Day out with Anirudh, General Partner, Artha Venture Fund!

We are proud to nominate Anirudh A Damani, General Partner, Artha Venture Fund I as our next "Star Investor" under "Day out with a Star" platform at http://www.dayoutwithastar.com . Anirudh a.k.a aD began his professional journey as a door to door salesman in the arid climatic region of West Texas, USA working his way up to now becoming an active angel investor shaping the destiny of more than 57 start-ups. His story should inspire the young generation who dream to start their own enterprise!

Anirudh has been an angel investor in India since 2011, prior to which he was an entrepreneur in the energy sector in the US and in India. Some of the key winners in his portfolio include Oyo Rooms, NowFloats, Exotel, Tala, Purplle, Coutloot and LenDenClub.

Chandra Kishore, Founder, "Day out with a Star" platform will sit with Anirudh over a cup of virtual coffee on Facebook Live on June 30, 8:30 PM India time/ June 30, 11:00 AM US EST.

The interview will be broadcasted on Facebook Live on our facebook page www.facebook.com/dayoutwith . Please LIKE and SHARE the page to get alerts when the interview starts.

Here's a little more about Anirudh's Life story:

Anirudh a.k.a aD began his professional journey as a door to door salesman in the arid climatic region of West Texas, where he would go knocking on 80-100 doors per day, convincing home owners to switch their electricity provider. His natural penchant for sales coupled with the ability to recruit, train and motivate others led to his quick rise in the ranks of the company.

His direct efforts in successfully setting up the B2B sales division, brought the company a nationwide sales contract with Suez Energy (now called Engie), the world’s largest utility provider with over $180 billion in assets in 2006. After his promotion to the Director of Sales, Anirudh played a crucial role in expanding the company to Chicago, New York, Dallas, Houston, Corpus Christi, Midland etc. He successfully led a nationwide sales force of over 500 agents.

During the Great Recession, a conflux of reasons led Anirudh’s employer to the brink of filing for bankruptcy. He and two of his colleagues, took over the debt-ridden company and rechristened it as Pioneer Energy Resources. In just under 2 years, not only did they make it profitable but also cleared all the debts of their former employer.

In 2012, Anirudh left Texas and PER to return to his home base in Mumbai. His previous experience in the energy sector and the scope of renewable energy assets to deliver long term stable cash-flows drove his decision to buy a windmill. He deployed the cash-flows from this windmill into early stage start-ups.

Anirudh strongly believes that investing in start-ups at an early stage creates the maximum impact in their lifecycle. He aims to drive growth by mentoring decisions that involve sales, marketing, recruiting, finance and operations. He works closely with founders to help them develop prototypes, find their first customer, decipher unit economics, recruit the second line of management and prepare the company for rapid scaling up. He is a part of a vast network of global mentors & advisors that he ropes in to provide connections, support and guidance to the founders in his portfolio.

Anirudh’s unique funding strategy helped him create an impressive portfolio of over 50 start-ups that are almost completely funded by a renewable energy asset in Rajasthan. His knack for picking winners is evident from the 3.5x multiple that his portfolio has delivered so far and the tremendous success that his fundraising efforts have generated for Artha Venture Fund.
Anirudh’s Investment Philosophy:
• Invest early
• Deploy funding in tranches - Don’t throw good money behind money that is lost
• Invest in execution over idea
• Control the burn until the start-up has a clear plan to achieve positive unit economics


"Indian Environment Network" brings together environment professionals from India working all over the world in 2000+ environment organizations. You are welcome to join it at http://www.paryavaran.com .

"Day out with a Star" http://www.dayoutwithastar.com is a an initiative to give a platform to amazing innovators all over the world where their fans can directly book one-on-one time with their idols and get inspired. Support us by joining as an institutional partner to showcase your Star professionals, customers and community members as the next "Star" on our platform!

About the Expert: • General Partner of Artha Venture Fund I • Active angel investor - 57 start-up investments since 2012 - Advisory Board member of Venture Catalyst - Invested in Oyo Rooms, NowFloats, Tala, Purplle, Coutloot, LenDenClub, • Founder of Artha India Ventures (2014) • Founder of Artha Energy Resources (2013) • Double Major from Austin College, Texas - Business Administration - Economics Anirudh has been an angel investor in India since 2011, prior to which he was an entrepreneur in the energy sector in the US and in India. Some of the key winners in his portfolio include Oyo Rooms, NowFloats, Exotel, Tala, Purplle, Coutloot and LenDenClub.
Gender Type:
Male
Female
Not specified
Star Type:
Social Media Star
Star Storyteller
Star Author/Writer
Human Star
Star Scientist
TV/ Movie Star
Green Star
Star Singer
Tech Star
Star Politician
Star Gamer
Sports Star
Star Enterpreneur
Star Professional
Star Educator
Star Journalist
Star Nature Guide
Star Coach/ Mentor
Religious Star
Star Diplomat/ Policy wonk
Star Founder
Star Investor
Star Philospher
Hard to Define Star
All other Stars
Sort by Meeting Options::
Virtual Video
Virtual Audio
Face-to-Face
Share Gifts
What's included?: Facebook LIVE interview with Anirudh. Please LIKE our facebook page www.facebook.com/dayoutwith to get alerts when the interview starts.
Focus Activities:
Share Stories
Teaching/ Mentoring
Speaking Engagement
Business Engagement
Go out/ in the Wild
Eat Out/ Coffee/Tea
Play/Watch Together
Do Good Together
Raise Funds Together
Just have Fun
Before you buy/ Availability: Please LIKE our facebook page www.facebook.com/dayoutwith to get alerts when the interview starts.

Public discussion (0)

You must log in to send a new comment.