At least 16 senior operators have transitioned into investing roles in the past two years, spanning consumer internet, D2C, Big Tech and corporate leadership, Moneycontrol has learnt.
Several Flipkart veterans have made the switch. Moneycontrol exclusively reported that Smrithi Ravichandran is set to join Multiples Alternate Asset Management, and Adarsh Menon, former Senior Vice President at Flipkart, moved to Fireside Ventures. From the consumer internet space, Priyanka Gill transitioned from Good Glamm Group to Kalaari Capital, while Suhail Sameer took up a role at OTP Ventures after his stint at BharatPe.
Tech majors and D2C brands have also become fertile hiring grounds. Ashutosh Gupta left LinkedIn for Avataar Ventures. Meanwhile, Mohit Sadaani (The Mom Co) moved to DeVC, and Vivek Gambir joined Lightspeed India.
“There are simply more people now who have built and run companies,” said Kushal Bhagia, founder of pre-seed investment firm All In Capital, and former upGrad executive. “As they scale, investing becomes a natural next step for many of them after their operating journey. This trend will only increase as the ecosystem gets bigger.”
Newer funds have been particularly active. Claypond Capital hired Chandra Sekhar Garisa (Foundit) and Pranay Shetty (ShareChat). Prime Venture Partners brought on Brij Bhushan from Magicpin. Elev8 hired Ashpi Gupta from Walmart, while Ravi Jain (Ola Electric/Krutrim) joined TDK Ventures.
International moves include Anuj Tandon to BITKRAFT Ventures and Vardhan Dharnidharka to Stellaris from US-based Shiftsmart. Most recently, Verlinvest appointed former Swiggy marketing head Ashish Lingamneni as Operating Partner for India.