Rahul Chandra

Rahul Chandra is one of the earliest venture capitalists in India. He started his journey in 1998 at Walden International’s India-focused fund. He later moved to Palo Alto, California, to invest in Silicon Valley start-ups. In 2005, he co-founded Helion Ventures and relocated to India. At Helion, he invested more than $100 million in start-ups, including SMS Gupshup, Equitas Small Finance Bank (IPO), Spandana (IPO), Shubham Housing Finance, UnitedLex, Toppr (acquired by Byju’s), RailYatri and MoEngage. Arkam Ventures is his new $100-million fund that invests in companies using technology to disrupt and create new markets for middle-India consumers. Some of the companies he has invested in at Arkam include smallcase, Jar, Invact Metaversity and Jai Kisan. Rahul lives in Bangalore, Karnataka. Apart from deep dives with founders and cooking meals, he spends his time solving crosswords, reading history books and learning to breathe consciously. Rahul has an undergraduate degree from BITS Pilani and an MBA degree from the University of California, Berkeley.