on the Board of few start-ups.

Prior to this, he Co-Founded a Drug discovery and Healthcare Startup drugsupdate.com after successfully completing 11yrs of career in Management, Strategy, Business Consulting, M&A and Technology across multiple sectors in MNC’s and Startup’s.

Ravi holds a PGDBM from ICFAI and Bachelor’s Degree in Electronics and Telecommunication from NMU, India.

Mr. Sid Mookerji

General Partner

Mr. Sid Mookerji has been an entrepreneur most of his career and is currently Entrepreneur-In-Residence (EIR) for the Retail...

Mr. Sid Mookerji has been an entrepreneur most of his career and is currently Entrepreneur-In-Residence (EIR) for the Retail Tech Initiative launched by ATDC, Georgia Tech, US. Earlier to this he was Global CEO and Founder of Software Paradigms International Group, LLC (SPI), for 22 years which was founded by himself. As Global CEO, he drove innovation and strategy at SPI with eleven acquisitions and numerous product introductions. Ultimately SPI was bought over by a PE firm in US during 2016.

He holds a BE (Hons) Electrical and Electronics from BITS, Pilani, India and an MBA from Emory University’s Goizueta School of Business.

Mr. B. V. Naidu

Managing Partner

Mr. BV Naidu is the Managing Partner of the Fund and brings in 30 years of experience as an entrepreneur, mentor...

Mr. Ravi Thakur

Co Founding Partner

Ravi Thakur is the Co-Founding Partner at StartupXseed Ventures and comes with over 21 years of Leadership ...

Mr. Srinivasa Raghavan

CTO

Mr. Srinivasa Raghavan comes more than 2 decades of experience at Honeywell Technologies solutions, the global design...

Mr. Srinivasa Raghavan comes more than 2 decades of experience at Honeywell Technologies solutions, the global design center for Honeywell, for their Automation and Controls Division in India. In this role, he had responsibilities for managing multi-million dollar R&D investments in HTS India, China & Czech republic.

Before leaving, he was Senior Vice-president and has set -up many business units for Honeywell India across cities in India and abroad. He headed the Automation and Engineering for Honeywell India.

He holds a Bachelors Degree in Electronics Engineering from Bangalore University.

Mr. Deepak Aggarwal

CFO & Compliance Officer

Deepak is a Rank holder Chartered Accountant & CMA with over 20 years of experience in the field of finance...

Deepak is a Rank holder Chartered Accountant & CMA with over 20 years of experience in the field of finance & compliance. He was the CFO, CGI India & also a Member of EXCO at RBS TS, India Deepak has been awarded as one of the TOP#50 best finance leaders in 2021 by White Page International. He has served as the Business Finance Head at HCL Tech

Mr. Kishore Kumar D

Principal

Kishore is a Principal with StartupXseed Ventures and has been associated with the fund since April 2017...

Kishore is a Principal with StartupXseed Ventures and has been associated with the fund since April 2017. He works on investment analysis, deal structuring, compliance and operations. He comes with entrepreneurship experience prior to joining the Fund.

He holds an MBA from IIM-Calcutta and is a Computer Science graduate from Osmania University.

Ms. Hima Mongam

Venture Partner

Ms. Hima is a serial entrepreneur and leader with more than 20 years of experience. In the past, She has invested into diverse....

Ms. Hima is a serial entrepreneur and leader with more than 20 years of experience. In the past, She has invested into diverse businesses acrossengineeringservices, technology start-ups and co-working spaces. As a Venture Partner at StartupXseed, she is responsible for deal flow management and analysis, business due-diligence and portfolio co support. As a person who loves to give back, she mentors and coaches upcoming entrepreneurs and engineers on how tosucceed.

Mr. Yogesh Maniyar

Yogesh is an Analyst at StartupXseed. He works on deal sourcing, screening investment analysis and operations of the fund.....

Yogesh is an Analyst at StartupXseed. He works on deal sourcing, screening investment analysis and operations of the fund. Prior to StartupXseed, he has worked with multiple SaaS startups reporting directly to the founders on the GTM front. He is a graduate in Finance and International Business from Christ University, Bangalore.

Mr. Anush Reddy

Junior Analyst

Anush is a Junior Analyst at StartupXseed. He works on deal sourcing, screening, and analysis......

Anush is a Junior Analyst at StartupXseed. He works on deal sourcing, screening, and analysis. Prior to StartupXseed, he had short stints at T-Hub, Dodla Diary and Grene Robotics. He is a graduate in commerce from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia.

Mr. Janakiraman

Mr.Janakiraman (Jani) has over 35 years of experience in IT Industry and is acknowledged as an authority in Information Technology Business.

Mr.Janakiraman has over 35 years of experience in IT Industry and is acknowledged as an authority in Information Technology Business. He is currently the Co-Founder and Chairman of Nuvepro Technologies. Earlier to this he Co-founded Mindtree in 1999 and lead it building a USD 600 Mn company where he was President, CEO and CTO during different periods. He was one of the 5 employees in Wipro, where he spent 19 years before moving to his entrepreneurial journey. In his last role at Wipro he was Chief Executive of Wipro’s Global R&D.

He is also associated with Indo Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (IJCCI), TiE – Bangalore, India’s Semiconductor Association - ISA (currently called IESA).

Jani’s has a Bachelor's degree in Electronics and Communications from the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Trichy, India and a Master's degree in Electrical from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Chennai, India. He was recognized by NITT as one of the Best Alumni through an award for his Entrepreneurial Excellence

Dr. Sridhar Mitta

Dr. Sridhar Mitta, a Mentor and an Advisory Council Member for StartupXseed has nearly four decades of experience in Information Technology R&D and related businesses in India and United States.

Dr. Sridhar Mitta, a Mentor and an Advisory Council Member for StartupXseed has nearly four decades of experience in Information Technology, R&D and related businesses in India and United States. He is currently the Founder and Managing Director of NextWealth Entrepreneurs Private Limited in India, whose vision is “Social Uplift through Entrepreneurship”. Dr Mitta joined Wipro Limited at its inception in1980 and was its first employee. Heserved as its Chief Technology Officer and Head of Global R&D. He also founded a US-based company, EnThink Inc. which is into IP design and licensing for semiconductor building blocks. Dr. Mitta was a Founder and member of Board of Directors in e4e Inc., Santa Clara, CA based business Services Company.

Dr. Mitta is very passionate about promoting entrepreneurship, and mentors many young companies. He is also advisor to several venture capital organizations including IDG Ventures, Inventus and Kitven

Prof. Sadagopan

Professor Sadagopan is a Mentor and an Advisory Council Member for StartupXseed ventures. He is currently the Director (President) of IIIT-Bangalore (a PhD granting University) and as the first Director of IIIT-Bangalore he is involved in the visioning, planning and executing the growth of this Institute. Professor Sadagopan’s research work has appeared in several international journals including IEEE Transactions, European Journal of Operational Research, and journal of Optimization Theory & Applications, Naval Research Logistics, Simulation and Decision Support Systems.

Professor Sadagopan holds a PhD from the distinguished University of Purdue, is a Fellow of the UK's IET (formerly IEE), Computer Society of India, Institution of Engineers (India) and also is a featured Columnist for one of the largest newspapers in India, The Times of India (TOI).

Mr. Sanjay Nayak

Mr.Sanjay Nayak is a Mentor and an Advisory Council Member for StartupXseed ventures, Sanjay is also the Co-founder & CEO of Tejas Networks, Bangalore and Managing Director of Synopsys India, a global leader in Electronic Design Automation.

Mr.Sanjay Nayak is a Mentor and an Advisory Council Member for StartupXseed ventures, Sanjay is one of the Co-founder & also CEO of Tejas Networks, Bangalore. He was the Managing Director of Synopsys India, a global leader in Electronic Design Automation. Sanjay is well regarded thought leader in the Indian telecom and electronics industry and is sought after for his views on technology, innovation and entrepreneurship. He has received various awards for contirbutions to Electronics Technologies and Businessess. He is also part of various Committees and policy groups working on Electronics Industry Promotion.

Sanjay has a M.S. degree in ECE from North Carolina State University and B.S (E&C Engineering) from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra.

Mr.Sanjeev Keskar

Mr.Sanjeev Keskar is a part of the Advisory Council at StartupXseed ventures. He is currently serving as the Managing Director of Arrow Electronics, India.

Mr.Sanjeev Keskar is a part of the Advisory Council at StartupXseed ventures. He is currently serving as the Managing Director of Arrow Electronics, India. His earlier roles include being MD (India) of PMC Sierra, Country Manager for Freescale Semiconductors, AMD, National semiconductors and few other leadership roles prior to that. In all he has more than 25 years of experience with more than 20 years in Semiconductors Industry.

Keskar received a master’s degree in management science and a bachelor’s of engineering and technology from Pune University.

Mr. Alok Sen

Mr.Alok sen is one of the core members of the investment committee at StartupXseed ventures. He Co-founded Jeeves Consumer Services Pvt Ltd and exited to Flipkart in a acquisition deal.

Mr.Alok sen is one of the core members of the investment committee at StartupXseed ventures. He Co-founded Jeeves Consumer Services Pvt Ltd and exited to Flipkart in a acquisition deal. He brings on the table several years of entrepreneurial experience.

It was during his watch that Jeeves has signed up as an exclusive service provider to Flipkart and has received a significant funding from Flipkart to help rapid scaling up of network and product verticals.

He is a mechanical engineer and an MBA from IIM, Bangalore.

Mr. David Keynan

Mr. David Keynan comes with more than 3 decades of experience and currently is the Vice Chairman of FIICC. David was formerly Managing Partner at BDO-I2I, the Indian arm of BDO Ziv-Haft from Israel. At his role in BDO-I2I David has led multiple business consulting and business initiation activities, including multiple Joint Ventures and Cross Border distribution agreements.

Prior to starting BDO-I2I David was a member of Intel Capital India team since 2003, managing Intel’s India investments. He continued with Intel and relocated to India, for three years, to lead Intel investments in the telecom space. David was the Vice Chairman of the Technology Committee at the Israel-Asia Chamber of Commerce and Chairman of the India Committee at the High Tech Industry Association. He was the first Israeli to be admitted as Chartered Member of TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs).

David earned his B.Sc. in Mathematics and Philosophy from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem

About StartupXseed

Our Portfolio

Aibono

AlphaICs

Analyz

Assiduus

AUS

Bellatrix Aerospace

Cloud SEK

Darwin Box

EcoSoul

Fincent

Flip Health

Humalect

Jobiak

Mugafi

Optiwise

Plutos One

SawoLabs

Shield Square

Siliconch Systems

Singularity

Steradian Semi

Smarterbiz

Smart Ship

Tessact

Vitraya

Zenduty

AlphaICs

Assiduus

AUS

Bellatrix Aerospace

Cloud SEK

Darwin Box

EcoSoul

Fincent

Flip Health

Humalect

Jobiak

Mugafi

Optiwise

Plutos One

Singularity

Smarterbiz

SawoLabs

Smart Ship

Vitraya

Zenduty

Tessact

Analyz

Darwin Box

Shield Square

Siliconch Systems

Steradian Semi

Meet Our Team

Great things in business are never done by one person, they are done by team of people

Mr. V. Balakrishnan

General Partner

Mr. B. V. Naidu

Managing Partner

Mr. T. V. Mohandas Pai

General Partner

Dr. Krishna Mikkilineni

General Partner

Mr. V. Ramakrishna

General Partner

Mr. Ravi Thakur

General Partner

Mr. Sid Mookerji

General Partner

Mr. B. V. Naidu

Managing Partner

Mr. Ravi Thakur

Co Founding Partner

Mr. Srinivasa Raghavan

CTO

Mr. Deepak Aggarwal

CFO & Compliance Officer

Mr. Kishore Kumar D

Principal