VCs at Draper Startup House 🐢🐇🚀

Last week at Draper Startup House Bangalore, we had some seriously awesome VCs drop by:
- Shantanu Sharma from Pivot VC
- Pranav Sanghvi from Merak Ventures
- Ashna Agarwal from Jungle Ventures
- Vaishvi Bansal from Marwari Catalysts
- Aditi Sinha from IndiaQuotient

Our resident entrepreneurs got to pitch their hearts out, and the feedback they received was pure gold. The energy was unreal!

But it wasn’t just about funding. What made this week extra special were the amazing backstories these VCs shared—from an Airforce veteran turned VC, to a DJ turned VC, to a super young college grad already making waves in the venture world. These stories were pure inspiration, especially for anyone thinking about starting their journey in VC.

We also hosted two panel events with these incredible VCs, attracting nearly 200+ attendees! It was a blast and a huge success for our community.

Special thanks to Jatin Chaudhary and Radhika Mohta for making this happen—you both are rockstars! 🌟

If you’re a VC and passing through Bangalore, DM us—we’d love to host you at Draper Startup House, Bangalore!

Karan Bahadur Vikram Bharati Mansi Baheti Tanya Mary Deepika Palreddy Sai Chaitanya Kokku Vignesh S eChai Ventures



The eChai Effect - In Their Words

“When we launched LegalWiz.in back in 2016, concept of procuring legal and compliance services through a digital commerce platform wasn't as prominent in India. eChai played a significant role in providing the early adopters, and building significant positioning in the startup fraternity. Overtime, eChai grew to be a massive network of like-minded entrepreneurs and extended that benefit to all the members in a true "co-rise" spirit. I personally love to attend eChai events, learn from subject matter experts who share relatable and actionable insights and experiences. For startup journeys, it is so important to be surrounded by people who can add relevance, perspective, and push you to do better. Most importantly a group of people where you aren't being judged about things going right or wrong, but be a motivational force that keeps you going, yet keeping you in check. eChai is that place for me!”
Shrijay Sheth - Founder at LegalWiz.in and Hire4Higher Consulting
Shrijay Sheth
Founder at LegalWiz.in and Hire4Higher Consulting
"For me, eChai is a second home. I've been associated with it since the early days, when it was already setting a different tone for how startup communities could work. As a traditional business owner entering the new-age D2C space, eChai supported me in every direction. Over the years, it became my window to the startup world — and also gave me lifelong friends who continue to show up, for business and beyond."
Pankaj Bhimani - Founder, 58miles
Pankaj Bhimani
Founder, 58miles
“You don’t plan to build a company via eChai. You just keep showing up … and one day, you realize you did.” I’ve known Jatin since 2012, when I was still deciding what kind of second innings I wanted to play as an entrepreneur. Over the years, through events, chai breaks, intros, and seemingly small conversations, eChai helped shape not just Upsquare but also refined the lens through which we see collaboration. At Upsquare, we’ve hired talent, met partners, discovered co-investors, and built lifelong friendships. One of our joint ventures exists today only because a casual eChai memory sparked a deeper trust. Now, as we build House of Starts — our venture builder — eChai continues to fuel our mission: co-creating a shared future. eChai isn’t just a startup network. It’s a trust network. And for business builders like me, that makes all the difference."
Utpal Vaishnav - Founder @ Upsquare & House of Starts • Angel Investor + LP
Utpal Vaishnav
Founder @ Upsquare & House of Starts • Angel Investor + LP

eChai Partner Brands

eChai Ventures partners with select brands as their growth partner - working together to explore new ideas, open doors, and build momentum across the startup ecosystem.