Founder & CEO

Harish is a seasoned technology entrepreneur and investor who founded Smile Group in 1999 and has spent over 25 years building and backing some of Asia's most influential internet businesses. An early pioneer of India's digital and internet industry and a driving force behind Asia's digital transformation, he co-founded ventures including Quasar, sold to WPP, and SVG Media, sold to Dentsu Aegis. Over the decades, he has facilitated market entry for global technology companies across Asia and Africa, partnering with Airbnb, Snapchat, Yahoo, Ogilvy, and WPP to establish and scale their presence across the region, and co-founding Airseva as Airbnb's India-based global capability centre. Through Smile Capital, he has backed a portfolio of category-defining global companies spanning consumer internet and software, including Anthropic, SpaceX, Lyft, Rapido, Animoca Brands, and Carsome, and maintains deep ties with Silicon Valley's technology and investment ecosystem through venture partner and advisory roles at WestCap, Tomales Bay Capital, and others. He sits on the boards of Smile Group's most successful venture builds including Tyroo, Zupee, and SingleInterface. A technologist and entrepreneur at heart, Harish holds a BTech in Computer Science from SDM College of Engineering and Technology.

Managing Partner, HealthTech

Gagan joined in 2025 to lead Smile's HealthTech Venture Builder, building ventures at the intersection of clinical need and commercial reality. He focuses on building Smile's strategy in healthcare technology and services, working from inception in a sector where regulation, procurement, and clinical adoption set the pace. He brings 25 years of pharmaceutical leadership to that work, running growth strategy across India, Africa, and international markets, including a turnaround at AstraZeneca India that tripled market capitalisation to $1 billion. He has partnered with the India-Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre, worked with IIT Kanpur on dementia care innovation, and backs early-stage ventures in acute coronary syndrome and lung cancer.

Managing Partner, Group Operations

Gopikaa joined Smile as an intern in 2001 and over her twenty-five year tenure, has helped shift Smile from building ventures one at a time into a technology investor and operator with a repeatable platform behind it. In addition to building the firm, Gopikaa specializes in marketing, advertising and technology, with a growing focus on AI. She co-founded Quasar, one of India's pioneering digital agencies, and Prodigi, a production company built with WPP, which she led through its acquisition by Hogarth Worldwide. As CEO of Hogarth India for seven years, she scaled the operation from 80 to 300 people, serving global brands across 120 markets.

Managing Partner, Venture Building

A digital media and internet specialist, Manish has spent over two decades building companies at Smile. He leads Smile's Venture Builder, working with founders from day one as a mentor and guide, from first idea through to scale. He has built and exited several businesses , including SVG Media, acquired by Dentsu Aegis. His expertise sits in consumer internet, with a growing bias towards consumer AI. He founded Kabadibazaar.com, India's first digital classifieds platform. He is also the author of Brick by Brick, a memoir of his entrepreneurial journey published by Penguin.

Managing Partner, Global Gateway Capital

Dan joined in 2026 as a Partner in Global Gateway Capital, backing companies expanding into Asia as part of Smile's Market Entry platform. He brings three decades of scaling consumer, media and digital platforms to founders entering new markets and building to stay. He spent twelve years as Meta's Vice President for Asia Pacific, building the business across the region from a single Singapore office. Earlier roles ran through market development at Skype, emerging markets at eBay, and consumer goods leadership in Greater China. He sits on the boards of Flipkart, ShopBack and the Singapore Tourism Board.

Partner, Longevity

Nort leads Smile's Longevity Venture Builder as CEO of The Longevity Suite Asia. In 2023, he brought Europe's leading longevity and biohacking network into Singapore and the wider region. He sits at the centre of the longevity, wellness and biohealth conversation across Asia. He has extensive experience in consumer technology, built over two decades of founding, scaling and exiting businesses. He founded Beauty Brains, an AI-driven marketing platform for beauty brands, and LatestinBeauty.com, which he grew to five million customers and 800 brand partners.

Partner, China

Grace joined in 2026 to build Smile's China thesis and corridor. Her remit spans investment brokerage, complex transaction execution, and market entry structuring. She founded Alpana Partners, a Singapore-based advisory firm specialising in AI-focused M&A and cross-border deals. A Kauffman Fellow, Grace brings nearly 20 years as a cross-border dealmaker, originating and structuring M&A, joint ventures, partnerships, and growth financings across corporate technology, venture capital, and her own consumer ventures in Southeast Asia.

Venture Partner

Ahmed is part of Smile's Venture Partner network, supporting founders and executive teams building enterprise technology and services businesses across Asia. He is founder and CEO of kAIgentic, an intelligence layer for enterprise AI agents. He spent five years as President of Microsoft Asia, leading a business across 20 countries, and two decades before that at GE and Genpact, ending as Chief Growth Officer. His operating experience spans setting up delivery centres from 0 to running a 30,000-person regional business.

Venture Partner

JJ runs Rainforest, the Singapore e-commerce brand aggregator he co-founded in 2020. He advises Smile Group on consumer and commerce businesses across Southeast Asia. He spent a decade scaling global platforms in Asia, joining Airbnb as its first employee in Southeast Asia and later running international expansion at a regional classifieds marketplace he helped scale from pre-revenue. He began in management consulting and invests as an angel across the region.

Venture Partner, Mobility

Kunal is a Venture Partner at Smile, with a focus on mobility and the EV ecosystem. He invests at seed stage in shared and electric mobility, smart vehicles, logistics and digital auto, and sits on the boards of category-definers such as Rapido, Smartivity and Moonrider. He has spent over two decades across entrepreneurship, consulting, private equity and venture capital. He identified shared mobility early in India and has participated in the ecosystem’s most significant bets.

Venture Partner, AI

Aakrit is part of Smile's Venture Partner network, supporting founders building AI companies. He leads Activate, India's first venture capital fund purpose-built for AI, backing technical founders at inception in markets AI will create or rebuild. He co-founded Haptik, one of India's earliest conversational AI companies, scaling it to over 100 million devices before its acquisition by Reliance Jio. He later advised the Government of India full-time on the National AI Mission, helping architect the country's sovereign LLM policy. Aakrit holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Venture Partner, AI

Pratyush is part of Smile's Venture Partner network and leads Activate, India's first venture capital fund built for sovereign AI. He works with technical founders from the earliest stages, and has built two of Asia Pacific's largest generative AI communities, reaching over 15,000 people. An IITian who has achieved a great deal despite his youth, he brings that energy to every company he backs, spending his time hands-on with AI practitioners across India. Before Activate he invested out of an enterprise software fund, backing early companies in data privacy, developer tooling and security.

Partner, Venture Building

Ramit brings a rare combination of technology, investment banking, and venture capital experience, having spent his early career at D.E. Shaw, Avendus Capital, Mitsui & Co., and Nirvana Venture Advisors, backing and transacting across some of India’s most consequential early-stage technology companies including Shiprocket, Housing, and Zopper, and closing landmark M&A transactions in the Indian technology ecosystem. At Smile Group, he focuses on investments and corporate development across the portfolio, working closely with ventures including Zupee, SingleInterface, and Tyroo, and partnering with founders across the venture building ecosystem. Ramit holds an MBA from IIM Bangalore.

Investment Director

Terence spent over a decade at Vickers Venture Partners in Singapore, working closely with the investment committee on deal sourcing, due diligence, portfolio strategy, and managing IPO exits, including time with Vickers' Shanghai office gaining direct exposure to the Chinese technology ecosystem. He has also served as a Committee Member of the Singapore Venture Capital and Private Equity Association. Since joining Smile Group, he has worked closely on investments including SpaceX, SingleInterface, Zupee, and Swiggy across their growth journeys. Terence holds a CFA charter and a double degree in Finance and Economics from Singapore Management University.

GTM Expert, China

Malena splits her time between Singapore and China, running Tyroo's Greater China business and turning marketing spend into revenue for Chinese brands. She joined in 2023 to launch the Commission Junction partnership in Asia. Before Smile, she built a research business unit from the ground up across six Southeast Asian markets, then led revenue and product partnerships there. She came to that from entrepreneurship; she founded and ran her own company for five years, scaling it to seven-figure revenue and a team across APAC before its acquisition.

Director, Technology

Vaibhav is CTO and co-founder of Tyroo. He leads engineering and product for the advertising technology platform behind the business, building the infrastructure that runs performance and commerce marketing for brands across Asia Pacific. He came to Smile from more than a decade in mobile advertising, content delivery and enterprise technology services, working across solution architecture, sales engineering and product. He has co-founded ventures alongside his operating roles, including one of India's earliest startup communities in Bangalore.

Director, Finance

Ghazal has a decade of finance leadership, building her foundation in statutory audit and taxation at KPMG and ITC, before spending six years at Urban Company, rising to Associate Vice President of Finance and driving financial oversight, process optimisation, and data-driven decision making. Prior to joining the Smile ecosystem, she served as Finance Lead at Probo, a Tiger Global and Accel-backed opinion trading platform, leading analysis, reporting, and process optimisation to enhance financial performance. Ghazal is a Chartered Accountant and Company Secretary, and holds a BCom and MCom in Business Administration from Mohanlal Sukhadia University.

Smriti built nearly a decade of client services and digital marketing leadership at WPP's Hogarth Worldwide, rising to AVP and serving as Digital Lead for India, with key accounts including Coca-Cola, BMW, Unilever, and Bose, and a focus on content strategy, production automation, and e-commerce implementation. At The Longevity Suite Asia, she leads digital marketing and technology strategy, driving the brand's digital presence, content, and marketing operations as the platform expands across Asia. Smriti holds an MSc in International Business from Lancaster University and a BBA from Amity University.

Mayank built his early career across Procter & Gamble and McKinsey before moving into high-growth technology companies, holding product and business leadership roles at Uber and Paytm across India. A serial founder and investor, he co-founded Skeps, an Accel-backed blockchain-based consumer lending platform serving financial institutions in the US, and built SanKash into India's largest B2B travel fintech, before turning his focus to early-stage investing as a Venture Partner at Antler, backing pre-seed fintech and AI startups across India. He holds a PGP in Finance and Marketing from the Indian School of Business and a BTech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur.

Fund Operations

Rajkumar has been anchoring Smile Group's finance and accounts function for nearly two decades, developing deep expertise across financial management, investment oversight, taxation, compliance, and audit across the group's diverse entities and ventures. A trusted pillar of the finance team, he has played a central role in maintaining financial accuracy and rigour through multiple phases of Smile Group's growth, supporting due diligence processes and ensuring regulatory and compliance standards are upheld as the group continues to scale.

Sunil has been part of Smile Group's finance and accounts function for over 15 years, ensuring the financial rigour and operational precision that underpins day-to-day functioning across entities and ventures. Over the course of his tenure, he has built deep familiarity with Smile's financial landscape, managing accounts, supporting reporting cycles, and maintaining the consistency and accuracy that a multi-entity operation demands.

Tushar began his career in risk advisory at KPMG before moving into investment roles across Venture Catalysts, ICICI Bank, and PeerCapital, where he spent three years sourcing, evaluating, and supporting early-stage startups across fintech, healthtech, and consumer tech. At Smile Group, he focuses on early-stage investments and venture building, working closely with portfolio companies including HiAstro, Leeco, and Sign3 from inception on. Tushar holds an MBA in Finance from NMIMS and a BA in Economics from Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, University of Delhi.

Executive Operations

Shalini brings over three decades of senior executive operations and administration experience, beginning as Executive Assistant to the CEO at Apollo Tyres, followed by eleven years at Quatrro and a consulting stint at Stratemis HR Technologies, alongside varied entrepreneurial experience in India and the US across her career. At Smile Group, she leads efforts in coordinating company resources, building cross-functional professional relationships, and overseeing day-to-day operations, project management, event planning, and team support across the group's India and Singapore offices.

Information Technology

Ram built his career as a hardware, network, and systems engineer across New Delhi Data Point, Cybernet Computer Consultants, and TCMS India, developing deep expertise in Windows server environments, network architecture, and systems administration. He has been part of Smile Group's technology function for nearly 15 years, maintaining and supporting the infrastructure that keeps operations running. Ram holds a BA from Magadh University.

Marketing & Communications

Garima built her early career across sales and content strategy in the edtech and software industries before turning her focus to brand and communications. At Smile Group, she leads marketing and communications across Venture Builder, Market Entry, and Smile Capital arms, spanning brand, content, website, and events. Garima holds a BSBA from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.

Founder & CEO, Tyroo

Siddharth co-founded Tyroo and has spent over 15 years building and scaling internet and technology businesses across Asia, playing a pivotal role in establishing performance marketing as a mainstream channel in India and bringing platforms including Snapchat and Twitter into the Indian market from a monetisation standpoint. Under his leadership, Tyroo has grown into one of the region's dominant adtech platforms, leading the affiliate business across India and the Middle East while expanding into SaaS and market-entry partnerships for global technology companies. Siddharth holds a BS in Computer Science from La Trobe University.

Founder & CEO, SingleInterface

Tarun spent over two decades in digital media and ad sales, beginning at Mid Day and WorldTel Sports before holding Director roles at Rediff.com and AOL, where he built the company's entire India sales function from the ground up. He went on to co-found Deals and You, which became India's largest daily deals platform within a year of launch, before founding SingleInterface, now India's leading hyperlocal marketing-to-commerce SaaS platform for multi-location enterprise brands, having raised $30 million led by Asia Partners with participation from PayPal Ventures. Tarun holds a BCom in Accounts from the University of Mumbai.

COO, SingleInterface

Sandeep co-founded Quasar, one of India's pioneering digital marketing agencies acquired by WPP, before co-founding FREECULTR, a Sequoia-backed omnichannel apparel brand, and leading marketing at Bira 91 across India and the Middle East, with early career roots at Rediff.com. At SingleInterface, he oversees operations and go-to-market strategy for one of Asia's leading retail tech platforms, helping over 400 enterprise brands digitise and grow their physical store presence across India and Southeast Asia. Sandeep holds an MBA in Advertising and Communication from Symbiosis International University and a BCom in Economics from University of Delhi.

Founder & CEO, Zupee

Dilsher co-founded Zupee in 2018 straight out of college, scaling it into one of India's fastest-growing gaming companies with over 130 million users, $122 million in funding from investors including Matrix Partners and WestCap, and a valuation exceeding $600 million within five years. Under his leadership, Zupee has expanded beyond casual gaming through strategic acquisitions including AI storytelling startup Nucanon, and launched new verticals including Zupee Studio. He was featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list in 2021 in the Consumer Technology category. Dilsher holds a BTech in Chemical Engineering from IIT Kanpur.

Founder & Chief Data Scientist, Sign3

Amit is a data science leader with over nine years of experience in machine learning, financial fraud analytics, and large-scale data systems, having built and deployed production-grade ML models across risk, personalisation, and fraud use cases at Goldman Sachs, Flipkart, and Zupee. He co-founded Sign3, a Cedar Hill Capital-backed AI-native fraud intelligence platform serving over 20 banks, fintechs, and marketplaces, where he leads AI and ML strategy and architects real-time fraud detection systems powered by device intelligence, behavioural biometrics, and alternative data signals. Amit holds a BTech in Information Technology from NIT Kurukshetra.

Founder, HiAstro

Aman spent four years at JPMorgan in London building asset management technology, followed by a product role at Microsoft in Dublin working on large-scale generative AI systems. He leveraged this expertise to found HiAstro, a GSF-backed AI-native platform combining Vedic astrology and generative AI to deliver personalised life guidance across relationships, career, finance, and everyday decisions, now serving two million users across 100+ cities, and recognised among the Top 100 AI Startups in India by Zinnov. Aman holds an MBA from INSEAD.