Harshal Pathak
Early Stage Investor at Plug and Play Tech
About
I am Harshal Pathak, a venture capital investor at Plug and Play.
With a background as the founder of Florage (acquired by MIT IBM Watson AI Labs) and an MBA + MS degrees in business and economics from Mumbai and York, I bring a combination of investment expertise and entrepreneurial experience.I focus on empowering innovative startups across various sectors, helping transform promising ideas into successful businesses. If you are a founder with a vision to make a significant impact, let's explore how we can achieve that together.
Contact
Feel free to reach out to me
Thank you
You will be hearing from me shortly, See you soon!
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Hi Dawn, Bola and the Plug and Play Edmonton team,
Hope you all are well,
Here's why I am a great fit for the Venture Analyst role
1) Worked at the intersection of VC Investment (Sourcing, Due Diligence and execution) X Client and investor relations X Data Science X Portfolio Advising X Corporate VC matching.
As a Senior Investment Analyst at Specter Labs OU, I sourced, performed due diligence, conducted comprehensive analyses covering 45,000 startups. Presented investment memos to top clients, establishing strong relationships with Kleiner Perkins, Founders Fund, TCG, Gradient Ventures, Coca-Cola, KPMG, Y-Combinator etc. My role involved working collaboratively with the investment team to identify opportunities for equity as well as non-equity funding and end-to-end transaction executions for Specter VC as well as Corporate VC.
Notable achievements: Funded 2 Unicorns: Zepto & Ada ($1.4B & $1.2B)2) Wide experience in an array of venture capital arenas:
Non-dilutive and equity capital raising, Angel investment support, sourcing, due diligence, deal execution, Venture Fundraising experience, and a builder at heart (3x founder) with a Founder-first approach.3) As a Partner, Venture Scout at Lvlup Ventures and Merchant Growth
I sourced and evaluated 100+ startups, resulting in $250k equity investment. I also implemented a pipeline for a 25% increase in non-equity funding ($750k commitments) and provided strategic guidance on fundraising, sales, and business development.4) Proven track record in sourcing high-quality companies
Rapido [$830M valuation], Zepto [$1.4B valuation], Nothing Tech [~$900M valuation] in its early stages. Can spot and work with the best founder talents worldwide, who bring a strong value proposition.
As a Venture Scout at ClearCo and OpenScout.VC, I sourced and analyzed 150 startups, resulting in up to $80M in funding offers and a 40% increase in deal flow. I sourced 31 high-growth startups with a 45% success rate in fundraising and added two unicorns to the portfolio. My expertise in startup analysis and sourcing led to strong fundraising outcomes and high-growth portfolio additions.5) Innovative attitude with 'do whatever it takes' approach.
Founded and got Acquired to MIT Labs OU. I led a cross-functional team of five international members to create the sustainable packaging startup Florage. I invented a packaging model, and ESG SaaS that reduces 70% floral waste and 9% deforestation, successfully demonstrated, and secured funding from top investors, including Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and IE. Exited to MIT Labs6) York University's - Valedictorian7) University of Mumbai's: MBA Gold Medalist: Ranked 1st amongst 1680 colleges.