Quick Intro:

I'm the Co-Chair of the Kutsa Foundation - a Single Family Office of which I am a G2 family member. I am also a cofounder & managing partner at ifMagic Ventures & Happiness Ventures where I invest in seed-stage exponential deeptech start-ups and support them as a board member and advisor. I'm also helping to create a new impact & scaleup fund with a EU27 focus called Webit Capital. Finally, I’m advising the National Grid on its Corporate Venture Capital Fund strategy. Across my various startup and investing activities, I have generated a 35x money-on-money return.

On the personal side, I have a lovely family including my brilliant wife and talented daughters. We split our time between the Silicon Valley and London. I'm a bit of a film and sci-fi buff and also enjoy writing. Also, always happy to receive good book recommendations!

Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajayramachandran/

Current Initiatives:

Kutsa Foundation

At Kutsa Foundation (https://kutsa.com/) - I oversee our assets and allocation strategy and am a member of our investment committee. As a diversified and global family, we are evaluating strategies across diverse sectors from real estate, venture capital, equities, Fx, Impact/ESG, and special situations. Our single-family office was established in 1974 to invest in California real estate. Since those early days, we have diversified into multiple asset classes including a global real estate portfolio, equities, Venture Capital and Special Projects. The family office also supports various initiatives in Education and the Arts.

ifMagic Ventures

At ifMagic Venture (https://ifmagic.com/), we're investing in talented, change-the-world entrepreneurs at the seed -stage who have magical mindsets and are building exponential deep tech startups such as

https://www.zainartech.com/

https://hypersonix.ai/

https://www.beomni.ai/

Webit Capital

At Webit.Capital (https://webit.capital/), we’re launching a new growth stage, impact VC fund to invest in the winners of the FounderGames. Each year, the Founders Games sources 6000 scaleup startups from over 150 countries competing for 10 prizes awarded at the final pitch event typically hosted during the World Economic Forum in Davos. Webit Capital invests as a lead/co-lead or participating investor alongside other top VC Funds. The strategy perfectly blends early-stage VC upside with late-stage PE-style risk mitigation to produce alpha returns.

National Grid Partners

At the National Grid (https://www.nationalgrid.com/), we’re spinning out our in-house Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) arm (https://ngpartners.com/) as a multi-LP energy transition-focused venture capital fund that will pave the way to a Net Zero, Decarbonized future while generating Alpha Returns with the support of the National Grid - a multinational electricity and gas utility -, and the Next Grid Alliance (https://ngalliance.energy/) - a consortium of 100+ of the world’s leading utilities.

Extended Bio

Ajay, a Silicon Valley native who now splits his time between California and Europe, is a highly experienced serial entrepreneur and startup investor with a passion for creating and working with companies. He holds degrees in genetic engineering and communications and has been part of the core executive team in 11 successful startups across a wide range of industries, including AI, big data, fintech, SaaS, social media, enterprise software, mobile, consumer, health, and synthetic biology. Of these, 7 were successfully acquired and 3 IPO'd.

In addition to his extensive background in startups, Ajay is also a frequent public speaker at leading tech conferences and an active angel investor. He loves spending time with his family and is passionate about the performing arts. He also enjoys reading, writing screenplays, hiking, traveling, and mentoring at various youth programs and accelerators focused on mindset, mental health, and entrepreneurism.

Before becoming a venture capitalist, Ajay played virtually every role in starting and scaling startups, including CEO, Chief Product Officer, VP Sales & Business Development, Chief Marketing Officer, and Chief Technology Officer. With a strong background in operations, engineering, and technology, he has helped lead and manage growth from seed-stage through exit, positioning him uniquely to help startup founders with all aspects of building a successful company. He also has extensive experience working with enterprise and consumer brands such as Disney, Apple, Google, Motorola, SAP, and others on new product innovation, e-commerce, branding, corporate marketing, and digital marketing.

Additional Info:

Here are some things that I enjoy helping my portfolio companies with:

Recruiting & hiring the right talent
Connecting with the right early adopter customers
Establishing high-trust startup cultures that empower teams to succeed
Designing new products
Managing and streamlining product portfolios and teams
Figuring out market positioning, pricing, etc.
Growth hacking new markets and products.
Creating product & customer advisory boards
Branding, Marketing, Creating & scaling lead generation.
Working with analysts & influencers.
Developing customer relationships, closing deals and establishing partnerships.
Launching winning social media and advocacy marketing strategies.

Things I geek out on:

DeepTech
AGI
Generative AI
Machine Learning
Quantum Computing
Energy Transition
Climate Tech & Sustainability
Synthetic Biology, Longevity, Neurotech / BCI
Avatar Robotics
Design Thinking
Data Science
Fintech
Martech: Ad Tech, SEM, SEO, Drip Marketing, Content Marketing
Other: eCommerce, Streaming, SaaS, Information Architecture, Social Business, etc.
Sci-Fi that I enjoy: Clark, Asimov, Daniel Suarez, Star Trek, Star Wars, MCU, DCU, etc!