Our speakers

Ritesh Banglani, Partner, Helion Advisors Pvt. Ltd

Ritesh Banglani has 16 years of experience in venture capital, business planning, product management and field operation roles in India and abroad. He serves on the board of Truly Madly, Housing, Talentpad, Lifecell, Mast Kalandar and Dentys, and helps manage the investment in EyeQ.  He previously served on the board of TaxiforSure, which merged with Ola Cabs in 2015.

Prior to joining Helion in 2010, Ritesh was a Vice President at IDG Ventures India, where he focused on early stage investments in internet, mobile and digital media businesses. He was a Director on the board of Ozone Media, and an observer on the board of Kreeda Games.

Prior to this, Ritesh was a Product Manager at Adobe Systems, where he managed the Shockwave and Contribute product lines, and focused on developing new monetization models for digital media platforms. Previously he managed the mobile games business of July Systems, a venture-funded mobile VAS company, and deployed popular mobile games offerings with US and European mobile operators.

Between 1999 and 2003, Ritesh held various field operation roles with Synopsys Inc. in India, Singapore and Europe.

Ritesh holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and an MBA from INSEAD. He serves as Guest Faculty at Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, where he teaches Innovation Strategy.

Ritesh Banglani, Partner, Stellaris Ventures

Ritesh is a partner at Stellaris Venture Partners, where he invests in technology companies in Healthcare, Travel and Financial Services. He has a strong interest in companies solving uniquely Indian problems, and those that apply new technology to their industry for the first time.

Ritesh has spent the last decade in the venture capital industry and participated in the entire VC lifecycle. Prior to Stellaris, he was a Partner at Helion, where he invested in online services and healthcare companies like Taxiforsure, Lifecell and Trulymadly. Before he moved to venture capital in 2007, he spent 8 years in tech operating roles in India and abroad.

He has a B. Tech in Electrical Engineering from IIT Delhi and an MBA from INSEAD, and serves as Adjunct Faculty at IIM Bangalore.

Ritesh Chandra, Executive Director and Head - Consumer, FIG and Business Services Group, Avendus

Ritesh heads the Consumer, FIG and Business Services Group. He has over 20 years of experience in executing M&A, PE and structured financing transactions. Ritesh has extensive experience on transactions in consumer products, financial services and media. He worked with Credit Suisse prior to joining Avendus. Ritesh holds an MBA from FMS, Delhi and a BE from the University of Delhi.

Ritesh Chandra, Executive Director and Head, Consumer Group, Avendus Capital

Ritesh heads the Financial Services and Consumer Group, and is based out of New Delhi. He has over 20 years of experience in executing M&A, PE and structured financing transactions. He has extensive experience on transactions in consumer products, financial services and media. He worked with Credit Suisse prior to joining Avendus.

Ritesh holds an MBA from FMS, Delhi and a BE from the University of Delhi

Ritesh Sachdev, SVP & Head Commercial Leasing and Asset Management, Tata Realty and Infrastructure Ltd.

Ritesh Vig, Founder, Veracity Leading Edge (VLE)

Ritesh Vig is the founder of Veracity Leading Edge (VLE). He has over 15 years of experience in management consultancy and strategic finance. Prior to founding VLE, Ritesh has won recognition for playing instrumental role in well-known businesses like Reliance, Bharti and Gulf Petro group. Ritesh is an Alumini of CIMA London, and Keylogges. His passion for Strategic Advisory (Business Model, Valuation & Exit) to mid scale company and start ups and new projects are the key to his success.

Ritu Verma , Co-founder & Managing Partner, Ankur Capital | @ankurcapital

Ritu Verma is one of the co-founders at Ankur. She is passionate about bringing innovation from lab to the market and did that for a decade across corporates - Unilever and Philips. She has also worked globally investing in IP led renewable technologies. She has a PhD in physics from University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from INSEAD. If Ritu had any spare time she’d love to travel to all ends of the earth and read a few books.

@rituverma01

Riyaaz Amlani, CEO and Managing Director, Impresario

Riyaaz Amlani is an entrepreneur and a restaurateur based in Mumbai, India. He is the CEO and MD of Impresario Entertainment & Hospitality Pvt. Ltd. and the President of NRAI (National Restaurant Association of India). He is often referred to as eatopian, hospitality wiz and a coffee baron.

Starting out as an outsider to the hospitality industry, today Riyaaz is highly respected and well-known in the restaurant business in India. Having sold shoes as a teenager, Riyaaz completed his education in UCLA with a Masters in Entertainment Management. Paving his way through the business, he soon started working as the entertainment consultant for many location based entertainment centers. During this period, Amlani contributed to the building of India’s leading Family Entertainment Centers as well as set up a wellness centre. He soon took over the reins of a leading media company, but gave it all up to open a café partnership with Kiran Salaskar. His vision was a cafe that offered an experience beyond the ordinary. This gave birth to his maiden venture Mocha, considered a pioneering venture in the café industry.

Riyaaz Amlani has been recognized as the ‘Best Restaurateur’ by 'Time Out Food Awards 2011'. All his restaurants have not only won various awards in India including Best New Restaurant, Best Bar, Best European Restaurant and Best Coffee Shop, but have also been acknowledged internationally by being nominated for UK’s Restaurant & Bar Design Award as well as shortlisted for Miele’s Top 50 Restaurants in Asia and recognized in Time Out Mumbai’s Top 10 Best Restaurateurs in India.

Riyaz Amlani, MD, Impressario Entertainment

Riyaaz Amlani is the CEO & MD at Impresario Entertainment and Hospitality Pvt. Ltd. The company began with its maiden venture Mocha - Coffees & Conversations, which has been IEHPL's claim to fame. The company also created Finale - Happy Endings, a rare B2B catering unit, which supplies desserts to caterers.

Highly respected in the Indian hospitality business as one of the youngest and most successful entrepreneur’s, Riyaaz is famous for his uncanny ability to provide a unique experience through each venture.Having completed his education in UCLA with a Masters in Entertainment Management, Riyaaz blazed through the biz and was soon at the helm of affairs of a leading media company. But gave it all up on a hunch to follow his dream of opening a café.

With no previous experience, he co-founded IEHPL in 2001 with a 500 sq. ft. Mocha in Churchgate. Today he has gone on to build 28 restaurants over nine years including Salt Water Grill,Salt Water Cafe,Smoke House Grill,DelItalia and Mocha ArtHouse to name a few.

Rizwan Koita, CEO, CitiusTech

As co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Rizwan Koita drives CitiusTech’s worldwide business strategy, including healthcare technology innovation and healthcare domain expertise development. Under his leadership, CitiusTech has become the largest healthcare technology company in India, with over USD 150MN in revenue, serving more than 110 leading healthcare organizations worldwide. In 2014, General Atlantic invested $110 MN in CitiusTech, valuing it at over Rs. 2,000 Crore.

Before CitiusTech, Mr. Koita was the CEO and founder of TransWorks (now part of Concentrix, the world’s #1 BPO company) one of the first business process outsourcing (BPO) firms in India, with over 21,000 employees worldwide today. Earlier, he was a senior consultant with McKinsey & Co., where he consulted transnational clients on exploiting remote service opportunities.

Mr. Koita is a winner of the 2013 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. He is also a recipient of the 2002 Indo-American Society's Young Achievers Award in Business. He has a Master’s Degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering from IIT Bombay.