Bending The Lines

This episode on impact investing features Rob Kaplan, the founder and CEO of Circulate Capital, an impact focussed investment management firm. Rob has two decades of experience in corporate sustainability and impact investing. In this episode, Rob walks us through his journey of impact investing and what drives him to do what he does. He talks about the goals of Circulate Capital, their focus, and their portfolio in India while describing how the startup impact ecosystem has shaped up in the last few years. Given his extensive experience, he also has an important message for all the impact based entrepreneurs.

This fireside chat with a sneak-peek into impact investing episode features Aviral Bhatnagar, currently a VC at Venture Highway and having 5 years of investing experience earlier with Guild Capital. He also runs the platform A Junior VC with an aim of democratizing conversations in the startup ecosystem. The discussions revolve around impact investing, the differences when it comes to investing in social entrepreneurs, and how founders discover problem statements.

The guest on this episode from PepsiCo is Archawat Ohm Chareonsilp, who serves as its Environment Sustainability Policy and Innovation Director, Apac. Before PepsiCo, Ohm was at Coca Cola for 11 years. In this episode, Ohm describes what sustainability means for him and PepsiCo, the various initiatives being undertaken by PepsiCo in multiple countries, how they see eliminating virgin plastic in its bottles going forward, Pepsico's partners who are on the same sustainable mission as theirs, and how the company is educating and changing consumer behavior.

The guest on this episode is Sandeep Patel, co-founder, and CEO of Nepra. It is a waste management and recycling company specialising in the collection, segregation, processing, and recycling of local municipal dry waste, including plastic. Sandeep talks about founding Nepra in 2011, his and the team's core vision, how Nepra works, future plans for the company, and also shares his take on social impact and how entrepreneurs can build in the nascent waste management sector.

This episode on the theme of 'sustainable energy' features guests, Mr. Sanjeev Raina (Chief General Manager of HSSE - Corporate) and Mr. Ashish Gupta (Chief Manager of HSSE) of BPCL. BPCL is one of India's best performing Maharatna PSU. The guests talk about the different stages of pollution in the oil and gas industry, how BPCL is tackling them sustainably, their green initiatives, how BPCL has been a fast adopter of technology, their steps for an EV ecosystem and the next 5 years of a sustainable BPCL!

The guest in this episode is Achyuth Iyengar, the Director of Specialty Solutions - APAC of DSM. Royal DSM which started off as a mining company in 1902  is now a purpose-led global science-based multinational corporation in nutrition, health, and sustainable living! In this episode, Achyuth shares with us what DSM as a group does, their core vision for sustainable and healthy living through its products, how its different verticals complement their sustainability agenda, and also has a message for businesses on how to be value-driven.

The guest in this episode is the Co-founder and CEO of GoodDot, Abhishek Sinha who is determined to make the world a more humane place for animals. GoodDot, India's most recognized plant-based meat companies provide meat-eaters with high-quality, plant-based alternatives that capture the taste and texture of animal-based meat. In this episode, Abhishek shares his journey of founding good dot, what inspires him in this mission, the adoption of plant-based meat in India, the growth and future of GoodDot including their sister company GoodDo!

The episode features Mr. Naveen Munjal, MD of Hero Electric talk about electric mobility. He started his journey working at Landrover, then expanding Hero Cycles into the International markets, and launched Hero Electric, and has since steered it to be the leading manufacturer and market leader in the two-wheeler EV segment in India. In this episode, Naveen talks about Hero's incredible journey with Electric Vehicles, their mission and future plans, the general EV adoption in India, how government policies can shape it, the need for the collective growth of all EV players as we move into a new phase of mobility!

The guest on this episode is Anand Ayyadurai, Co-founder and CEO of Vogo. Abbreviated for 'Vehicle On the Go', Vogo is an IOT based bike-sharing platform backed by Hero MotoCorp, OLA, Stellaris, and Matrix Partners. In this episode, Anand shares his journey of building Vogo, his vision for Vogo as a last-mile connectivity service, the evolution of EV two-wheelers, how India can adapt to it, and the need for a stronger network among the EV players to drive India there!

The guest featuring in this episode is known as the Recycle Man of India. Dr. Binish Desai, as a 10-year-old performed his own little experiments and today, has diverted 1996 metric tonnes of trash from entering landfills. Binish talks about his journey as a curious child to founding eco eclectic, how recycling is impacted by culture, the shift in recycling during this pandemic and also has an important message for all young entrepreneurs and believes change can be driven by the youth of our country.