Avaana Capital

Aishwarya Kuruttukulam

Aishwarya worked with Avaana Connect, an initiative that brings the Avaana Ecosystem network towards meaningful partnerships and large-scale impact. With experience as a management consultant to the Kerala Government, Aishwarya brings her focus on impact and sustainability to Avaana. Aishwarya’s previous work ranges from research projects for the Kerala State Planning Board, pilot rollout of an innovative technology platform for marginal farmers to project management of a $170 Mn project. She was part of Kerala’s Minister of Finance and Coir, Dr. Thomas Isaac’s core team in revamping the Coir sector of the state. She also worked with the Minister on his book which elucidates the agenda for modernization in the Kerala Coir ecosystem. Aishwarya is an Economics graduate from St. Stephen’s College, and will be pursuing her Masters in International and Development Economics from Yale University.

Hriyanka Shah

Hriyanka worked on the joint research projects "Women and Fintech", with NITI Aayog and IFC and  "Gender and Cities" with Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry and IFC. She was previously a consulting analyst at Deloitte’s Government and Public Services practice in Washington DC where she worked on HR Tech and Transformation processes for various government agencies. She also worked with Ambassador Nirupama Rao on her book about the genesis of the China-India conflict at the Wilson Center and former Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan Dr. Ishrat Hussain on a comparative study of South Asian Economies. She is pursuing a Masters in Data Science and Business Analytics from American University, Washington, DC.

Umang Kapadia

Umang, an Avaana Connect Fellow worked on social sector initiative with ACT. His first experience in the Impact space was through an internship with the A.T.E Chandra Foundation where he worked on projects on women empowerment, specifically social upliftment of women. Umang was previously with BCG, where he worked primarily in Financial Services (Housing Finance, General Insurance, Banks), along with projects in Consumer & Industrial practice areas. He has also completed 3 years of article ship in EY's mergers & acquisitions tax team. Umang is keen on working at the intersection of impact and investing, to understand  business models that maximize financial and social goals at scale. He is a qualified chartered accountant, has completed two years of L.L.B, and has a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce from the University of Mumbai (H.R. College of Commerce & Economics).

Yash Bhansali

Yash worked on the project “Mapping Indian MSMEs for export potential and linking to Global Supply Chains” for Avaana. He was also involved in the initiatives with the NITI Aayog.
He has always fostered a passion for finance and business. He was the Founder and CIO of a Dubai based Microfinance Fund that aimed to provide credit access to entrepreneurs in developing nations. At Yale, he has drafted literature on the Indian Banking sector and the long-term Economic Outlook post COVID-19 under his mentor Dr Rakesh Mohan – Ex Deputy Governor of RBI. He is also the Co-founder of a Yale based startup that connects students to ‘on campus’ opportunities.
He is pursuing his Bachelor’s from the Yale University, with majors in Economics with a Certificate in Statistics and Data Science.

Dev Narang

Dev worked on the project "Innovation, Transformation and Disruption in FinTech" for Avaana.

His prior experience in the finance industry involves his work for Lighthaven Capital, a hedge fund based in San Francisco, as an investment analyst.

He is part of the research "Squaring Venture Capital Valuations with Reality" which attempts to interpret the realistic valuation outcomes for unicorns at exit. At Stanford, he is primarily involved as an analyst with Charles R Blyth Fund, a student-led US$150,000+ investment club responsible for managing part of Stanford's endowment funds. He also works as a volunteer coder at Stanford's Code the Change for the implementation of BrightID, a mobile app working on democratizing digital identity.

He is pursuing his Bachelor’s from Stanford University.

Mili Sanwalka

Mili was an Avaana Fellow in our Strategic Partnership initiative with the Quality Council of India. She worked in the joint QCI-Avaana team supporting two projects under the NITI Aayog mandate of Digital Inclusion of MSMEs — exploring a labour-matching portal for blue-collar workers, and e-commerce platform (B2B and B2C) for MSMEs.
She was previously with BCG in Boston, working primarily in Technology (AI, SaaS, Cloud), Social Impact (financial inclusion, MSME, CSR) and Retail (logistics, consumer). Her prior experiences include an early-stage VC, a philanthropic intermediary and academic research in developmental economics. She is passionate about economic empowerment and working on at-scale solutions that leverage technology.
Mili graduated from Brown University, magna cum laude and with honors in Applied-Mathematics and Economics.

Sumedh Deshpande

Sumedh worked on developing the investment thesis for Avaana on the Indian Agritech industry.
He was previously an early member of the investment team at Fireside Ventures where he partnered with founders on building disruptive brands that cater to an emerging class of millennial consumers. At Yale, he is part of the core team at RecoveryPad - a start-up that aims to democratize effective, research-driven treatment for opioid addiction through a telehealth platform. He is also a student leader at the School of Management's Marketing Club.
He is pursuing his MBA from the Yale School of Management.

Vivek Agrawal

Vivek worked as a Fellow with Avaana on the Livelihood Loans Project - building a low-cost lending solution for blue collar workers and MSMEs through partnerships across the private and public sectors. Vivek has extensive experience building and implementing digital solutions within the development sector. Previously, he worked with Clinton Health Access Initiative in Rwanda, where he helped develop a suite of mobile applications to improve malaria surveillance across Southern Africa, Central America and Southeast Asia. Prior to that, he worked with Central Square Foundation to build an education-MIS portal to improve learning outcomes for public schools in India. Vivek also has rich experience as a management consultant with Kearney working on procurement and analytic engagement across the globe. Vivek graduated with a B.Tech and M.Tech in Electrical Engineering from IIT Bombay, and is headed to Harvard Business School to pursue his MBA.