Digital Business: India - Speakers

Shantanu Bhagwat - Business Development Partner (Asia), Amadeus Capital Partners 

An engineer by training, Shantanu Bhagwat is a one-time diplomat turned-venture investor. These days he divides his time between UK and India, working with early stage start-ups and on ideas to improve political systems and governance in India. Over the last few years, he has spent a lot of time thinking about globalization, innovation and entrepreneurship across geographies and sectors, with a particular emphasis on India. He is a personal investor in start-ups in India and is closely involved in mentoring budding entrepreneurs.

In a career spanning two decades, Mr. Bhagwat has worked across geographies and industries, including several years in Japan and in the UK. Presently a Partner at a venture capital firm, Mr. Bhagwat has also worked at Monitor Co. in London. Prior to that, he spent several years as a fast-track career diplomat with the Indian Foreign Service, working in New Delhi and Tokyo.

He is a Charter Member of TiE - a global non-profit network of entrepreneurs and professionals. He also sits on the Advisory Board of Asia-Silicon Valley Connection and is a founder of India Venture Capital Interest Group in London.

Kevin McCole - COO, UK India Business Council

Kevin joined the UK India Business Council in December 2008, after 18 years with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. His most recent diplomatic posting was as Deputy Head of Mission and Director Trade and Investment for Eastern India, based in Kolkata. His previous postings were in The Netherlands, Malta, and Romania.

Chaitanya Iyengar - Managing Director, Cleanslate Communications

Chaitanya Iyengar has industry experience of over 11 years, with extensive experience in sales and distribution, marketing communications, brand management and advertising, digital communications, promotions and trade shows and business process outsourcing. He has held key positions in Marketing and Business Development in companies like Eveready Batteries Limited, Usha International Limited, Way2Wealth Securities Pvt Limited, Basil UK Limited etc and has contributed to the growth of these companies.

Originally from India, he has spent the past 3.5 years in the UK market in the business process outsourcing industry and helped set-up and build a BPO company catering to advertising agencies, digital agencies and publishers. He founded Cleanslate Communications, a brand and digital communications company, with presence in the United Kingdom and India in March 2008.

The core objective of the company is to provide business solutions and enable clients to build global brands. Cleanslate enables companies to define marketing objectives, identify new market opportunities, devise branding and digital strategies, design marketing collaterals, build websites, execute campaigns and assist in launching brands in international markets.

Harish Kohli - Founder, Awimaway

Harish Kohli is the founder of the online adventure-travel company AwimAway.com (based in London and Hampshire).

Throughout his youth, Harish developed a taste for adventure and ecology, and at 18 embarked on a career in the Indian Army- rising to the esteemed position of Lieutenant Colonel.

Harish is well known for his two world records. In 1980 Harish devised and led the ‘Trans-Himalaya Expedition'- the first ever traverse of the Himalayas. In 475 days he and his team covered 8,000 km on foot. After experiencing many brushes with death, avalanches, and an encounter with a snow leopard, the pioneering exploration of over 48 mountain passes finally finished at the Karakoram Pass on the north-western tip of the Himalaya.

Later, unable to hang up his snow-boots, Harish set himself a challenge verging on the impossible- to cross the Himalayas on skis. In 1995 the Ski-Himalaya Expedition was born and executed. With a team of the best high-altitude skiers (two from the British Army) and over a period of 97 days, Harish forged pathways through previously unknown territories of the Himalaya - traversing 2,000km.

Now based in Hampshire and London, Harish is the founder of AwimAway- an online eco-adventure travel company. With an ever-expanding alliance of partnerships from around the world, AwimAway have quickly become a reputable, trustworthy establishment.

Malini Mehra - Founder & CEO, Centre for Social Markets

Malini Mehra is the founder & CEO of the Centre for Social Markets, an India and UK-based non-profit promoting entrepreneurship, corporate and civic leadership on sustainable development and human rights.

A political scientist and gender specialist by training, Malini has worked on sustainability, development and human rights issues in all three sectors - civil society, business, and government - internationally in leadership positions for more than 20 years.

In February 2007, she was named an Asia 21 Young Leader by the Asia Society of the United States. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts, Commerce and Manufactures (RSA), the Remarque Foundation, and the British-American Project. She has served on numerous non-profit and international advisory boards, including Unilever, BHP Billiton and Fortis. She was also profiled in the ‘Person of the Year 2006' edition of TIME and FORTUNE magazines, and from 2003-4, she served as an Advisor to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

She also served as a writer & advisor on the United Nations' influential Human Development Reports on Democracy (2002) and Human Rights (2000) respectively. Her publications include Who's Who in Climate Change in India (2008); Who's Who in CSR in India: A Resource Guide (2006), Human Rights and Economic Globalisation: Directions for the WTO (1999) and Sustainable Development for Local Authorities (1997) among many others.

Malini speaks six global languages.

Was Rahman - CEO, Dolphin Advisory & ICT Sector Champion, UK Trade & Investment

Was Rahman is CEO and co-founder of Dolphin Advisory and an advisor to the UK Government on the Global IT Industry. He is an experienced entrepreneur, senior executive and author with over two decades' experience working with corporates, SMEs and startups. His current focus is on developing trade and investment in and between UK and India.

Was has held executive positions at leading global corporates including Accenture (where he set up the Telecoms and Change Management practices in Poland) and Infosys (serving on the EMEA Executive Council, with responsibility for Strategy and Internal Transformation).

Lucian Tarnowski - Owner, Brave New Talent & Board Member, UK India Business Council

Lucian Tarnowski, Founder and CEO of BraveNewTalent.com, is an active young entrepreneur in both the UK and India. He has been placed in the UK's top 5 up and coming entrepreneurs by Natwest and RBS and is the world's youngest entrepreneur to join the UKTI (UK Trade and Investment's) hugely successful Global Entrepreneur Program with BraveNewTalent.com being described by the UK Government as a "Technology company of Exceptional Potential".

Lucian has a long association with India, as a longstanding supporter of the work of Baba Amte. As a student he ran one of the UK's only entirely student run charities - Take Heart India. Lucian is passionate about youth leadership issues and has been heading up the search to find 1500 leaders of tomorrow from 192 countries for an initiative called One Young World. Finally, he is a youth advisor for Next Generation India on the Board of the UK India Business Council. BraveNewTalent.com has an office in Mumbai.

Murly Tiwari - Managing Director & Co-Founder, Indoor Media

Murly Tiwari is Managing Director and co-founder of Indoor Media, a UK based specialist online media sales house representing over 300 international websites that allow advertisers and agencies to targeting ethnic minority groups globally. Reaching over 1.5 million unique users in the UK, 12 million unique users in India and 6 million unique users in China.

Prior to starting Indoor Media, Murly held senior roles at 24/7 Real Media, Adtech, Redeye and Universal McCann. He is a 25 year media veteran and started his career sending out blue and green books while at AGB.

Dr Shefaly Yogendra - Strategy Consultant

Dr Shefaly Yogendra specialises in identifying and delivering
strategic value in highly regulated, technology driven industries. She is knowledgeable in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and TMT sectors, and has special expertise in India. Shefaly worked in corporate venturing in Europe and India with HCL Technologies, a leading Indian IT services group, starting 1994. Since 2000, she has advised investors and businesses on their strategic challenges. Currently, she is helping British investors in India with their investment decisions and cultural translation. Her recent projects have included due diligence on Indian funds, portfolios and leadership, leading to over £150M of investment; 360° reports on biotechnology firms including executive reputation, competitive assessment, pipeline review, investment prospects; and India entry advisory for British technology firms.

Shefaly trained as an electronics engineer and obtained her MBA at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad in India. She read
technology policy for a Master's degree and continued to a PhD in decision making at the University of Cambridge in the UK. She has also been a Research Fellow in MIT in Cambridge, USA.