Avanthi Shah

Founder and CEO, NextVerse

Avanthi Shah is a Board Member of FINCA International and a technology and microfinance entrepreneur who has founded and led innovative businesses across Silicon Valley and India. She is the Co-Founder and President of NextBrick Solutions Limited, a technology consultancy serving clients such as NASA, Oracle, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and MetLife. Avanthi is also a Venture Partner at NextGen, a Washington, D.C.-based venture capital firm.

Earlier in her career, Avanthi founded Akshaya Microfinance, a social enterprise based in Rajasthan, India, that promotes financial inclusion for low-income and rural women. She also launched NextGreen Infrastructure, an energy company investing in renewable energy utilities.

Avanthi was named CRISIL-ICICI-CNBC TV18 Woman Entrepreneur of the Year in 2008 and is an active member of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), and Women Corporate Directors (WCD). She serves on the boards of several nonprofit organizations.

Avanthi holds a graduate degree from the Indian Institutes of Management and an undergraduate degree from Osmania University.