A look at the 2013 batch of GSF Accelerator's EiR in Asia programme
GSF Accelerator, a startup accelerator programme launched by former Reliance Entertainment president and GSF Superangels founder Rajesh Sawhney, has announced the names of 13 entrepreneurs who will be a part of the accelerator's Entrepreneurs in Residence (EiR) in Asia 2013 programme. As part of the summer programme, which will last 10 weeks, the EiRs will forge links between GSF companies and external partners, and buddy mentor each of the portfolio companies. They will also drive strategic partnerships and expand GSFs mentor network in the tech community across India and the globe.
The EiRs will also anchor the accelerator programme in all four cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai) by scouting, evaluating and aiding in the selection of the startups from across different regions of India. The 17 GSF EiRs from the first batch have taken different routes after the programme. Two of them started Pokkt, an online transactional advertising platform, while a few went on to join venture capital and private equity funds like Vertex and Element Capital. Others joined early-stage tech startups like ZipDial, BizTradeShows, and Little Eye Labs.
"This batch of EIRs is an excellent gathering of global talent. Among the group, I value the diversity of talent, of experience, and of thought. I am sure such diversity will lead to conception of a few innovative ideas, some of which will be incubated at GSF in the coming months," said Sawhney.
From Delhi:
Rishab Malik: An investment advisor, India, for Global Innovations & Technology Platform (GITP), a Singapore-based angel investor which invests in startup and seed companies in Asia, Malik has also earlier founded Figr, a technology startup in Singapore. He is also one of the founding members of the Hub Singapore, an accelerator for tech and social entrepreneurs.
Marina Zolotoverkh: She earlier worked at First Derivatives, a leading provider of products and consulting services to the capital markets industry. She brings to GSF broad consulting expertise in IT, finance and capital markets. Marina holds an MSc degree in banking and finance from University of Leeds (the UK) and an MBA degree from INSEAD.
Adam Caplan: He had earlier launched the Aga Khan Foundation's (a private, not-for-profit international development agency) Impact Investing Initiative. Caplan holds a master's degree in international business and development economics from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University (the US).
From Mumbai
Vikul Goyal: Currently an investment professional at Bessemer Venture Partners, he earlier worked at Baker Hughes Inc. An IIT Guwahati alumnus, he holds an MBA degree from the Harvard Business School (the US).
Sanjay Jain: Jain comes with over two decades of experience and has earlier worked at companies like Coca-Cola, Allianz Group, Bajaj Allianz, Ogilvy and Times of India Group. Jain is currently the president and chief marketing officer at Reliance Capital.
Rachna Manwani: Rachna's expertise lies in customer segmentation, social marketing analytics, market research, data warehousing and big and medium data solutions. She holds an MBA degree from Chicago Booth School of Business, (the US).
Damini Satija: An economics student, Damini is currently pursuing her BA degree in economics from the University of California, Berkeley (the US).
From Bangalore and Chennai
Brij Bhasin: An advisor at Little Eye Labs, a performance analysis and developer productivity tool for mobile app developers and testers, Bhasin earlier founded Boost Tech, a mobile and tablet app development company. He has over 10 years of experience in creation and delivery of technology products. He has a bachelor's degree in computer science from University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (the US).
Bhavna Toor: Currently director at National Social Entrepreneurship Forum (NSEF), a leading Indian student platform on social innovations with pan-India chapters, Bhavna has also worked as an investment manager at Idiom, a design firm. She holds an MBA degree from New York University's Stern School of Business (the US).
Srinath Gaddam: He was earlier the chief marketing officer and head - product at Zoom, an online platform for self-drive cars. Gaddam has an MBA degree in finance and strategy from the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, and MS and BS degrees in computer science from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (the US).
Chris Kieran: He managed the research programmes of the Yale Center for Business and the Environment (the US) and worked at a San Francisco food-tech startup before co-founding the New York-based crowdfunding company Zokos.
Jery Althaf: Prior to becoming a Young India Fellow in 2012, Althaf co-founded DialBlood.com, an initiative to connect blood donors to recipients through a phone call. He holds an engineering degree in instrumentation from College of Engineering, Trivandrum and has earlier worked at Mahindra & Mahindra.
Founded in 2012, GSF comprises 20 investors and five leading funds (including Seedcamp and Dave McClure's 500 Startups) from across the world. The programme provides promising startups in the mobile, local, social, cloud and impact spaces access to venture networks, personalised and intensive mentoring, as well as initial capital.
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