Ashish Kakran — CEO
Venture capital investor focused on early-stage cloud, ai/ml and cybersecurity startups. I help technical founders build lasting companies as a trusted long-term partner. I enjoy supporting founders with a balance of technical know-how, customer insights and empathy. Over time, I have built a deep network of software builders, sales leaders, investors and CXO buyers that I try to make available to founders. My first exposure to cloud was as a software engineering intern in 2008 who was tasked with building scalable Apps on AWS. I was a product manager at AppNeta (acquired by Broadcom), a Bain Capital-backed startup where I built network and application performance management products. Outside of work, I enjoy building communities and bringing people together. I have a BS in Computer Science from IIT and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management. Recent investments: Cohere, Harness, Isovalent, Exaforce, Opaque, Smallest AI Recognitions: 2024 - 40 under 40 rising stars in VC (VCJournal) 2023 - Rising stars in VC (Business Insider) Seligman Investments and Seligman Ventures are offering brands of Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC. Comments and likes should not be considered endorsements/recommendations, or indicative of any future performance or success. For your privacy, please don’t post account or service-related information on this page. Instead, contact me directly.
Stackforce AI infers this person is a venture capital investor specializing in early-stage technology startups.
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Experience: 15 yrs 5 mos
Skills
- Early Stage Investment
- Venture Capital
Career Highlights
- Expert in early-stage investments in AI and Cloud startups.
- Recognized as a rising star in venture capital.
- Strong technical background with a focus on product management.
Work Experience
Seligman
Managing Partner (6 mos)
smallest.ai
Seed Investor and Board member (10 mos)
SIERRA Ventures
Partner (9 mos)
Relyance AI
Investor (1 yr 10 mos)
Exaforce Inc.
Series A Investor (2 yrs 2 mos)
StackGen
Seed Investor (2 yrs 2 mos)
Stealth Startup
Seed Investor (2 yrs 7 mos)
Carnegie Mellon University
CMU TECH Advisory Board (2 yrs 8 mos)
Deductive AI
Seed Investor (2 yrs 10 mos)
Cohere
Investor (3 yrs)
Opaque Systems
Investor and Board Observer (3 yrs 11 mos)
Isovalent
Investor, observer (4 yrs 3 mos)
CyCognito
Investor (4 yrs 7 mos)
Harness
Investor (5 yrs 4 mos)
Bolster, Inc
Investor (5 yrs 4 mos)
Thomvest Ventures
Partner (5 yrs)
EVCA
Enterprise Infrastructure Vertical Lead (1 yr 9 mos)
Shipa
Seed Investor (1 yr 4 mos)
Nimbella
Seed Investor (1 yr 6 mos)
Engineering Capital
Senior Associate (1 yr 6 mos)
Canaan Partners
Associate (MBA intern) (2 mos)
Benhamou Global Ventures
Associate (MBA intern) (3 mos)
Roo.chat
Founder/CEO (10 mos)
AppNeta
Product Manager (1 yr 11 mos)
Sales Engineer (1 yr 2 mos)
Procter & Gamble
Marketing Intern (2 mos)
TwtPulse
Co-Founder/CEO (11 mos)
Pluris Marketing
Software Engineer (10 mos)
eJones Inc.
Founding Engineer (2 yrs 1 mo)
FlipClips, Inc.
Software Intern (1 mo)
Education
Master of Business Administration (MBA) at Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management
Master of Business Administration (MBA) at Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta
B.Tech at Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati