Asha Jadeja Motwani
Asha Jadeja Motwani is an angel investor and philanthropist based in Silicon Valley. She invests in for-profit tech, internet and high social impact start-ups in the Bay Area, New York and India.[1] Asha and her husband Rajeev Motwani co-invested in over 100 startups as angels. Rajeev Motwani was the founding advisor to Google and the author of Google's algorithmic architecture.[2]
Asha Jadeja Motwani | |
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Born | |
Spouse(s) | Rajeev Motwani |
Scientific career | |
Fields | entrepreneur social impact philanthropy investor startups tech |
Personal life
Asha Motwani was born and raised in India. She moved to America as a graduate student in 1985 and lives mostly in Palo Alto, California. Asha and Rajeev had two daughters, Naitri and Anya.
Education
Motwani pursued a Ph.D in political science from UC-Berkeley after doing her masters and undergraduate studies in urban planning and civil engineering from the University of Southern California.[3]
Career
Asha invested in over 100 startups.[4][5] She is listed in a directory of venture capital and private equity firms.[6] She was the founder and managing director of Dot Edu Ventures along with her husband Rajeev Motwani.[7]
Asha launched the Rajeev Circle Fellowship[8] in order to help Indian entrepreneurs "visit and connect with entrepreneurs, mentors and seed investors in Silicon Valley."[9]
Motwani helped introduce Maker Faire in India in 2012, gaining inspiration from California’s Maker Faire.[10] She is also introducing Maker Fest Pakistan in an attempt to "create a civilian bridge between India and Pakistan."
She is the trustee of the Motwani Jadeja Family Foundation,[11] a charitable organization based in Palo Alto and Ahmedabad, India. The Foundation aims to support entrepreneurs in under-served pockets of the world to promote world-class entrepreneurship at a local level.[12]
References
- del Castillo, Michael (16 February 2016). "These 8 Women Are Building a 'Tech Guild' For Women Manufacturers". Upstart Business Journal. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
- "Angel investor Asha Motwani launches fellowship for Indian startups". Techcircle.in - India startups, internet, mobile, e-commerce, software, online businesses, technology, venture capital, angel, seed funding. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
- "Asha Jadeja Motwani Ph.D.: Executive Profile & Biography - Businessweek". Businessweek.com. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
- "Asha Jadeja « Global Philanthropy Forum". philanthropyforum.org. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
- "This Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Wants to Bridge Indo-Pak Divide". The Quint. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
- Gottlieb, Richard (2008-01-01). Directory of Venture Capital and Private Equity Firms, Domestic and International. Grey House Publishing.
- "Ms. Asha Jadeja Motwani & Ms. Radhika Shah". Stanford University. Archived from the original on 20 September 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
- "Asha Motwani Funds India-U.S. Entrepreneurial Program". India West. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
- Abudheen, Sainul K. (10 April 2013). "Angel investor Asha Motwani launches fellowship for Indian startups". Tech Circle. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
- "This Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Wants to Bridge Indo-Pak Divide". The Quint. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
- "The Motwani Jadeja Family Foundation".
- "US-Asia Technology Management Center School of Engineering » Ms. Asha Jadeja Motwani & Ms. Radhika Shah". asia.stanford.edu. Archived from the original on 2015-09-20. Retrieved 2016-02-29.