New Zealand-based agritech and foodtech firm Sprout Agritech, India’s Together Fund, and Hunter Point Capital have announced key appointments.
Former Shiok Meats CEO joins Sprout
Sprout Agritech, an early-stage investor specialising in transformational technologies, has named Sandhya Sriram as CEO succeeding Gil Meron.
Sriram will start her position at Sprout in September 2024 and will be based at the company’s headquarters in Palmerston North, New Zealand.
Sriram, who is a stem cell biologist and scientist, is the former group CEO and co-founder of Singapore-based cultivated meat startup Shiok Meats. The latter was reportedly set to be acquired by another Singaporean cultivated meat startup focused on endangered fish Umami Bioworks.
“I am looking forward to bringing Asia, New Zealand and the rest of the world together, alongside growing the Sprout portfolio and establishing a global presence,” Sriram said in a statement.
Lakshmi Shankar joins VC firm Together Fund
Together Fund, a Bangalore-based venture capital (VC), has named former VP of product strategy & insights at Google Search, Lakshmi Shankar, as general partner to strengthen the firm’s commitment to SaaS and AI.
“Together Fund is at the forefront of AI and SaaS, and Lakshmi’s addition to our team underscores our commitment to staying ahead in this dynamic field,” Manav Garg, Together Fund co-founder, said in a statement.
Girish Mathrubootham, also co-founder at Together Fund, said Shankar’s presence in San Francisco enhances the firm’s mission of building “a robust US-India bridge” on the back of her insights and connections in the Silicon Valley tech ecosystem.
Hunter Point Capital ropes in SD Chu & Akira Takahashi
Investment firm Hunter Point Capital has made two senior hires in Asia, including SD Chu as managing director in Singapore and Akira Takahashi as senior advisor in Japan, according to a statement.
Chu and Takahashi will focus on amplifying Hunter Point Capital’s (HPC) presence in Asia while helping the firm’s GP partners build and strengthen relationship in Korea and Japan.
“The demand for private capital solutions has gone global, and we recognise that Asia is an important and growing region where on-the-ground knowledge of market dynamics is paramount,” Avi Kalichstein, CEO and co-founder of HPC, said in the statement.
Takahashi has four decades of experience, having held senior positions with Credit Suisse where he built and managed Credit Suisse Asset Management in Japan for over two decades.
HPC is also expanding the team in Asia to better serve GPs with a strategic need for partnership and strengthen relationships in the region.
