Former Myntra Executive Joins Bengaluru-Based pi Ventures

Bengaluru: Fashion e-tailer Myntra's former chief product and technology officer Shamik Sharma has joined pi Ventures as partner to draw its product roadmap and hire talent, the early-stage fund said on Thursday. The city-based venture fund is focused on applied Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and Internet of Things (IoT). "Sharma will help the founders understand technology and IP (Intellectual Property) of product firms and bring startups aligned with our investment theme to their deal pipeline," the company said in a statement here.

With 17 years in technology domain and a long career in the San Francisco Bay Area, Mr Sharma was vice president of software at Lytro, a light field camera start-up in the US, and held executive roles in RockYou, StumbleUpon and Yahoo.

"Sharma brings high value as an angel investor and technology advisor to several Indian startups. With capability to understand roadblocks from the technology perspective, he will mentor and enable start-ups to achieve their goal at a faster pace," the statement said.

A computer science graduate from IIT-Kharagpur in West Bengal, Mr Sharma has a master's degree in computers from the University of Maryland, US.

Mr Sharma's experience of hiring talent to build teams at large firms and start-ups will benefit the venture fund and their portfolio as they plan to invest in 18-20 start-ups over the next three to four years.

"With two decades of experience and business wisdom, Sharma is a great addition to our team. His mix of technical expertise, product design and business experience will play a key role in enriching our investment decisions and welcome help for our founders," pi Ventures founding partner Manish Singhal said in the statement.

Assuring pi founders and partners of his help in building the next-generation start-ups, Mr Sharma said focus on technology-based opportunities will help create many products and businesses out of India.

The year-old pi focuses on healthcare, logistics, retail, fin-tech and enterprise sectors.

Backed by leading entrepreneurs, the fund brings hands-on product and entrepreneurial experience to the India venture investing ecosystem.