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

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.

Unsplash

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

Former Staff

Business Ideas

70 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2025

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2025.

Business News

2 Major Career Companies Are Laying Off 1,300 Employees: 'AI Is Changing the World'

The job cuts at Indeed and Glassdoor mainly impact U.S. roles on teams such as research and development.

Leadership

5 Lessons I Wish I Didn't Learn the Hard Way During My 20 Years in Business

Starting a business has been one of the most exciting and fulfilling chapters of my life — but it's also been unpredictable, humbling and often much harder than it looks from the outside. Here are a few pieces of hard-earned wisdom I wish I'd known from day one.

Growing a Business

How The NBPA and a Top African University Are Investing in Africa's Future — One Startup at a Time

One Court Africa hosted NBA players at UM6P in Marrakech for a four-day program focused on social entrepreneurship and sustainable business, which included mentoring six African startups and awarding $160K in grants through its Innovation Challenge.

News and Trends

Recur Club Announces Credit Offerings for Startups Beyond Series A and SMEs

In FY 24–25, the platform also plans to deploy an additional INR 2000 crores through its Recur Swift program for startups.

Business News

Here's How Much Google Software Engineers, Product Managers, and Data Scientists Make in a Year

Data revealed in federal filings shows how much Google is compensating its employees.