Kartik Desai

Kartik Desai General Information

Biography

Mr. Kartik Desai served as a Principal at VSG Capital Advisors. He also served as a Venture Partner at Factor[e] Ventures. Previously, he served as a Senior Investment Manager at Aavishkaar Frontier Fund. He co-founded What's Up Bharat?. He is an impact investing and policy advocacy organization operating a multi-family office for Indian business leaders and philanthropists to jointly invest in social enterprises and engage with the government. He has led investments into and serves on the boards of start-ups across housing, financial services, waste, education, and technology. Kartik is a board member of the Impact Investors Council, co-chair of the ANDE India Learning Lab on SME Finance, member of the PM's 'Champions of Change' group of young CEOs and member of Niti Aayog's working group on 'Housing for All' and 'Swachh Bharat'. Prior to founding Asha in 2014, Kartik has a decade of experience in venture capital, entrepreneurship, investment banking and international development in India and the US. He helped set up two $60 million impact investment funds, Lok Capital II, focused on financial inclusion in India, and Aavishkaar Frontier Fund, setting up its operations in South Asia, in between founding QNA, India's first open-data polling platform for citizen engagement on national debates and being a judge on The Real Deal, a reality TV show on social impact investing on NDTV. Prior to joining the impact investment industry in 2007, Kartik worked for three years with DSP Merrill Lynch in its investment banking and private equity teams in Mumbai and also consulted for the United Nations Development Program and Rockefeller Foundation while studying in New York. Kartik has a Bachelors degree in Finance from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and a Masters degree in International Affairs from Columbia University (SIPA).