Ashwin Srivastava is an Indian venture capitalist who is the cofounder and member of the Board of Idein Ventures (founded Idein ventures in 2015.^[1][2][3]), a growth-stage private equity accelerator with operations in India, UAE, and Africa. He has been an entrepreneur since 2010.^[4] He is also the co-founder of Great Manager Institute ^[5][6] and CEO of Sapio Analytics.^[7][8]

Ashwin was part of the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2017 list under the Finance & Venture Capital category.^{[9][10][11][12]}

He is Regional Mentor of Change at NITI Aayog^[13][14] and Advisor at Technology Coordination Committee, Indian Council of Medical Research.^[15][16]

Ashwin is also the co-founder of Ajantahc,^[17][18] an Indian culture media platform jointly created with Vedan Choolun,^[19] Chairman of Uitv, and has founded a virtual cancer hospital and Cancer Rounds.^[20]

Early life and education

Ashwin has completed his Bachelor of Technology and Master of Technology from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay.^[21] He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering. In college, he took part in theatre and robotics. He was a member of hostel council, and manager of The Entrepreneurship Cell, IIT Bombay.^[22][23]

Entrepreneurship

Ashwin and Hariom Sharma started Incept, a biometric equipment manufacturer in August 2010. Its head office was set up in Goregaon, Mumbai.^[24]

In 2012, Ashwin was listed as one of the top 100 entrepreneurs in 2011 by Small and Medium Entrepreneur Magazine.^[25]

From 2011 to 2013, Incept partnered with clients and customers such as Indian Institute of Technology Bombay^[26] and Nigeria Identity Management Commission.^[27] In September 2013, Incept merged with Solus, another player in the biometric industry, in an undisclosed shares and cash deal.^[28] At Incept, Ashwin also led the Incept Training Academy and was a guest lecturer there.^[29][30]

Ashwin led FindURClass^[31][32] and Plancess,^[33] in consulting capacity. He is also a Director at Core Grocer.^[34]

He is a director of Princeton Healthcare since November 2020.^[35]

Venture capital

Ashwin is currently the Director of Qriyo,^[36] Propcare,^[37] Restate Solutions,^[38] and Infurnia.^[39][40] In August 2022, Infurnia Holdings filed draft red herring prospectus for its initial public offering.^[41]

Outside India, he has interests in investments in GCC countries and countries in Africa.^[42][43] Ashwin has been involved in investing in Sumant Kumar, a farmer from Bihar known for System of Rice Intensification.^[44] Idein Ventures also seed-funded UAE based ZoEasy Solutions, which uses disruptive technology to connect businesses and consumers with their ideal blue collar workforce.^[45]

Inventions

Ashwin is a considered a proponent of human-centred artificial intelligence,^[46] and his works have featured in a podcast by Microsoft India titled Paradigm Shift, featuring stories of innovations.^[47] A patent titled "Process for identifying suspect entities via network depth using document analytics" published by Sapio Analytics attributes him and Rai Aman Narain as inventors.^[48][49] He is the designer of a program on Generative AI for school students launched by the Government of Maharashtra.^[50]

Other notable incidents

In May 2013, Ashwin was victim of an accident that made him an amputee.^[51][52][53] He participated in a marathon in Mumbai soon after the accident.^[22] He floated a petition to change the heights of platforms in Mumbai suburban train stations, that ended in victory.

In 2014, Ashwin became a member of the political organization Aam Aadmi Party^[54] and a national convenor of Entrepreneurs for AAP. It is unclear if he is still a member. He is a mentor for startups and small businesses.^[55][56]

References