Changemakers build pathways that enable others to dream bigger.
As India charts its path toward a Viksit Bharat, its progress beyond policy or capital access, will be shaped by individuals who solve for hard problems, build enduring institutions, and create opportunities at scale. These are individuals who are expanding what India is capable of and whose impact continues to compound across generations.
Professor Ashok Jhunjhunwala is a Changemaker. His recent book ‘Roots and Wings,’ captures the essence of his life dedicated to lofty goals and in service of others to achieve audacious goals. An inspiring read, I would highly recommend it. I’ve had the privilege of knowing him for over two decades and now have the even greater privilege of working with him, as he joins Kalaari as an advisor.
Called the ‘Doyen of Deep Tech’ by Forbes, Padma Shri Dr. Ashok Jhunjhunwala is the man who built the backbone of India’s technological future — quietly, relentlessly, and entirely on his own terms. I had the chance to interview him for our ‘Changemakers’ series.
I have much to learn from Professor Jhunjhunwala’s journey, and here are excerpts from my interaction with him.
Watch Changemakers here.
AI as a concept can be traced back to the 1950s, though in the last couple of years it has reached a tipping point of dominating every workstream and every conversation. It reminds also of similar euphoria in the 90s on the advent of the Internet. No doubt AI will transform everything about how we live and work and interact with each other. And as a venture capitalist, I see this technology mature as an opportunity of 2-3 decades of innovation cycle, built on cascading advancements.
Building a deeptech company is not the work of years - it is the work of decades. It requires patience when outcomes are uncertain, endurance when progress feels slow, and an unwavering belief in the power of innovation to transform. These are values that have deeply influenced us at Kalaari as we continue to back founders building for the long term, often in categories where conviction must precede certainty.
Portfolio Spotlight
India will add millions of engineers to its workforce over the next decade. The harder question is whether they’ll be ready for the jobs that actually exist or the ones that are still being invented. byteXL is working on that gap directly, partnering with engineering colleges to rebuild how students are prepared for an industry that now moves faster than any curriculum can keep up with. The opportunity is enormous. So is the responsibility.
We partnered with byteXL at the seed stage in 2024.
India’s internet users wanted more than content, they wanted to be part of it. Eloelo recognized this early, creating interactive experiences around the languages and cultural touchpoints Indians know best. What Saurabh Pandey brought to us was more than a product thesis: it was a clear-eyed read on how a country of 450 million smartphone users actually want to spend their time. About 105 million users and 20,000+ earning creators later, that early conviction has compounded into something remarkable.
We partnered with Eloelo at the Series A stage in 2022.
Space is rapidly becoming a critical domain for security, intelligence, and strategic decision-making. As the number of satellites and orbital assets grows, understanding what is happening in space and responding in real time has never been more important. Digantara is building the infrastructure to make that possible. By combining space-based surveillance, ground sensor networks, and AI-driven analytics, the company is helping governments, defence agencies, and enterprises turn complex orbital activity into actionable intelligence.
We partnered with Digantara at the seed stage in 2021.
The Hindsight
Most companies look obvious once they’ve won. The interesting part is always earlier, the moment before the insight was proven, when it was still just a bet.
Jar’s bet was that the savings problem in India wasn’t about awareness or intent. It was about habit. That reframe changed everything about how the product was built and how it grew. In this episode of The Hindsight, Vani sits down with Nishchay Ag, Co-Founder & CEO, to get into the early mechanics what they got right, what they had to unlearn, and the decisions that shaped the company long before the numbers made the story easy to tell.
The Hindsight explores the unseen journey behind building companies, the early decisions, wedges, and experiments that shape businesses long before success feels inevitable.
#KalaariFamily
We’re welcoming new Venture Partners to Kalaari.
Balachandar N has spent over three decades at the intersection of people, leadership, and organizational scale with stints at Ola Electric and GE Healthcare among others. At Kalaari, he’ll work with the team on leadership frameworks, decision-making structures, and the organizational clarity that lets ambitious companies grow without losing themselves.
Naresh Nagarajan has built and scaled businesses across the US, Asia Pacific, and India as a founder, operator, and investor with leadership stints at Cognizant and HCLTech among others. His focus at Kalaari will be on helping portfolio founders navigate the 0→1 and 1→10 journeys, particularly in frontier technology and AI-native businesses building from India for the world.
Rajashree R joins Kalaari as Venture Partner, bringing decades of experience across business and technology transformation, product and platform building, global marketing, and brand stewardship. Her career spans leadership roles at organizations including the Mahindra Group and TCS, where she worked at the forefront of digital transformation and business growth across global markets. Her addition reflects Kalaari’s continued commitment to strengthening the ecosystem that will shape India’s future as a product and innovation nation.
We Recommend
Subscribing to DeepTech Dispatch, Kalaari’s newsletter that spotlights the technologies and opportunities shaping India’s deeptech future. With five editions in, it is the sharpest read on where India is building hard things, and where the next decade of value is being written.
If this is a space you are tracking, building in, or keen to understand better.
Venture Forward is Kalaari’s quarterly newsletter that shares our portfolio wins, updates, our latest reports and what’s new in the past 3 months.