About
Nishant Rao focuses on B2B technology and SaaS sales and marketing, with experience scaling consumer internet and enterprise software companies past $100M+ in revenue. His prior roles include Global Head of Strategy and MD for India & SE Asia at LinkedIn, Global COO at Freshworks, co-founder of the call-center company Epicenter, strategy advisor at McKinsey, and product/engineering roles at Ariba and Microsoft. He holds an MBA from MIT and a Computer Science degree from UT Austin.
Contact· self-published, not guessed
Invests in
Enterprise SoftwareSaaS
Experience
- Avataar Venture PartnersFounding Partnercurrent2019 — presentGurugram
- Safe SecurityBoard Membercurrent2025 — present
- CredCoreBoard Membercurrent2025 — present
- Infinite UptimeBoard Observercurrent2025 — present
- LambdaTestBoard Membercurrent2024 — present
- interface.aiBoard Membercurrent2024 — present
- InsuranceDekhoBoard Membercurrent2022 — present
- AmagiBoard Membercurrent2021 — present
- CRMNEXTBoard Member & US CEOcurrent2019 — presentNoida Area, India
- SenseBoard Membercurrent2020 — presentSan Francisco Bay Area
- Capillary TechnologiesBoard Membercurrent2019 — presentBengaluru Area, India
- RateGainBoard Membercurrent2017 — presentGurgaon, India
- Zeta IndiaBoard Advisorcurrent2019 — presentBengaluru Area, India
- McKinsey & CompanyMcKinsey India Expert Advisory Boardcurrent2016 — presentGurugram, Haryana, India
- India VC Ecosystem (Accel, SAIF, Sequoia, Blume, Lightspeed, Lumis etc)Advisorcurrent2017 — presentGurgaon, India
- Emiza Inc.Board Membercurrent2017 — presentNew Delhi Area, India
- PeopleStrongBoard Advisorcurrent2017 — presentGurgaon, India
- IBMBoard Advisorcurrent2015 — presentIndia
- Confederation of Indian IndustryAdvisory Board Member, National Committee on Skill Developmentcurrent2015 — presentGurgaon, India
- SirionLabsCEO & Board2017 — 2019Gurgaon, India
- FreshworksChief Operating Officer2015 — 2017Chennai Area, India
- Internet and Mobile Association of IndiaChairman2015 — 2017Gurgaon, India
- Internet and Mobile Association of IndiaGoverning Council / Board Member2013 — 2017Gurgaon, India
- LinkedInManaging Director, LinkedIn India & extended parts of Asia2012 — 2015Gurgaon, India
- LinkedInDirector, Business Operations -- Head of Global Sales Strategy2011 — 2012Mountain View, CA
- TechCrunchBoard Member, TechCrunch India2013 — 2014Mumbai, India
- McKinsey & CompanySenior Engagement Manager, Associate Principal2007 — 2011Greater Boston Area
- Ariba Inc.Senior Software Engineer & Development Lead2001 — 2005
- Epicenter TechnologiesMember of founding team2001 — 2005
- Microsoft CorporationSoftware Development Intern2000
- National InstrumentsSoftware Engineering Intern1999
Skills & more
Internet of Things (IoT)CybersecurityProduct Management51Business Development54Cross-functional Team Leadership23Business Strategy90Entrepreneurship25Go-to-market Strategy26Sales Management18Competitive Analysis12Market Research13Sales Operations7
+12 more
Change ManagementSales GrowthStrategic PartnershipsStart-upsOutsourcingGlobal Business DevelopmentSales EffectivenessBusiness Operations ManagementDevtoolsLeadershipMentoringManagementLanguages English · Hindi · Marathi
From Nishant's professional profile.
Colleagues at Avataar Venture Partners
Amit Kumar
Head - Finance COE at Avataar Venture Partners
Anirudh Singh
Partner at Avataar Venture Partners
-optimized.webp)
Arjun Vikas
Director at Avataar Venture Partners
Dinky Sanghvi
VP Finance at Avataar Venture Partners
Ganesh Nayak
Fundraising and Capital Markets at Avataar Venture Partners
George Thangadurai
Operating Partner at Avataar Venture Partners
Gulshan Dhanani
Associate at Avataar Venture Partners
Krish Kupathil
Operating Partner at Avataar Venture Partners
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Nishant Rao?
- Nishant Rao focuses on B2B technology and SaaS sales and marketing, with experience scaling consumer internet and enterprise software companies past $100M+ in revenue. His prior roles include Global Head of Strategy and MD for India & SE Asia at LinkedIn, Global COO at Freshworks, co-founder of the call-center company Epicenter, strategy advisor at McKinsey, and product/engineering roles at Ariba and Microsoft. He holds an MBA from MIT and a Computer Science degree from UT Austin.
- Where does Nishant Rao work?
- Nishant Rao is Founding Partner at Avataar Venture Partners.
- What does Nishant Rao invest in?
- Nishant Rao invests in Enterprise Software, SaaS.
- Where did Nishant Rao go to school?
- Nishant Rao studied at MIT Sloan School of Management (MBA, Strategy); Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MBA, Strategy & Marketing); The University of Texas at Austin (B.S., Computer Science).
Same school
Also attended MIT Sloan School of Management518
Doug LeonePartner at Sequoia Capital; former Global Managing PartnerHemant TanejaCEO & Managing Director of General CatalystBrad FeldCo-founder of Foundry and TechstarsChris MorrisProcess Specialist, Exit Readiness at Mayfair Equity PartnersBirgitteInvestor at InvestinorOlaInvestor at Investinor
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Also attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology1,387
Fred WilsonCo-founder & Partner at Union Square VenturesElad GilSolo general partner investing through Gil CapitalAileen LeeFounder & Managing Partner of Cowboy VenturesHemant TanejaCEO & Managing Director of General CatalystNat FriedmanCo-lead of Meta Superintelligence Labs; co-founder of NFDGBrad FeldCo-founder of Foundry and Techstars
+ 1,381 more
Also attended The University of Texas at Austin384
Michael DellFounder & CEO of Dell TechnologiesViswa SankaranarayananVenture Partner at Monta Vista CapitalTodd KleinManaging Partner, Revolution Growth at RevolutionSapna MehtaInvestor at RevolutionAaron LiuPrincipal at NorthzoneAnish AggarwalInvestor at Lightbank
+ 378 more
Also attended Delhi Public School, R.K.Puram65
Sunil RaoCOO, SVP Finance at Plum Alley InvestmentsPooja MongaSenior Investment Associate at Beyond Capital VenturesRohini PrakashHead of Finance at Jungle VenturesSiddharth DhankharPrincipal at LightboxVrinda GuptaInvestment Analyst at Titan CapitalPadma MilhotraSenior Associate at Sauce.vc
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Shared employers
Also worked at Sense4
Also worked at Zeta India4
Also worked at IBM710
Brian ArmstrongCo-founder & CEO of CoinbaseOlivier PomelCo-founder & CEO of DatadogAlexis Le-QuocCo-founder & CTO of DatadogKen ChenaultInvestment Team at General CatalystRoger KrakoffGeneral Partner at Monta Vista CapitalAvi BharadwajInvestment Director at Intel Capital
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