A
Mumbai
Arjun Vaidya
Co-Founder @ V3 Ventures, Founder @ Dr. Vaidya's (acquired)
Building

Co-Founder @ V3 Ventures I Founder @ Dr. Vaidya's (acquired) I D2C Founder & Early Stage Investor I Forbes Asia 30U30 I Business World 40U40

Hi, I’m Arjun, and I’m a D2C founder & early stage consumer investor. I built Dr. Vaidya’s to India’s largest Ayurveda brand online and took it to an acquisition. I now lead venture investing for Verlinvest through a new fund called V3 Ventures. 

I'm also an active angel investor and mentor to brands in India’s startup ecosystem. If you’re an early-stage founder DM me - I'm happy to chat!

Here's my story:

‘Vaidya’ my last name means Ayurvedic doctor and I come from 150 years of Ayurveda legacy. I grew up with asthma and after 14 years of treatment, I was cured. More than just being a family legacy, I became a believer in the potential of the science and so I promised him I’d take forward this legacy.

In 2009, I went to Brown University for my undergrad. I witnessed the natural and organic products revolution there. I also saw yoga become a multibillion-dollar industry with a repackaged identity for modern consumers. This made me think about the opportunity we had with Ayurveda…

In 2013, I moved back to India and joined a consumer sector focused growth private equity fund called L Catterton. Here, I spent time understanding and investing in the Indian consumer story. I was also fortunate to see the advent of e-commerce in India closely.

In this time, my grandfather passed and so, I decided to action the promise I had made him. 

In October 2016, I quit my job to take on my family’s Ayurveda legacy. Dr. Vaidya’s repackaged the ancient Indian science of Ayurveda for modern consumers and emerged as India’s largest Ayurveda brand online. In 4 years, we successfully reached 2m+ consumers across 16,500+ pin codes in India and launched 80+ products and clocked 5,000+ orders per day!

I was the first Ayurvedic Entrepreneur to be featured in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia List for and Business World 40 Under 40 List! We also won Youth SMB of the Year from Amazon and the Retail Startup Award from the Retailers Association of India. In June 2019, we partnered with the USD 4b RP Sanjiv Goenka Group and led the business to an acquisition by the group – making it one of India’s first successful D2C exits. 

Post the exit, I have become an active early stage investor. 
 
Outside work, I’m a World Economic Forum Global Shaper and a part Brown University’s Young Alumni Advisory Council. I’m also a massive sports fan (love cricket, football, Padel, pickleball and squash) and a marathon runner.

To get in touch/collaborate email me on [email protected]

More founders to meet

See all →

Every other founder in the network. Tap a card for the full profile, bio, what they're hoping for, links to reach out.

Anuj Dalal
Ahmedabad
Anuj Dalal
Founder & CEO · Zestard

Engineer / builder and Educator / mentor, Seed and Profitable, backing Pre-seed / seed and Strategic / corporate, in SaaS + D2C / consumer + E-commerce / retail.

Hoping to meet
  • A co-founder
  • Senior hires for my team
  • A startup role I would love, at any kind
  • Growth & marketing leaders
  • Founders & operators in my city
Utpal Vaishnav
Ahmedabad
Utpal Vaishnav
Founder · Upsquare

Founder, Bootstrapped and Profitable, backing Angel and Syndicate / scout, in Fintech + SaaS + Deeptech.

Building

Transforming my legacy tech business, Upsquare Technologies, into a Lab that does experiments with Digital & Physical AI, Robotics, Reusable Systems, models & architectures.

Hoping to meet
  • Startups to invest in
  • Bootstrapped, profitable founders
  • Engineering leaders / CTOs
  • Product leaders
  • Growth & marketing leaders
  • Others in my exact role to swap notes with
  • Founders & operators in my city
Jayesh Kadivar
Ahmedabad
Jayesh Kadivar
Founder · Growthnest Advisors LLP

Founder and Educator / mentor, Pre-revenue / pre-PMF and Pre-seed, in Healthtech + Deeptech + Mobility / EV.

Hoping to meet
  • Angel / seed investors for my startup
  • Startups to invest in
  • Founders with US / global reach
  • Bootstrapped, profitable founders
  • Founders & operators in my city