Our speakers
Keshav Baljee, Founder & CEO, ZiP Rooms
Keshav is a Co-Promoter of BSE / NSE listed Royal Orchid Hotels Limited and the founder of Spree Hospitality. His pedigree in hospitality and technology led him to launch Zip Rooms in 2015.
Keshav is an alumnus of the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, the Engineering School (Computer Engineering), University of Pennsylvania. He was enrolled in the Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology, and was a Joseph Wharton Scholar. He subsequently did an MBA at the Indian School of Business (ISB, Hyderabad).
@keshav555
Keshav Baljee, President, Royal Orchid Hotels Ltd
Keshav Baljee is currently President of Royal Orchid Hotels Limited. He is deeply involved in driving the expansion process of the group, to achieve its immediate goal of a pan-India presence by 2010. He not only designed the group’s ambitious expansion strategy, he is also instrumental in turning the group into a hotel development company from an operating one. His involvement in expansion extends to include evaluating and selecting from the funding sources in the market. His role in the company diversified when he recently took on the role of directing various PR, HR and marketing initiatives within the organization.
An alumnus of the Wharton School, USA and the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, Keshav has a strong academic background in finance and corporate strategy. He has a background as an Investment Banker, and has worked with Lehman Brothers and UBS in the mergers and acquisitions department prior to returning to India.
Ketan Doshi, MD, Pay Point India Network Ltd
Mr. Ketan Doshi, Managing Director of Pay Point India Network is a first generation entrepreneur who has set up several companies. After completing his Masters in Financial Services Management, he founded Win Win Securities Pvt. Ltd. in the year 2000 at the young age of 25. This company provides comprehensive investment solutions ranging from Financial Planning, investment advice and facilitating investments in Equity, Mutual Funds, Insurance, Wealth and Portfolio Management for senior management of large Indian enterprises. The clientele of Win Win included some of India’s best known HNIs. The company is now run by a team of professionals.
In 2005, he founded a pre-school in association with Kidzee, acknowledged as the best franchisee in Western Zone of India. This is also now run entirely by professionals.
This first generation entrepreneur’s obsession with the financial sector and providing unmatched service levels led him to found Pay Point India Network in 2008. The company is a provider of online payment solutions and a business correspondent to India’s leading banks. The prepaid payment instrument service provider has now applied for a Payments Banking License.
Headquartered in Mumbai, the company has an electronically connected distribution network of 12000+ Customer Service Points across India. The company offers services under four main verticals: financial products, utility payments, recharges, and bookings. Over 60 service providers including leading names like State Bank of India, IRCTC, Reliance Energy, BSNL, MTNL, BMC, Tata Sky, Dish TV, Indigo have partnered with the company. Complemented by a robust infrastructure and customer centric approach, the company’s strong & professional team has served over 18 million satisfied customers.
Ketan Kapoor, Co-founder & CEO, Mettl
Ketan holds an Engineering degree from IIT- Roorkee (1997-2001) and an MBA from IIM Calcutta (2002-2004). Before co-founding Mettl, Ketan led the marketing division at Isango, helping turn the start-up into one of the world's premier sellers of tours, trips & activities. He was also instrumental in setting up the eco-system for India's first mobile payment & transaction platform in Indepay networks. As CEO, Ketan brings a wealth of focus, drive and energy to the Mettl team.
Ketan Patel, CEO, Mswipe
In his role as Head-E-Commerce, Ketan is in charge of setting up a dedicated vertical for the fast growing e-commerce business out of Corporate Banking Vertical.
Ketan started his career in 2000 with Kotak. He was part of Kotak Securities for 2 years as Head, Gujarat Region, India for Online Trading. After 3 years with Kotak Securities he was transferred to Kotak Mahindra Bank in October 2003. He was part of the mortgages team and headed the western region.
Subsequently, in May 2008, he was transferred to Kotak Wealth Management, the Private Banking arm of Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd., where he assumed the role as Team Head focusing on NRI Business.
In 2010, he moved to UK to set up the Private Banking Business for Kotak Group and was heading it till March 2015. He has moved across continents post that to expand the business. Ketan holds a Masters Degree in Management Studies from Mumbai University.
Ketki Paranjpe, Managing Director, India & West Asia, L Catterton Asia
Ms. Paranjpe is Managing Director at L Catterton Asia, focusing on the India market. Ms. Paranjpe has over twelve years of experience in investment management and corporate advisory across Mumbai, Singapore and London.
Ms Paranjpe, joined L Catterton Asia in 2009 and worked on the first two investments made by the Fund in Sincere Watch Limited and Charles & Keith Group out of Singapore before relocating to India in 2011 to focus on India investments of the Fund. She has been involved in sourcing, executing, monitoring and exiting the Fund's investments in India.
Ms. Paranjpe holds a MSc. Finance and Economics, from The London School of Economics and Political Science; an MA Economics from University of Mumbai, and a BA in Economics from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, India.
Kevin Eikerman, Head, ADM India
With over 25 years of experience in the Agricultural Commodities and Processing Space, Kevin has been with Archer Daniels Midland Company for over 7 years. Prior to the current assignment Kevin has handled assignments within ADM as the General Manager at Europoort, Netherlands and oilseed processing facilities at locations across North America.
Kevin also has about 10 years of work experience with Saskatchewan Wheat Pool in Canada and UK and about 8 years of experience in the Grain and Farm Supplies business with Cargill Canada.
Kevin has a degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Manitoba in Canada and enjoys golfing, squash, and biking as extra-curricular activities.
Kevin William David, Co-Founder & CEO, Walletkit Technologies Pvt Ltd
Kevin is one of the founders of WalletKit which is the central SaaS platform for businesses to deliver digital Boarding passes,Tickets,Store cards and Coupons for all mobile wallets like Apple passbook and Google Wallet.
Kevin started the company with Ramakanth in 2012 bootstrapping on their own. WalletKit was funded by 500Startups in September 2012 and was invited to be apart of their Batch 5 Accelerator(one of the top 3 incubators in the world).
Khaled Talhouni, Managing Partner, Nuwa Capital
Khaled Talhouni, the founding Managing Partner at Nuwa Capital, has established a $100 million fund aimed at catalyzing early-stage MENAPT ventures. His approach goes beyond mere funding; he provides a full-fledged support platform for startups, encompassing everything from initial funding to growth and venture debt products. A seasoned investor, Khaled's portfolio boasts over 150 early-stage transactions, with a keen focus on regional market solutions and responsive entrepreneurship. With a solid foundation from Duke University and a track record of significant investments at Wamda Capital and twofour54, Khaled's hands-on experience shapes his role as a leading contributor to the venture capital dialogue and the advancement of technology in emerging markets.
Khilan Haria, Head of Payments-Product, Razorpay