Akash Mehta

Chairman

Over 20 years of transactional and principal investment experience in private equity, high yield and real estate across Asia.

 

Career highlights:

distressed acquisition of AIG Home Finance Limited from AIG Ltd for which Mr. Mehta led the turn-around and then subsequently sold to L&T Finance Holdings; Launched one of the first overseas high yield debt funds in India; private equity investment in Karvy Stock Broking to launch its NBFC

 

Previous Roles:

Managing Director at Samena Capital where he launched and ran the Indian High Yield Credit business; Chairman of Indo Pacific Housing Finance Limited (erstwhile AIG Home Finance Limited), Executive Director with Ashmore PLC (UK listed global asset manager); Managing Director at India Equity Partners; VP at the Pacific Century Group in Hong Kong. Mr. Mehta has a BA from Haverford College and a MBA from Harvard Business School

Suresh Gurumani

Chief Executive Officer

A Chartered Accountant and Senior Business Leader with over 32 years of experience in Financial Services.

 

Career highlights:

Advised ESAF as Head of Strategic Change Initiatives on setting up ESAF Small Finance Bank – converted a top 10 MFI into a Digital Bank within 15 months; As MD, led SKS Micro Finance (India’s largest MFI) through IPO (first MFI IPO); Set up and led Retail Banking in India at Barclays Bank PLC.

 

Previous Roles:

Head of Strategic Change Initiatives at ESAF Small Finance Bank; Managing Director of SKS Microfinance; Director of Retail Banking at Barclays Bank PLC; GM for Consumer Finance, SME Banking & Capital Markets at Standard Chartered Bank.

Mr. Gurumani is a CA and did his articles at Price Waterhouse and has a B Com degree from Madras University.

Srinivasan Narayanswamy

Co–Founder & Head of Business Development

I am a serial entrepreneur and proud owner of three petroleum retail outlets under leading oil marketing companies. With a strong background in digital payments, I have built a reputation for innovation and success, holding multiple copyright patents and forging strategic partnerships in the digital payments space.

 

A graduate in Information Technology from Chennai, I bring a technology-driven approach to my ventures. Over the years, I have transformed small and medium enterprises into thriving corporate businesses, demonstrating my ability to scale and innovate.

Achievements & Associations:

Recipient of the Government of India Innovation Award for outstanding contributions to the industry. Part of the prestigious G20/B20 India 2024 Presidency Steering Committee, contributing to global economic discussions. Member of the G20/B20 Task Force on Trade and Investment for the Brazil Presidency 2025, influencing international trade policies.

 

National Coordinator for the Petroleum Dealers Association, representing over 88,000 retail outlets across the country. Actively engaged with think tanks across various organizations, shaping strategies for industry growth and development. With a proven track record and unwavering commitment to excellence, I continue to drive innovation and foster growth in the petroleum and digital payments sectors.

Ramesh R

Chief Digital Officer

Over 35 years of experience in areas of Technology, Operations, Business Transformation, Application Development, Process Engineering and Strategic Management.

 

Career highlights:

As a founding member of IDFC Bank set up the technology architecture of the bank with a special focus on Rural, Corporate, and Wholesale banking; Architected digital version of the core banking solution for Intellect;  Set up the mutual fund technology operations of Chola Mutual Fund in Mumbai.

 

Previous Roles:

Senior Vice President – Intellect Design Arena Ltd (Core Banking product company); Director – Technology at IDFC Bank Ltd; Head of IT for Chola Mutual Fund; Executive – Systems at Chola Retail Finance; EDP Officer – Ucal Power Systems Ltd

Ramesh R. has a BA from University of Madras with a Diploma in Application Programming and an alumni of IIM- A.

Bishal Thapa

Director - Solar

20 years of global energy sector experience supporting public and private sector clients on a range of management, strategic, operational, transactional and regulatory issues on energy.

 

Career highlights:

Founded Saral Urja Nepal, a leading distributed energy services company in Nepal – successfully completed ~100 distributed solar installations across rural and urban areas in Nepal; Established and served as Managing Director of India for ICF Consulting a global NASDAQ listed advisory firm – successfully grew firm in India to staff of 70.

 

Previous Roles:

Managing Director Saral Urja Nepal; Managing Director, ICF Consulting (India) – leading advisor covering energy, environment, and carbon markets; Independent consultant – provided advisory services to public and private sector clients to enable them to build integrated energy strategies, particularly around integration of distributed renewable energy solutions within their portfolio

Mr. Thapa holds an M.A. in Economics from the University of Maryland

Ramachandran Chellam

Chief Financial Officer

Over 30 years of experience in financial services with leading banks in India and overseas including CFO, Global Strategy & Finance leadership roles.

 

Career highlights:

Member of founding team that launched commercial banking, retail banking and cards business for Barclays in India – set up the whole finance department from scratch; As CFO of Centurion Bank, successfully navigated and executed the acquisitive growth strategy of the Bank.

 

Previous Roles:

CFO Saudi Hollandi Bank, CFO – Eskan Bank, Director – Finance India & Indian Ocean Barclays Bank PLC, India, CFO Centurion Bank of Punjab, Finance Controller Bank of Muscat; Vice President IDBI Bank

Mr. Chellam is a CA Rank Holder and has a B Com from University of Bombay