Menterra Venture Advisors

Paul Basil is the founder of Villgro, an early social enterprise incubator in India that he expanded into multiple countries. He is an Ashoka Fellow and focuses on supporting social entrepreneurship aimed at underprivileged rural communities in India. He holds a degree in mechanical engineering and a postgraduate qualification in forestry management.

George Thomas studied at St. Stephen's College and started his career with Unilever's food businesses in India before working with India Value Fund Advisors. In late 2011, he founded CapAleph Advisors India Private Limited, a private equity fund. At Menterra, he leads post-investment, asset, and operating interventions.

Chris Ashley Pinto works at Menterra, focusing on aligning capital with purpose to address societal challenges. He previously worked at Nomura in technology and quantitative risk, where he built and improved risk models, developed data tools and analytical solutions using machine learning, and ensured model compliance. He holds a B.Tech in Computer Engineering from NMIMS' Mukesh Patel School of Technology Management and Engineering, has earned the FRM designation, and has cleared all three levels of the CFA program.

Shoba Barnes has more than twenty years of experience in administrative and secretarial roles, supporting senior leaders including CEOs, directors, and vice presidents across various organizations. Before joining Menterra, she served as personal assistant to badminton player Prakash Padukone. At Menterra, she oversees travel, logistics, and vendor management.