This year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list recognizes three alumni who are forging new frontiers across finance and technology. This prestigious honor is awarded to the brightest and most innovative movers, shakers, and doers across all industries. Here are three who got their start with our Firm.
FINANCE AND VENTURE CAPITAL
Aniket Damle (MUMF 16-17)
Principal, Private Equity at Blackstone
Aniket oversees central investments in India’s healthcare, consumer, and industrial sectors with Blackstone’s private equity investment team. At 23, he closed his first deal, helping Blackstone generate the EV focused technology platform company Sona Comstar, which is now one of India’s leading automotive tech companies. This past year, Aniket led the charge in an IBS Software exit for $450 million. He managed this sale of this global solutions provider to the travel industry, despite the difficult environment for tech sector deals.
Beyond investing, he mentors students at his alma mater, the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay.
ENTERPRISE TECH
Priy Ranjan (GNG 18-20)
Co-founder, Shopflo
Priy is one of three co-founders of Shopflo, a software company which helps streamline checkouts for 500 plus smaller e-commerce brands. This product’s features include secure, password-free login, as well as the auto-population of shopper information, a customized user interface, and personalized promotional campaigns. Bengaluru-based Shopflo has earned $3.7 million in total funding from investors such as Better Capital, Tiger Global, and TQ Ventures. Whether through improving one’s average order value, increasing their prepaid share, or generating better conversions, Shopflo—with Priy at the helm—has made great strides in modernizing checkouts for direct-to-consumer brands.
“I am proud of my team of 40 young people, most of whom are building and scaling a product for the first time,” says Priy. “They were able to take the company from 0 to 500 customers in 2.5 years, helping several small businesses offer the same experience as Amazon / Walmart on their websites.” He adds, “[Being included on the list] is a reminder to look back and be grateful to have an opportunity to build a business and an institution. We tend to get lost sometimes in the day-to-day hustle.”
CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY
Vidya Madhavan (MUME 15-17)
Co-founder, Schmooze
Vidya is one of two co-founders at Schmooze, a dating company rooted in meme-based culture. Launched in 2021, Schmooze established itself as the world’s first meme-based dating app, meaning that users swipe left or right on memes rather than people. If a pair has similar taste in memes, their profiles are then made available to each other. Currently, the app has over 600,000 downloads, 150 million meme interactions, and 48,000 successful dates.
Vidya says, “Since our launch in India, we’ve grown faster than Bumble. Schmooze even got a mention on a top American TV show—“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
Vidya adds that she is excited to enhance the interacting and dating experience for Gen Z’s via Memes and AI, mentioning that “While the day-to-day startup grind goes on, this is a recognition of the efforts of all the members of the Schmooze team.” She concludes, “I’m glad that we’ve all got a reason to celebrate.”