Bhargavi Varma is the founder of Brown Girl Angels, a global angel and VC collective of South Asian women mobilizing their capital and investing in South Asian female led startups. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter - Brown Girls, Money Moves and our global dinner series, Brown Girls, Desi Dinners and stay connected.
Bhargavi Varma is the founder of Brown Girl Angels, a global angel and VC collective of South Asian women mobilizing their capital and investing in South Asian female led startups. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter - Brown Girls, Money Moves and our global dinner series, Brown Girls, Desi Dinners and stay connected.
In this episode, Shaherose Charania(Women 2.0, Unshackled, Nike) and Ishveen Jolly (OpenSponsorship) join host Bhargavi Varma for a conversation that embodies the core values of Brown Girl Angels: The power of paying it forward. They dive into how Sevā and giving to others influences their work and creates pathways to capital, while also sharing insight into the practices that make a strategic angel and if there’s a right time to raise funds.
Together they discuss the growing presence of South Asian women in business and sports, and what it’s like to be supported by someone like Serena Williams. From a serendipitous first meeting to nurturing a business that’s creating powerful changes in sports sponsorship- they have set the bar for Investor/Founder relationships. Grab your chai, join us!
About The Founder:
Ishveen Jolly is the founder and CEO of OpenSponsorship, the largest two-sided marketplace for sports sponsorship, connecting tens of thousands of brands and athletes globally. Notably, Brandin Cooks’ Levis x Dicks Sporting Goods campaign and Jamal Adams’ Quorn campaign.
About The Investor:
Shaherose Charania is the CEO and Co-Founder of Women 2.0, a Partner at Unshackled Ventures, and the host of the podcast First Funders. Coming from a background in Strategy, Advisory and Investments with Nike, Shaherose has since expanded her vast portfolio to include angel investing, her own VC firm and advisory of others.
🔗 Mentioned in this episode:
Brown Girls, Bold Moves is hosted by Bhargavi Varma. Find out more about Brown Girl Angels here. The show is made by editaudio. It’s edited, mixed and produced by Megan Hayward. Our Production Manager is Kathleen Speckert. Our Associate Producer is Kam Grewal. Theme music for Brown Girls, Bold Moves is by Kunal Merchant, Prateeksha Srivastava, and 6091 from Indo Warehouse.
Get involved with Brown Girl Angels below:
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
In this episode Host and Founder of Brown Girl Angels, Bhargavi Varma shares insights on the true value of women-led businesses and why it’s time for more of us to take our seat at the cap table. Answering your questions, she shares her own journey into the world of angel investing and what inspired her to create a space for South Asian women to talk money, risk, and entrepreneurship.
🔗 Mentioned in this episode:
McKinsey 2024 Report: Women in the Workplace
Brown Girls, Bold Moves is hosted by Bhargavi Varma. Find out more about Brown Girl Angels here. The show is made by editaudio. It’s edited, mixed and produced by Megan Hayward. Our Production Manager is Kathleen Speckert. Our Associate Producer is Kam Grewal. Theme music for Brown Girls, Bold Moves is by Kunal Merchant, Prateeksha Srivastava, and 6091 from Indo Warehouse.
Get involved with Brown Girl Angels below:
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
In this episode, host Bhargavi Varma is joined by Charles Hudson and Amrita Saigal to talk about conviction in venture capital and how backing founders with a mission is key to making profit. Charles demonstrates the power that comes from conviction of self and ideas; something he found in Amrita as a founder. Discover how Amrita's journey from engineering to entrepreneurship led to the creation of a sustainable diaper brand, and learn about Charles' approach to investing in diverse founders and innovative consumer products.
We get into the real-world challenges of consumer goods, the rise of elegant sustainability, and how early-stage bets shape the future of startups.
About The Founder:
Amrita Saigal, Founder and CEO of Kudos, a direct-to-consumer sustainable baby diaper startup. She created Kudos to provide elegant, sustainable diapers and has grown into a household name, been invested in by Gwenyth Paltrow and Mark Cuban, and is sold in Target. Previously, Amrita created Saathi- a sustainable sanitary pad company, and led Biz Dev at Google X.
About The Investor:
Charles Hudson is the Managing Partner and Founder of Precursor Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on investing in the first institutional round of investment for the most promising software and hardware companies. Notably, Superhuman, Co-Star, MarcoPolo.
🔗 Mentioned in this episode:
Brown Girls, Bold Moves is hosted by Bhargavi Varma. Find out more about Brown Girl Angels here. The show is made by editaudio. It’s edited, mixed and produced by Megan Hayward. Our Production Manager is Kathleen Speckert. Our Associate Producer is Kam Grewal. Theme music for Brown Girls, Bold Moves is by Kunal Merchant, Prateeksha Srivastava, and 6091 from Indo Warehouse.
Get involved with Brown Girl Angels below:
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Host Bhargavi Varma is joined by Suneera Madhani and Dr. Manasa Mantravadi for a powerful conversation on culture, entrepreneurship, and investment. They dive into the immigrant experience, the evolving definition of success for South Asian women and how to make that first million.
Ahimsa Home founder Dr. Manasa Mantravadi shares insights on why she treats her business’s health like a medical patient, and Investor Suneera Madhani unpacks what every founder needs to hit before they’re ready to raise. Together, they tackle the technicalities behind success and explore the importance of understanding business metrics, preparing for fundraising, and building supportive networks.
About The Founder:
Dr. Manasa Mantravadi is a pediatrician and entrepreneur who founded Ahimsa Home, the world's first colorful stainless steel dinnerware for kids.
About The Investor:
Suneera Madhani, exited founder of Stax Payments (one of America’s top 10 fastest-growing fintech companies) and Co-Founder/CEO of Worth AI. Suneera also launched CEO School to empower women to move the needle and scale their own businesses, and was named as one of Fortune’s 40 under 40.
🔗 Mentioned in this episode:
Brown Girls, Bold Moves is hosted by Bhargavi Varma. Find out more about Brown Girl Angels here. The show is made by editaudio. It’s edited, mixed and produced by Megan Hayward. Our Production Manager is Kathleen Speckert. Our Associate Producer is Kam Grewal. Theme music for Brown Girls, Bold Moves is by Kunal Merchant, Prateeksha Srivastava, and 6091 from Indo Warehouse.
Get involved with Brown Girl Angels below:
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Welcome to Brown Girls, Bold Moves, hosted by Bhargavi Varma, Founder of Brown Girl Angels.
Each episode, Bhargavi chats with powerhouse founders and the investors who believed in them. Whether you're building your own startup, exploring angel or venture investing, or just curious about bold women making big moves, this show is for you. Hit follow so you never miss an episode.
Brown Girls Bold Moves is hosted by Bhargavi Varma. Find out more about Brown Girl Angels here. The show is edited, mixed and produced by Megan Hayward. Our Associate Producer is Kam Grewal. Theme music for Brown Girls Bold Moves is by Kunal Merchant, Prateeksha Srivastava, and 6091 from Indo Warehouse. Thank you to our production partner editaudio!
Get involved with Brown Girl Angels below:
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.