CORE TEAM.
PURPOSE-BUILT.
SAMIR SHAH I MANAGING PARTNER
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Samir has a deep passion for sustainability, and domain expertise in our core sectors through his investments, operating positions and industry affiliations over the past decade. He enjoys working closely with entrepreneurs to help build real value in companies.
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Samir is the Managing Partner at Peak Sustainability Ventures, one of India's first institutional sustainability VC funds. He is a veteran in the field of climate investing, having made numerous investments in the space, and achieving a number of exits. He is a domain expert in Energy, Water, Food Systems, Plastics and other climate verticals. He made his first climate investment in VA Tech Wabag, a pre-IPO deal, in 2007. From then, he has gone on to be an early investor in some of the world's leading sustainability companies, including HST Power, ION Energy, Drinkwell, Global Initiative for a Sustainable Tomorrow (GIST) and others.
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Samir began his career in venture capital in 2014, through his private investment office. Sattva has invested in over 30 companies across stages and sectors in the past five years, with several strong performers in sustainability including Drinkwell, ION Energy, GIST and HST Power. Within sustainability, water purification, solar, EVs, batteries and measurement of natural capital impacts are core areas of investment and expertise. The investment office has since become known to bring strong value-add and a wealth of knowledge to its portfolio companies. Samir is also an Adjunct Professor at Ahmedabad University, teaching an MBA course on Sustainability.
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Samir has been involved in global public and private markets for the past 28 years. Prior to Sattva, Samir ran a multi-strategy hedge fund in Hong Kong, and previously held senior principal risk-taking positions at Goldman Sachs (Hong Kong), Salomon Brothers (New York) and Deutsche Bank (New York). He graduated with an MBA from Wharton (with distinction), and holds a Law degree and Bachelor of Commerce degree from Bombay University. He is a certified Chartered Accountant.
AAKASH SHAH I PARTNER
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Aakash is excited by the disruptive nature of technology-led innovations in sustainability, and the imminent need to decarbonize certain sectors. He spends time understanding emerging industries and new technologies, to identify their application to solving complex problems in unique ways within Peak's core markets.
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Aakash has been in VC for the past 7 years, across multiple funds, and he is the co-founder of neonVest (a VC-backed enterprise SaaS startup), which he has run for the past 5 years. Within sustainability, he has core domain expertise in Mobility, Alternative Materials, Food Systems and Water. Prior to Peak, Aakash headed up the VC arm of Sattva Capital, a leading private investment office based in Mumbai, where he led deals in Energy Web Foundation (now listed on multiple crypto exchanges) and Shortlist (an HR SaaS startup). Prior to Sattva, he was responsible for the Asia portfolio at Accion Venture Lab, a global fintech fund based in Washington D.C., where he led deals in Smartcoin (consumer lending fintech startup), CredRight (chit-fund lending fintech startup), and Toffee Insurance (micro-insurance startup). Aakash embarked on his VC journey at Contrarian Partners, a generalist tech VC in Mumbai.
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Aakash previously spent three years on the Investment Research team at Aksia, a $160Bn New York-based hedge fund advisory firm, where he evaluated funds across long/short equity, credit and quant strategies. He holds a B.Sc. from NYU Stern School of Business, majoring in Finance and International Business, with a minor in Philosophy.
AADIL CHITALWALA I SENIOR ASSOCIATE
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Aadil is inspired by the drive of entrepreneurs who look at creating sustainability-focused businesses in environments and legacy sectors that have been operating in a traditional manner.
At Peak, Aadil focuses on deal screening and macro research. Prior to Peak, Aadil was involved on the deal-side at Baring Private Equity Asia (a $40 Bn Hong Kong based fund), where he also built out their ESG framework and Investment criteria. He also has experience working with a search fund and mid-market private equity fund.
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Aadil previously worked at BNP Paribas as a Manager. He has also led a US-based non-profit for the past 6 years, which currently operates in 9 countries. Aadil holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and an B.Sc. degree from Boston University. He has also passed his CFA Level II.
SARAH BHOT I ASSOCIATE
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Sarah is excited by the prospect of identifying innovative climate solutions at a grassroots level that large corporates can scale up. When she's off the clock, she likes to explore new areas and restaurants in Mumbai.
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Sarah is involved in investment evaluation, research and partnerships at Peak. She joined the firm in 2022, and has been involved in some emerging new verticals, including Hydrogen and Green Buildings. Prior to Peak, Sarah was a Manager in Financial Services at Ernst & Young in London. for five years. During her time at E&Y, she worked with large asset managers to review their responsible investing policies and ESG frameworks.
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Sarah holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, with Management and Finance, from Kings College London. She is a CFA Charterholder and has attained a certificate in ESG Investing by the CFA Institute.
SWARAJ DHARIA I VENTURE FELLOW
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Swaraj is passionate about helping alleviate the negative climate impact on distressed and low-income communities. He was also the youngest member of the Indian delegation to attend COP 26 & 27.
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Swaraj is involved as a generalist on the investment team at Peak, with specific interest in Food Systems, Plastics and Carbon Markets. Swaraj joins us with deep experience in climate policy, as a Green Financing Expert in the Government of India. During this time, he played a significant role in helping with carbon market implementation and negotiations at COP 26 & 27. He was a key part of the Indian negotiation team at COP 26 that worked on adopting Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. Prior to this, Swaraj was a management consultant at EY (New York) for three years, working with clients across healthcare, consumer goods, energy, agriculture-technology and policy.
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Swaraj holds a B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from VIT, Vellore and a M.S. in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University.
OUR INTERNS
LEILA OWENS I ANALYST
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Leila is is dedicated to using technology to solve the climate crisis.
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Prior to Peak, Leila conducted lab-based research on microplastic removal from waterways for a Princeton startup. She also has a background in global environmental governance, having interned for the both the US Department of State as well as the UN Environment Programme.
Leila holds a B.S.E in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Princeton University with a certificate in Sustainable Energy
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RISHI RATHI I ANALYST
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Rishi is motivated to harness the power of capital in scaling up climate action through support and investment in bold and imaginative ventures.
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Rishi is passionate about circular innovations at the intersection of technology and creative business models, particularly in the area of waste, water and alternate materials. His experiences range from working on a rural technology development project in the outskirts of Satara, Maharashtra to representing India at the Sustainable Transport Systems and Infrastructure Program in Hokkaido, Japan. While in college, Rishi was part of the founding team for a green lending focused FinTch startup. He has previously interned with Frost & Sullivan in the decarbonisation strategy vertical and worked as a climate finance analyst with ECube Investment Advisors.
Rishi graduated with a Bachelors and Masters from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, having completed his Master's Thesis at ETH Zurich in the area of environmental and human health impact modelling.
JT I INTERN
Brown University
JT is pursuing his Bachelors in Business Economics and Environmental Science at Brown University.
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JT is driven to combat climate change through investment and stewardship of paradigm-shifting entrepreneurs.
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Adya Bhargava I INTERN
Cornell University
Adya is pursuing her Bachelors in Economics & Information Science at Cornell University.
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Adya is passionate about supporting socially responsible enterprises create sustainable development at an intersectional level on a global scale.
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Virpalsinh Zala I INTERN
Ahmedabad University
Virpal is pursuing his Bachelors in Business & Administration at Ahmedabad University.
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Virpal is passionate about reducing plastic waste and promoting sustainable packaging.
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Amira Singh I INTERN
Harvard University
Amira is pursuing her Bachelors in Statistics and Economics at Harvard University.
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Amira is interested in finding solutions to use energy more efficiently.
Aathiran Sabesan I INTERN
University of Manchester
Aathiran is pursuing his Bachelor of Science in Economics at the University of Manchester.
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Aathiran is motivated to use impact investment as a tool to combat climate change while achieving high financial returns.