Women’s Day 2026: Priyanka of IIMA Ventures on Staying the Course and Shaping India’s Next Generation of Founders

I began my career at Sun Microsystems in Silicon Valley, in the Solaris networking team. It was a fairly intense introduction to the tech world. I was working on the core of an operating system that powered enterprises and the early cloud, learning from people whose textbooks I had studied as an engineering student. Over time, my role expanded from deep technical work to managing enterprise customer relationships. Those early years shaped not just my technical skills, but my confidence and my understanding of how complex systems and organisations actually scale.

I later went to Wharton for my MBA to broaden my perspective, and then joined IBM’s corporate strategy team, working with senior leaders on long-term growth and transformation initiatives. After spending over a decade in the US, family, and a deeper pull to contribute back home, brought me back to India. I spent a few years helping scale a social enterprise in the drinking water space, which was a very grounding experience. It brought me closer to the realities of impact and reminded me why building with purpose matters.

Joining IIMA Ventures felt like a natural convergence of everything I had learned - technology, strategy, institution-building, and impact. Today, as CEO and Managing Partner, I work with an incredible team to scout, build, and support early-stage ventures across deeptech, digitisation, and climate innovation. At a personal level, what keeps me motivated is the idea that institutions matter. Our aspiration is to help make IIMA Ventures the birthplace of India’s most consequential companies, ventures that truly shape the country’s future.

When I returned to India, I realised that some of the most meaningful nation-building work was going to happen through entrepreneurship. In large corporations, you are often optimising and scaling what already exists. In startups, you are building something that doesn’t exist yet. At their best, startups take on problems that are messy, systemic, and often ignored because they’re hard.

I also became increasingly aware of how important institutions are in that journey. Founders may have bold ideas, but ecosystems don’t thrive on ambition alone. They need access - to capital, to mentorship, to markets, to a community that understands the journey. IIMA Ventures gave me the opportunity to help build those enabling platforms that reduce friction for early stage entrepreneurs.

What keeps me engaged, even after all these years, is how intellectually stimulating this work is. Early-stage startups are constantly innovating, rethinking business models, experimenting with technology, adapting to constraints. No two days are the same. You are exposed to new sectors, new technologies, new ways of thinking all the time. The resilience of founders is incredibly inspiring. They operate with limited resources, navigate ambiguity on a daily basis, and still choose to build. Being able to support that journey is both energizing and fulfilling.

I don’t think there was a single defining decision that set me on the path to becoming CEO. It was more a series of choices over the years.

The most important was believing deeply in the mission. IIMA Ventures has played a pioneering role in building India’s startup ecosystem, especially in supporting early-stage founders working in tough sectors. I genuinely believed in its potential to shape consequential companies. That conviction made it easier to commit for the long term and focus on building the institution rather than chasing short-term milestones.

Choosing to stay and build was, in many ways, the defining decision. When I joined, the organisation was still evolving, and there was real opportunity to help shape its future. That meant taking on responsibility well before there was any formal title attached to it, be it designing new platforms, raising capital, shaping our investment thesis, or building teams from scratch.

Over time, the role evolved because the ownership was already there. I didn’t plan for the designation;  it was really an outcome of years of taking responsibility.

The change has been quite remarkable. When I first started engaging with early-stage founders over a decade ago, many were first-time entrepreneurs learning by doing. Today, founders are far better informed. They have grown up watching startups succeed.. They understand product-market fit, fundraising dynamics and global benchmarks much earlier in their journey. The ambition is also bigger.  Many are building with global scale in mind from day one.

The ecosystem around them has matured just as significantly. We are seeing a  convergence of policy momentum, deeper pools of both domestic and global capital, a stronger and more experienced talent base, and operators who have “been there and done that.” There are more second-time founders, more early employees of successful startups who are now starting up themselves, and more visible role models who have built and exited companies. Those exits have done more than just create wealth, they have created belief. There is now far greater confidence that enduring, globally competitive companies can be built from India.

At the same time, the bar has risen. Capital is more discerning, markets are more competitive, and expectations around governance and execution are sharper. So while the ecosystem is more supportive than ever, it is also more demanding. In many ways, that is a sign of maturity.

I have been fortunate in that I have not faced any overt barriers personally. I have worked with colleagues and partners who were largely merit-driven and supportive, and that makes a significant difference.

That said, if I reflect on my early days in the industry, there were far fewer visible and accessible role models, particularly women in investment and venture leadership roles. Representation often matters more than we acknowledge; it shapes what feels possible.

At IIMA Ventures, we have been intentional about building diversity within our own organisation. Today, we have almost equal male–female representation across our investing and operating teams. At an industry level, only about 8% of VC funding goes to women-led businesses; our number is closer to 25%. I am positive that the fact that our teams are so diverse, has played a critical role in this.

There is still work to be done across the ecosystem, but I am encouraged by the progress and optimistic about the direction of change.

There have definitely been moments of doubt both personal and professional. One of the most challenging phases for me was during my MBA at Wharton, when I was navigating a full-time programme with two toddlers, aged one and four. There were moments when I questioned whether I was stretching myself too thin or doing justice to either role. Around that time, I received advice from a remarkable woman - a grandmother and CEO who had built an extraordinary career while raising a family. She told me, “Think of your career as a dimmer switch, not an on/off toggle. Never switch it off completely. Dim it when your family needs you, and turn it up when you’re ready to go full throttle.” That idea stayed with me. It shifted the question from choosing one or the other to learning how to recalibrate over time. 

Professionally, there have been demanding phases as well. Fundraising cycles, for example, can truly test conviction. You are asking others to believe in a long-term institutional thesis. Backing founders in difficult sectors, where progress is nonlinear and the environment volatile, also tests patience and belief. What helped me push through was perspective. Venture and institution-building are long games. Staying anchored to our founding principles like why we exist, what we are trying to build and the kind of founders we want to support provides clarity. And I have been fortunate to work with exceptional colleagues; enduring institutions are never built alone. Shared belief and conviction make resilience a lot easier.

We aim to be the first port of call for exceptional founders building disruptive solutions to hard problems in consequential and frontier sectors, especially where there are market failures and private support is not easily available. By definition, that means our risk appetite is higher than many others in the ecosystem. If the path were already well understood, we would likely be too late.

But higher risk does not mean lower discipline. At the early stage, there is often limited data, so the evaluation is not about financial metrics. We spend a great deal of time assessing founder-market fit: does the founder have a deep understanding of the problem? Have they experienced it closely enough to navigate its nuances? Are they resilient? We also look at the broader market context. Is there policy momentum? Is technology inflection enabling change? Is there a credible path to scale, even if it takes longer?

Responsibility also comes from portfolio construction. We take risk at the startup level, but we manage it at the portfolio level, diversifying across sectors and risk profiles. And finally, responsibility extends beyond capital. At the early stages, particularly in difficult sectors, founders often need patient partners - setting realistic expectations, supporting them through tough times, and staying anchored to why we chose to back them in the first place.

To me, strong and inclusive leadership is about setting a clear direction while also creating space for diverse perspectives in how the vision is brought to life. It combines decisiveness with listening, learning, and ensuring the team moves forward together.

Yes, we are definitely seeing more women founders enter the ecosystem, which is very encouraging. But the numbers still show a significant gap: in 2024, women-led tech startups raised just under 9% of total tech funding. The challenge isn’t just getting more women to start companies, it is also supporting them through the early and risky stages, so they can scale successfully. Capacity-building, access to networks, mentorship, and catalytic capital is critical.

Equally important is increasing representation among investors and decision-makers. Women partners are twice as likely to invest in women-led startups, and having more women in VC can help address subconscious bias and broaden the types of ventures that receive support. Targeted programs and capital pools that focus not just on starting up but also on scaling through Series A, B, and beyond will be key to sustaining momentum and building a truly inclusive startup ecosystem.

First, build real confidence. You may not have decades of experience, but you do have perspective and judgment. Trust that. Do not disqualify yourself before anyone else does.

Second, invest deeply in learning. Skills and depth compound over time. The earlier you build strong fundamentals, whether analytical thinking, domain expertise, or communication, the more differentiation you create for yourself later.

Third, invest time in building genuine relationships, and not just transactional networks. Careers are long and you will need collaborators, champions, and friends. And finally, learn to advocate for yourself. Good work is essential, but it isn’t always self-evident. Being able to articulate your ambitions and ask for opportunities is an important professional skill.

 I would remind her that everyone has their own unique journey, so don’t be overly self-critical. Trust yourself and trust the process. I would also tell her what I tell young women professionals: be confident, invest in your learning, build genuine connections, and always advocate for yourself.

On Women’s Day, my message to aspiring founders and women leaders is simple: think long term and stay in the game. Careers and companies are endurance sports - there will be phases of acceleration and recalibration, but neither defines you. Don’t wait to be completely ready. Back yourself, invest deeply in your craft, build strong networks, and pay it forward.