ABOUT US
OUR VISION
WHAT WE DO
Ahaana Ventures provides catalytic social and financial capital to historically underrepresented entrepreneurs in South Asia, including women, minorities, and people of indigenous descent or from other marginalized communities. We identify early-stage entrepreneurs with the unique strengths and perspectives needed to drive transformative change, and whose enterprises will form the building blocks for a more sustainable and equitable global economy. Leveraging our entrepreneurial expertise and global networks, we provide catalytic social and financial capital as well as entrepreneur-led strategic advisory support and leadership coaching.
We are working closely with early-stage entrepreneurs and investors to reinvent early-stage investing – shifting power dynamics and challenging commonly-held beliefs and practices in order to lay the foundation for a more diverse and equitable start-up ecosystem globally.
OUR FOUNDER
SONALI MEHTA-RAO
FOUNDER & CEO
Sonali Mehta-Rao is an early-stage impact investor, startup advisor, and ICF-trained leadership coach with over a decade of global entrepreneurial experience in social business innovation, building enterprises that expand access to finance for the underbanked and unlock global markets for marginalized artisan communities. As Co-founder and President of Mela Artisans, she successfully created a sustainable global market for Indian artisans, leading the company to its first $1M in revenue and Series A financing. As founding India Director of global fintech company Tala and Co-founder, Chief Growth Officer at Awaaz.De, she worked to expand access to finance for the underbanked, reaching 10M+ low-income, rural women pan-India. She is a Professional Advisor at MIT’s Kuo Sharper Center for Entrepreneurship, a Visiting Impact Entrepreneur at the Stanford Center for Social Innovation and at the Yale Jackson School, and has served on the jury and investment committee for the Cartier Women’s Initiative.
Team
Dipali Patwa
Advisory Board
Dipali Patwa is a global brand strategist, entrepreneur, and board advisor with more than 20 years of experience building brands, driving innovation, and accelerating growth across consumer businesses in the United States and India. Her expertise spans brand strategy, design, product innovation, marketing, licensing, and commercial growth across the home, lifestyle, beauty, fashion, and wellness industries. Her leadership experience includes globally recognized brands such as Martha Stewart, Ralph Lauren, Fabindia, and Town & Country, where she has led brand transformation, product development, licensing, creative strategy, and go-to-market initiatives across multiple consumer categories. Dipali is also the founder of Masala Baby, a globally inspired children’s lifestyle brand carried by more than 200 retailers, and the founding Chief Creative Officer of Mela Artisans, a design-led social enterprise connecting artisan communities in India with global markets.Beyond her executive leadership, Dipali has served on the Board of Organic India USA, now part of Tata Consumer Products, and on the Advisory Board of Terviva, advising leadership teams on brand strategy, innovation, market expansion, and long-term growth. A Goldman Sachs–Tory Burch Foundation Fellow and Fashion Group International Rising Star Award nominee, Dipali is recognized for combining strategic thinking, creative leadership, and entrepreneurial execution to help organizations navigate growth, transformation, and innovation.
Divya Reddy
Board Member
Divya Reddy is an entrepreneur, investor, and operator with expertise spanning finance, venture investing, and technology. She is a Founding Partner at F5 Collective, an Australia-based fund investing in women-led companies, and played a key role in the passage of California’s SB-54, advancing diversity reporting in venture capital. She is also the Co-Founder of Pyrium, an investment platform created to broaden access to high-quality early-stage investment opportunities for both accredited and non-accredited investors. Previously, she held leadership roles in banking and capital markets at Global Systemically Important Banks (GSIBs), leading global risk and regulatory programs, and product initiatives. She is passionate about helping founders build scalable, capital-efficient businesses and expanding access to capital through innovative investment models.
Krishna Dahya
Board Member
Krishna Dahya is a social entrepreneur, leadership strategist, and systems thinker dedicated to advancing gender equity and social impact. She is the Co-Founder of the Centre for Men and Boys – South Asia, where she leads research and cross-sector initiatives focused on reimagining masculinities and improving outcomes for boys and men in service of gender justice. Previously, Krishna held roles at Indicorps, Acumen and Ashoka, where she helped develop and support purpose-driven leaders across India and the USA, and has worked with organizations spanning social entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and civic innovation. She holds a Master’s from the Harvard Kennedy School, is a certified leadership coach, and serves as a board member and advisor to organizations advancing equity, leadership, and systems change.
Kapila Ahuja
Board Member
Kapila Ahuja brings over two decades of global experience across commodities markets, sustainable finance, and agricultural value chains. She has held senior leadership roles across Europe and Asia, bringing expertise in governance, risk oversight, sustainability, and supply chain resilience. During her 14-year tenure at Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore, Kapila led sustainable finance, business development, and growth initiatives within the global commodities business. She later drove trading strategy and digital transformation at Cargill, advancing innovation across global agricultural supply chains. She currently leads risk teams overseeing critical physical commodities supply chain activities across the EMEA region. Kapila is deeply passionate about regenerative agriculture and climate resilience and actively supports and invests in ventures advancing sustainable food systems and biodiversity. An ICF-certified leadership coach (ACC), she champions inclusive leadership and the development of high-performing teams.
Portfolio
The portfolio above represents angel investments made personally by Ahaana Ventures Founder & CEO Sonali Mehta-Rao as a self-funded proof of concept. Guided by the investment thesis that continues to shape Ahaana Ventures today, these investments laid the foundation for our approach to backing social and climate innovators building transformative solutions in underserved and frontier markets across South Asia. Ahaana Ventures Foundation does not have any business or financial relationship with any of these entities.
ECOSYSTEM PARTNERS
