Lightspeed Venture Promotes Three Executives, two of whom are Women, to the Position of Partners

By: WE Staff | Wednesday, 20 April 2022

Shuvi Shrivastava, Pinn Lawjindakul, and Rahul Taneja have been promoted to partners in Lightspeed Venture Partners' early-stage investment advising team.

The fund, which has sponsored businesses such as Byju's, ShareChat, and Udaan, has an early-stage staff of eight people, three of which are women.

Taneja, who came as chief business officer with the duty of establishing a team across marketing and corporate development, was also promoted to a partner in the fund, according to Lightspeed.

“At Lightspeed, diversity of thought, experience, and personality is deeply valued as it enables richer discussion and debate, which results in better decisions,” said Bejul Somaia, partner, Lightspeed India in a statement. "Venture is a people-oriented business, and we believe in fostering an environment where everyone we partner with, inside and outside Lightspeed, grows and thrives,” he added.

Women are underrepresented in senior roles at investment firms, particularly the larger ones.

"Investing in the next generation of entrepreneurs is a huge responsibility and our belief is that a partnership that looks at the world in very different ways and tunes into very different human needs, will support the creation of a more equitable future. It’s no secret that we need more women in leadership across the board and I’m very proud that Lightspeed is leading the charge," said Shrivastava in a statement.

Other early-stage funds, such as Elevation Capital, are run entirely by men, while Sequoia Capital India only has one female managing director, Sakshi Chopra.

“We know there are various benefits in having diverse perspectives... It takes time for people to grow into the partnership...We are strong believers of people getting promoted from within. I think we have made significant improvements in terms of hires,” Deepak Gaur, partner, Elevation Capital had told ET in an interview earlier this month.