Avaana Capital Expands Its Senior Leadership With Multiple Hiring Initiatives The new leadership hiring is aligned to Avaana's mission of scaling up technology-led innovation to maximize impact and responsible, sustainable profits aligned to environmental, social, and governance values

By Prabhjeet Bhatla

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Avaana Capital, an early-stage fund focused on investing in and scaling up innovation-led sustainable startups, with the aim of catalyzing impact and delivering commercial returns, announced the hiring of Shruti Srivastava as principal and Rahul Bhapkar as chief finance officer (CFO).

The announcement is in line with Avaana's commitment to spearheading the Impact 3.0 movement in India, centered around the core principle that innovating for impact should not mean compromising on the value.

"At Avaana, it's our people who make the fund what it is today, right from our teams to our portfolio partners. Our team's experience gives us an edge in understanding the confluence of technology, innovation, and impact. With Shruti and Rahul joining us, we are well-positioned to extend our support to many more innovative, inclusive, scalable businesses to deliver the double bottom line," commented Anjali Bansal, founder, Avaana Capital.

"What attracted me to Avaana was the institution's nuanced understanding of using capital to support innovations that can create outsized commercial outcomes while creating impact that's hyper scalable and sustainable. I strongly believe that technology, fueled by the power of conscious commercial capital, can play a significant role in addressing broader development goals," said Shruti Srivastava, principal, Avaana Capital.

Avaana's core mission is to invest in early-stage startups in India that are financially viable, are hyper-scalable, and have paradigm-shifting potential to address development challenges, standing out in an ever-evolving investment landscape. The fund promises a strong thesis-driven team with a track record across impact venture investing, private equity, corporate leadership.

"I am thrilled to be a part of team Avaana on their mission to fund entrepreneurs striving to build responsible businesses with socio-economic impact. The opportunity to be part of a diverse team aiming to be a responsible ESG focused VC with tangible impact and returns is what excited me the most about Avaana. Under the stellar leadership of Avaana founding members, I look forward to playing a part in building the future of impact investing in India," added Rahul Bhapkar, chief finance officer, Avaana Capital.

The Avaana team and advisors bring a collective experience of more than 200 years across investing, institution building, governance, diversity and inclusion, and policy. Avaana's early bets include success stories like Nykaa, Delhivery, Urban Company, and more.

Prabhjeet Bhatla

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