Currently at the helm of three companies in the Financial Services & Consultancy space, creating and growing businesses is not new for Harshad. He made his beginnings as a Management Executive with Larsen & Toubro, where he was assessed to be a high level performer and selected for their esteemed Management Leadership Program. His passion for finance, however, called him to move on to creating his own investment advisory and wealth management company Intercontinental Investments (2005). Further, with his interest in investment banking and desire to help early-stage ventures, Harshad founded ah! Ventures (2009), Excelman Ventures (2012), STARup Summit (2016), SMARTup Conclave (2017) & ah! Fund (2022). In the past two decades, Harshad has grown his ventures into reputed, self-sufficient businesses that fuel their own growth. While his investment banking knowledge gives him an edge in evaluating businesses and investment opportunities, it is his extensive experience in creating super specialised, highly motivated teams and lean, optimised workflows and processes that Harshad is known best for. Harshad is known to be an astute problem solver and brilliant negotiator with the ability to think on his feet, while being meticulous and detailed in everything he undertakes. Among other things, he brings to the table the ability to create and build brands and bring about winning partnerships capable of handling whatever curve-ball the market throws at them. Harshad has invested in over 90+ early-stage ventures till date and is a regular speaker at many entrepreneurship events in India & abroad. Besides his interest in finance & investments, Harshad is also deeply involved as a director with the Ajit Lahoti Charitable Foundation, one of Pune’s leading charitable institutions helping Chronic Renal Failure patients minimize their hardships by better kidney disease management. He is a Fellow of Ananta Aspen Centre’s India Leadership Initiative (aka Kamalnayan Bajaj Fellowship), a unique values-based leadership program designed to help leaders move from ‘success to significance’; and is also a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. Harshad travels extensively, loves yoga, poker & salsa dancing and lives in Pune & Mumbai.