Board of Directors

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Steve Hardgrave, Wholetime Director and Executive Vice Chairman

Prior to launching Varthana Finance Private Limited, Steve was a Senior Managing Director at Gray Ghost Ventures, which invests in early-stage social purpose businesses. There, he conceptualized and incubated the Indian School Finance Company. Steve began his career working with ‘at-risk youth’ and ‘marginalized communities’ in Los Angeles while in university. He later worked with a community foundation in Mexico, where he launched his own successful microfinance institution. After seven years in Mexico, he pursued an MBA at the prestigious Haas Business School at the University of California, Berkeley, to strengthen his entrepreneurial and investment skills. He then joined the nascent impact investment community as one of the first Investment Managers at Omidyar Network’s “Financial Inclusion” initiative, before joining Gray Ghost Ventures. In 2012, Steve left Gray Ghost and moved from the US to India to set up Varthana.

Brajesh Mishra, Managing Director and CEO

Brajesh has nearly two decades of experience in financial services with one of the largest banks in India – ICICI Bank – in retail banking, automotive finance, rural and agri-lending. Brajesh left ICICI to join ISFC, India’s only other specialist school finance company, where he held COO and CEO roles and was instrumental in implementing credit processes, product diversification, and fundraising.

Nandita Ganapathy, Nominee Director

Nandita has 20 years of experience in financial services, working with global and Indian financial institutions such as ICICI Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, and Northern Arc Capital. She also served on the Board of Northern Arc Investments – a leading impact alternate investment fund that facilitates debt investments in the financial inclusion sector. Nandita joined Kaizenvest as a Partner in 2021. Before that, she spent nine years at Northern Arc Capital, India's leading financial inclusion-focused lender and debt capital market platform. At Northern Arc, she held various leadership roles, including Head of Capital Markets, Chief Officer of Strategic Alliances, and Chief Financial Officer. Under her leadership, the placements and debt syndication business grew by over 10 times in six years. She successfully built and scaled partnerships with over 150 investors, including large multilateral agencies, development finance institutions (DFIs), and domestic investors such as public and private sector banks, mutual funds, and insurance companies. Through her work with regulators, intermediaries, and investors, she has contributed to deepening the market and improving access to capital for financially excluded borrowers in sectors such as microfinance, affordable housing, small business finance, vehicle finance, and agri finance. Nandita is a qualified Chartered Accountant and has a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from Mumbai University.

Ankit Singhal, Nominee Director

Ankit has nearly 13 years of experience working with distinguished organizations (such as Royal Dutch Shell, KPMG, GIC – Sovereign wealth fund of Singapore and currently ChrysCapital). He specializes in private equity investing, with a focus on financial services and fintech. At GIC, he led financial services coverage for the Private Equity team in India and helped deploy over $1.5 billion in equity capital across nine deals, achieving a strong track record. At ChrysCapital, Ankit leads the financial services sector investment vertical. He graduated with a B-Tech degree(Hons.) in Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering from IIT Kharagpur in 2007 with a strong academic track record of 9.0 GPA, out of 10.0 placing him within the top 20 rank out of 335 students of the B-tech batch. He received an MBA from IIM Bangalore in 2011 with an excellent GPA of 3.54 out of 4, placing him with a 12th rank out of 353 students. He has cleared all levels of the CFA and CAIA (US affiliated) degree examinations.

Brahmanand Hegde, Independent Director

Brahmanand Hegde co-founded Vistaar Finance, an NBFC focused on micro, small, and medium (MSME) business financing, in 2010. He led the company and built a Rs.3000+ crore portfolio size. With a career spanning over 30 years before Vistaar, he worked with Bank of Maharashtra, ICICI Group, and Fullerton India Ltd. At ICICI, he established the agri and rural business financing vertical from scratch, growing the rural portfolio to ₹8,000+ crore within seven years, covering microfinance (MFIs), farmer finance, warehouse receipt finance, and more. During his short stint of 2.5 years with Fullerton India, he was responsible for piloting an innovative rural finance model including Microfinance, livelihood finance, MSMEs, and rural housing.

Gaurav Malhotra, Nominee Director/ Investor Director

Gaurav Malhotra is a seasoned investing and consulting professional with over 20 years of experience in financial services, specializing in equity and debt investments, business and portfolio strategy, M&A, and organizational transformation.

Gaurav joined Lightrock in August 2025. Prior to Lightrock, he led the Financial Services Equity business at BII and previously served as a Principal at BCG in India and as the Head of Corporate Strategy at Escorts Limited.

He holds a BEng in Engineering from the Delhi College of Engineering and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore.

Ravindra Babu Garikipati, Independent Director

Mr. Ravi is a seasoned technology leader and entrepreneur with over 35 years of experience leading and building scalable businesses in both India and Silicon Valley, driven by technology.

He recently founded Davinta, a fintech startup focused on financial inclusion at the bottom of the pyramid, with a vision to build a digital-first platform that delivers microlending and microinsurance to the last mile.

As CTO at Flipkart, he led a highly talented team spanning Product Management, Engineering, Design and User Research, and Data Science, and executed the technology vision, strategy, and roadmap to democratize commerce through technology for hundreds of millions of Indians at scale.

Prior to Flipkart, he was President and Chief Technology Officer at 247.ai, a Silicon Valley AI/enterprise company, where he led global product and technology teams to build an omni-channel and multi-modal customer acquisition and engagement platform powered by AI.

He also serves on the boards of several companies in the financial services, edtech, and insurance domains, and actively invests in and advises startups in both India and the United States.

Nilufer Mullanfiroze, Independent Director

Ms. Nilufer Panthaki (also known as Nilufer Mullanfiroze) has extensive leadership experience across banks, NBFCs, and startups. She has honed her expertise in strategic product development, monetization strategies, growth initiatives, risk management, and corporate governance. Her career has been marked by a proven ability to build and lead cross-functional teams within diverse organizational cultures, driving results through strong governance and a relentless focus on sustainable growth.

She champions a customer-first approach and embraces a digital-by-design philosophy, ensuring businesses remain agile and adaptable to modern customer demands while staying ahead of evolving regulatory frameworks. Her expertise lies in building enterprises that excel in customer-centricity, maintain profitability, and ensure compliance in complex regulatory landscapes.

As a strategic leader with a strong track record in growth and risk oversight, she is well-positioned to contribute to board governance and strategic decision-making.