With over 13 years of experience as an entrepreneur, mentor, advisor, investor, and an active ecosystem enabler, Ankit is currently the Director – Ecosystem, India at Wadhwani Foundation (a US-based global philanthropic organization) and leads the largest startup support program in India – Wadhwani Liftoff Program. Ankit has been working closely with the top 150+ Incubators, Accelerators, State Startup Missions, early-stage Investors/micro-VCs, and startup ecosystem enablers. He has enabled support to 3000+ Startups through the Liftoff program, spread across 130 cities and 18 states of India. Ankit has spent over a decade creating & supporting the technology entrepreneurship ecosystem, fostering innovation, establishing incubation spaces, especially in Tier 2 and Tier 3 regions across India, and helping startups with growth strategy, business models, pitching, and fundraising as a mentor, advisor, and investor.Ankit leads programs, partnerships, and platforms, that support entrepreneurs at scale. He has a strong background and experience in investing and setting up structures, teams, and processes that work at scale. He has led and managed large-scale projects from start to finish by building partnerships and networks nationwide and worked closely with teams in the SEA and Mena region. Ankit comes with intellectual curiosity, essential in corporate strategy, new business development at scale, and analytical skills & passion for solving complex problems and delivering impactful outcomes.Ankit co-designed the Wadhwani Liftoff Program, an acceleration support program that helps early-stage startups get funding-ready and pitch to investors. Since its launch in 2022, the program has scaled from 0 to over 3000+ startups across 130 cities and 18 states in India, working with a diverse network of over 150+ stakeholders from the startup ecosystem across India. Ankit is also actively involved in mentoring, coaching, and supporting startups through various prestigious organizations/initiatives, such as Startup India Hub, Atal Innovation Mission, AIC RNTU Foundation, iB Hubs, Innovation & Incubation Centre, and Innocity Initiative by CIIE IIM Ahmedabad as a Coach and Advisor.Ankit holds an MBA in Family Business and Entrepreneurship with a Gold Medal, from the Institute of Management, Nirma University, and a BE in Electronics and Telecommunication from Vishwakarma Institute of Information Technology, Pune University.