Our speakers

Nitish Mittersain, Founder, CEO, and Joint Managing Director, Nazara Technologies

Hailing from a textile business family, Nitish was hooked to interactive gaming at the mere age of 7 when he coded his first game. He then went on to setup his own bulletin board service at 14 and finally merged his passion for gaming with the zeal to create something substantial, he founded Nazara Technologies at the age of 19. Nitish led Nazara to a very successful IPO as India’s first gaming company to list with an oversubscription of 175 times.

A sharp-eyed business mind facilitated him to take the Indian gaming industry to new heights with Nazara.Onboarding marquee investors like WestBridge Capital and the famed investor and market expert Rakesh Jhunjhunwala was rather a phenomenon as this was Jhunjhunwala’s first investment in a gaming/tech venture.Furthermore, from Nazara’s stellar growth under the leadership of Nitish led to WestBridge seeing an exit ofINR 1000 Cr with an investment of INR 12 Cr to the company becoming the first public listed gaming company from the country, with a valuation of nearly $1 billion, the success story is an aspiring one.

Now, Nazara’s acquisition kitty includes a bunch of premium companies, each a leader in its space. The strategic and well-informed acquisitions by Nitish Mittersain’s Nazara like Next Wave Multimedia (Number 1 mobile cricket game in the world), Nodwin Gaming (Largest esports company in India), Paper Boat Apps (Leaders in kids’ ed-tech space) has catapulted the company’s portfolio to an all-encompassing one in the gaming space in India and worldwide.

Nitish has also served as the chairman of the Mobile Value-Added Services Expert and on the Asia board of the MEF (Mobile Ecosystem Forum), a global association for mobile content and commerce. He has also beenwidely recognized for his contribution to the gaming and digital entertainment industry internationally.

Investing in and mentoring multiple start-ups independently from Nazara, he is however wise enough to know that all work no play is not the way to go. So, when not at work, Nitish likes to relax and play a range of woodwind instruments such as the clarinet and saxophone. He is a member of a jazz band called the Jazz Junkies that has been playing in Mumbai clubs for over 20 years. He is also a Level 2 practitioner of Krav Maga, a type of martial arts and also a trustee of the Dr. B. K. Goyal Heart Foundation and the Dhanvantari Foundation.

Nitish Mittersain, MD, Nazara Technologies

Nitish Mittersain is the Founder and CEO of Nazara Technologies. Incubated in the year 2000, with its headquarter in Mumbai, Nazara Technologies is a leading mobile games developer and publisher that caters to large mobile consumer base in India and emerging markets including the Middle East and Africa. Nitish is instrumental in the ideation and reviewing performances of games developed at Nazara Technologies. Nitish aims to combine technology with a compelling experience to create innovative applications to the mobile environment. Under Nitish’s leadership, Nazara has been ranked amongst the top 2 mobile companies in terms of deck presence and WAP revenues in India and amongst the top 3 in the UAE and has ranked 17th in Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 - India in 2010. With Nitish’s substantial experience and expertise, Nazara has managed to secure exclusive distributing for EA mobile games across the Middle East, Africa, Srilanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Nitish has served as the Chairman of the Mobile Value Added Services Expert Committee (2009-2010) of the Indian Merchants Chambers, India's oldest business organization. Nitish is also on the Asia board of the MEF (Media Education Foundation), a global association for mobile content and commerce and takes active participation on matters related to drive market growth. He has been widely recognized in the industry for his contributions to the gaming and mobile VAS industries in India.

When not at work, Nitish likes to relax and plays a range of wood-winds instruments such as the clarinet, soprano saxophone, and flute. Being a jazz music aficionado, Nitish plays an alto saxophone and is a part of a jazz band called Jazzy Joe and Jazz Junkies that performs in many of Mumbai's clubs and pubs.

Nivedita Nanda, CHRO, KAYA Ltd

A passionate HR Leader, with versatile experience in managing change , building culture, envisioning and establishing smart solutions for Integrating people practices with ever dynamic business environment, and bringing stability under diversity. The leadership trait is enriched with multi-dimensional industry experience, a rare exposure to Defense Services and meeting minds of a large pool of diverse & aspiring people.

Nivedita started her career as Pilot Officer with Indian Air Force and then moved to Corporate world. Prior to Kaya She was heading HR for Future Retail, India’s leading retail Organization. She has also worked as Group HR Head, Prime Focus Ltd, Chief People Officer, Reliance Health, Reliance Energy, Praxair Ltd. Her leadership trait has been a key success factor in establishing new Greenfield ventures, significant mergers & acquisitions and amalgamation of Public & private enterprises, examining and re-engineering operations and procedures, developing and implementing new strategies.

Nivedita holds an MBA in HR from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies and she also has done her Masters in Psychology from Utkal University.

Noopur Chaturvedi, Chief - Corporate Business & Alliances, Airtel Payments Bank

Norbert Fernandes, Director, TR Capital

Ntasha, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Ankurit Capital

Nupur Garg, Founder, WinPE

Nupur Garg is a leading investor in private equity and venture capital and an expert advisor to large institutional investors. She is the founder of WinPE (https://winpeforum.com), a not-for-profit initiative to enhance gender diversity in the investing ecosystem. Nupur serves as an independent director on the boards of companies including Indigo Paints Limited, Kerala Infrastructure Fund Management Limited, and SIDBI, the Indian development finance institution. She is an independent member of the investment committee at the Fund of Funds managed by the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), the quasi-sovereign wealth fund sponsored by the government of India, and an advisor to and a member of the investment committee for the Dutch Good Growth Fund (DGGF) investment funds mandate given by the Dutch government for investments in SMEs in frontier markets across 75 countries. She served for 3 years as an external expert on the investment committee for the INR 10,000 crore Fund of Fund for Start-ups for investing in the Indian start-up ecosystem. Nupur advises select fund managers on a confidential basis on matters related to institutionalization, best practices, and governance. She also mentors female entrepreneurs across various platforms. Nupur was listed in the Forbes W-Power list of Self Made Women in 2020, among India’s top 100 Women Leaders in Finance (AIWMI 2019), awarded the Women Empowerment Entrepreneur Award 2019-20 and the Business Excellence and Innovative Best Practices - Academia Award 2019. In her last and most recent full-time role, Nupur led the private equity and venture capital funds business in the region for IFC and is widely credited with establishing IFC’s brand and credibility as one of the most respected institutional investors in this space. Under her stewardship, the portfolio doubled in size and returns, moving from a negative IRR to delivering gains for the first time in its history. Nupur is a CA and an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management, with executive education from Harvard Business School. Nupur loves to spend time with her mother, husband, and 6-year-old son, travel to new places, read and do 1000-piece puzzles.

Nupur Garg, Regional Lead - South Asia, Private Equity & Venture Funds, International Finance Corporation (IFC) | @IFC_org

Nupur is the regional lead for IFC’s private equity & venture funds business in South Asia. Based in New Delhi, she has been covering IFC’s private equity fund activities in South Asia since 2011, including originating, negotiating and closing private equity and venture fund investments on behalf of IFC, and supervising the portfolio, including serving on investee fund advisory committees. Nupur joined IFC in mid-2007 as the Regional Risk Officer for South Asia, responsible for designing and integrating risk management frameworks within investment operations across IFC’s industry sectors.

Nupur has deep experience in the South Asia region, including structuring and implementing complex business transactions and partnerships in a variety of settings. Prior to joining IFC, Nupur was the Regional Chief Financial Officer covering South Asia for Wolters Kluwer, one of the world’s largest publishers of material for the scientific and technical sector. There, she was part of a 3 person team leading integration of 6 acquisitions and setting up independent business operations in the region. Previously, she has worked in finance and consulting roles at Discovery Networks and PwC.

Nupur holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the MIT Sloan School of Management, has executive education from Harvard Business School and is a Chartered Accountant.

Olivia Ouyang, Investment Officer, International Finance Corporation

Olivia Ouyang is an Investment Officer with the Private Equity & Investment Funds Department of IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group. In her capacity as Regional Lead for South Asia, she is responsible for developing IFC's fund investment and supervision program, as well as originating co-investment opportunities. Prior to moving to Mumbai and covering South Asia, she spent three years as Regional Lead for East Asia and led IFC's fund investment program in China and Southeast Asia.

Prior to IFC, Ms. Ouyang spent eight years in management consulting, investment banking and private equity, with McKinsey, Morgan Stanley and Jupiter Partners respectively. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Stanford University and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Om Manchanda, CEO, Dr Lal PathLabs | @lalpathlabs

Dr. Om Manchanda is the Chief Executive Officer of Dr Lal PathLabs Ltd. He is alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad. Om has over 26 years of work experience. After graduating from the IIMA in June 1990, Om joined Unilever Group Companies (now Hindustan Unilever) as a management trainee. He worked for HUL for nearly 10 years in various positions such as Area Sales Manager, Innovation Manager - Beverages, Senior Brand Manager and Business Manager.

After HUL, he moved to an American company Monsanto India Limited as their National Marketing Manager and thereafter as their National Sales Manager in 1999. Early 2003, He joined Ranbaxy Laboratory Limited in their Global Consumer Healthcare Division and worked initially as General Manager - Marketing and then General Manager - International & Innovation before joining Dr Lal Pathlabs in October 2005.

He has successfully led the transformation of Dr Lal PathLabs in the last 11 years from a family run business to a professionally run listed company. In Dec. 2015, Dr Lal Pathlabs had a blockbuster listing on National Stock Exchange.

Om is the recipient of many awards. Notable ones are CAME innovation awards in HUL, Achiever of the Year Award in 2014, presented by CEO India as a part of CEO Awards 2014. Also the finalist in EY entrepreneur of the year 2015 awards.

@OmManchanda