Are you ready for a future where electric vehicles are the norm? In this episode, we chat with Akshay, co-founder of Kazam, who’s on a mission to revolutionize how we think about EVs and energy. From leasing EVs to building cutting-edge charging infrastructure, Akshay shares his journey of tackling India’s EV challenges and scaling solutions globally. Discover how his startup is making EV adoption easier and why he believes energy management is the next big frontier. Tune in to learn how the EV landscape is changing—and what it means for you!

IN THIS EPISODE
(00:00) "Why lease an EV? Akshay's unexpected take."
(03:00) "The game-changing rise of two- and three-wheelers in India."
(05:30) "EV economics: How the math works for fleets."
(07:30) "The future of EVs: Lessons from your smartphone."
(11:30) "What’s holding back mass EV adoption? The real challenges."
(15:30) "Will India hit its bold EV targets by 2030?"
(19:00) "Why charging anxiety is more about perception than reality."
(23:30) "Public vs. private EV charging: Surprising insights."
(29:00) "Can EVs become the ultimate digital assets?"
(36:00) "India’s EV edge: Why the grid is ready."

Akshay Shekhar
Founder, Kazam
Akshay Shekhar is the co-founder and CEO of Kazam, India's largest EV charging company. Prior to this, Akshay built an AR startup and worked at consumer goods companies PepsiCo and Godrej Consumer.

Kazam operates in 5000+ pin codes with its software and hardware solutions being used by OEMs, E-Commerce fleet operators and even Charge Point Operators. The startup's vision is to ultimately create a shareable carbon credit pool for the entire EV value chain.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshayshekhar/

Rahul Thayyalamkandy
Director of Comms & Community, Vertex Ventures SEA & India

Rahul Thayyalamkandy joined the SEA/India team as the Director of Communication & Community in 2024 and is based in Singapore.

Before joining Vertex, Rahul served as a Product Manager at BLOCK71, an incubator and joint venture of NUS Enterprise and Singtel Innov8, where he developed scalable services for portfolio startups and designed mentorship programs. He also gained experience as a Summer Associate at Cocoon Capital, working with the Managing Partner on investment deals.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulthayyalamkandy/

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Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India is a pioneer in investing in tech start-ups in this region and has helped to build a number of unicorns. In this podcast, we seek to share and uncover the Hard Truth - raw, unfiltered insights and venture capital knowledge from across Southeast Asia and India. Tune in to learn from leading founders, innovators, venture capitalists, and industry experts in the region and gain industry insights from those in the know.

If you like what you hear, please follow or subscribe to the show so you don’t miss out on any of our upcoming discussions.

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Follow us to get notified whenever new episodes are shared.

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For more information, please visit: https://www.vertexventures.sg

What motivated Achitha Jacob to shift her focus from a career in a Fortune 500 healthcare company to founding Proactive for Her, and how does she envision the impact of her work on women's health in India?

Join us as we delve into the journey of Achitha Jacob, the founder of Proactive for Her. Discover how Achitha's passion for women's health led her to build a platform empowering Indian women to prioritize their own well-being. From overcoming challenges to fostering a thriving company culture, Achitha's story is a testament to resilience, determination, and the transformative power of putting oneself first. Click here for the transcript.

IN THIS EPISODE
(00:00) What is Proactive For Her?
(05:28) Why did I drop out of Harvard?
(06:54) What were the ups and downs of the entrepreneurial journey?
(13:28) Online or offline business?
(17:37) How has the journey with Vertex been?
(18:49) How did I build education and awareness in this space?
(22:41) Are women willing to invest in their health?
(25:52) What does it take to be successful as a single founder?
(29:38) What's the difference between being a leader and a manager?
(33:46) How resilience helped me get through the difficult times
(39:37) Closing

Our Guest: Achitha Jacob
Achitha Jacob is the founder of Proactive For Her. Proactive For Her is an omni-channel women’s health clinic offering judgement-free, personalised, and confidential healthcare solutions. They address the health concerns of Indian women across their lifetime – from puberty to menopause and beyond. Their services are available online, at home, and at their Bangalore clinics. Be it spreading awareness about annual check-ups to include pap smears and cancer screening, cervical cancer vaccination (HPV vaccination), STI/STD screening or helping women take that leap of faith and book their first gynaecology consultation, they want to empower every Indian woman to take charge of her own health and wellness journey.

Proactive has helped 50,000+ women learn more about their sexual and menstrual health and access quality medical care. Young and old(er) women love that Proactive is able to provide them a safe space to address their sexual, menstrual & reproductive health concerns. They have done extensive work on extremely niche and taboo topics like vaginismus, a condition which is not very well understood in India.

An alumnus of IIT-Bombay, Achitha dropped out of Harvard Business School to build Proactive For Her. She has previously worked with Fortune 500 healthcare companies and healthcare startups.
Website: https://www.proactiveforher.com

Elise Tan
Elise Tan is the Director of Communications and Community at Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India. Prior to joining Vertex, she had extensive experience in investor relations and partnerships at global venture funds and accelerators with more than $100m in AUM. Elise also currently runs a Southeast Asia-based startup community of nearly 800 entrepreneurs called the Asia Startup network and actively supports their startup journey through panels, meet-ups, and mentoring programs.

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Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India is a pioneer in investing in tech start-ups in this region and has helped to build a number of unicorns. In this podcast, we seek to share and uncover the Hard Truth - raw, unfiltered insights and venture capital knowledge from across Southeast Asia and India. Tune in to learn from leading founders, innovators, venture capitalists, and industry experts in the region and to gain industry insights from those in the know.

If you like what you hear, please click follow or subscribe and share it with entrepreneurs or investors in your circle so we can all grow, succeed and build the future of SEA and India together.

Imagine building a global tech powerhouse from scratch. That's the story of Guan Dian, cofounder, CMO and APAC GM of Patsnap, a pioneer in AI-powered patent search and analytics. From humble beginnings in China to leading a global tech team, Guan Dian's story is one of resilience, innovation, and a relentless pursuit of service excellence.

Tune in to hear how Guan Dian transformed Patsnap from a small startup into a dominant force in the tech industry through her visionary leadership and strategic partnerships. Discover how she navigated cutthroat competition, industry disruption, and even global pandemics to propel Patsnap to success. Click here for the transcript

IN THIS EPISODE
(00:00) Introduction
(02:26) What is Guan Dian's role in Patsnap?
(04:39) Why did Dian leave her "cushy job" to join a startup?
(09:08) What have been some remarkable challenges in the journey?
(13:23) How Dian realized that she has been pitching to the wrong people
(18:23) Advice for female founders
(21:54) Showing resilience at the face of adversity
(25:21) What were some sacrifices Dian had to make along the way?
(27:50) How did Patsnap meet Vertex?
(31:39) How has Patsnap incorporated AI into their system?
(42:12) Future of Patsnap

OUR GUEST: Guan Dian
Guan Dian is the co-founder, CMO, APAC GM of Patsnap - a leading provider of research and development (R&D) analytics with AI-powered technology and machine learning. The company has grown from a small four-person operation to international prominence in the highly competitive field of patent analytics. Today Patsnap enables more than 12,000 customers in more than 50 countries to access market, technology, and competitive intelligence as well as patent insights to take products from ideation to commercialization. In her current role at Patsnap, Guan leads the company's Asia Pacific business.

Guan has over a decade of experience in the tech industry. Guan started their career as a software engineer at MooWee.
Guan Dian has a background in management science and engineering from Stanford University, and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Management Information Systems from the National University of Singapore. She was part of the 2016 Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia and 2021 Tatler’s Asia’s Most Influential.

Elise Tan
Elise Tan is the Director of Communications and Community at Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India. Prior to joining Vertex, she had extensive experience in investor relations and partnerships at global venture funds and accelerators with more than $100m in AUM. Elise also currently runs a Southeast Asia-based startup community of nearly 800 entrepreneurs called the Asia Startup network and actively supports their startup journey through panels, meet-ups, and mentoring programs.

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Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India is a pioneer in investing in tech start-ups in this region and has helped to build a number of unicorns. In this podcast, we seek to share and uncover the Hard Truth - raw, unfiltered insights and venture capital knowledge from across Southeast Asia and India. Tune in to learn from leading founders, innovators, venture capitalists, and industry experts in the region and to gain industry insights from those in the know.

If you like what you hear, please click follow or subscribe and share it with entrepreneurs or investors in your circle so we can all grow, succeed and build the future of SEA and India together.