Vijayaraghavan Venugopal — CEO

In 2012, I started running seriously, and found that there was a serious gap in the nutrition options that India has. So when the moment came to merge this opportunity, with my passion and skill sets in business and healthcare, I was strongly in. Where it started: Grew up in Kerala, father worked at ISRO. Did engineering, MBA from IIFT Delhi, then spent 13 years in pharma at Dr. Reddy's and Lupin where I headed China operations. Later, ended up leaving corporate life at 38, and moved back to Bangalore, and but all the time wanting to do something which can leave a footprint in an area where I can contribute. Running showed me the gap — Indian consumers had no credible local nutrition options. This led to my entrepreneurial journey: - Co-founded Fast&Up in 2015 with three products and a small group of people who believed - Built the brand at 6 AM hydration stations and running events, city by city - Became Mumbai Marathon's official nutrition partner in 2020 - Indian cricket team, IPL franchises and who is who of Indian sports now use our products - Scaled to 35 countries with a marquee set of investors on board Where Fast&Up is today: 10 years. 100+ products. Key Products tested in UK labs for banned substances. Why I am still in this: I run. 11 marathons under 3 hours. 2:47:57 at New York Marathon 2025, at age 50. All 6 World Marathon Majors under 3 hours — fewer than 375 people globally have done this. Even after 10 years, I still get excited about every product we build! If you are building in nutrition, fitness, or consumer brands, happy to connect.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a Healthcare and Nutrition Entrepreneur with extensive experience in business development and marketing.

Location: Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Experience: 23 yrs 7 mos