Yashwanth Hemaraj
InvestorFounding Partner at Arka Venture Labs · General Partner at BGV · General Partner at Benhamou Global Ventures
San Francisco Bay Area
About
Yashwanth Hemaraj is a General Partner at BGV, where he invests in and supports early-stage B2B startups, and the Founding Partner of Arka Venture Labs, a cross-border accelerator fund focused on helping Indian B2B startups scale in global markets. He has over 17 years of experience in enterprise software, with a background in strategy, product management, and product marketing. He serves as a board member or observer for several BGV and Arka portfolio companies, including AiDash, BoostUp, Folloze, Macrometa, Pyze, Tagnos, and Blendid.
Contact· published on Yashwanth's own website
Invests in
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareIoTRobotics
Experience
- BGVGeneral Partnercurrent2023 — present
- BGVPartner2018 — 2023Palo Alto, CA
- BGVPrincipal2014 — 2018
- Arka Venture LabsFounding Partnercurrent2017 — presentMenlo Park, California, United States
- AiDashBoard Membercurrent2020 — present
- BoostUp.aiInvestorcurrent2020 — present
- FollozeBoard Membercurrent2019 — present
- EssenviaBoard Membercurrent2023 — presentLos Angeles Metropolitan Area
- Stack IdentityBoard Membercurrent2022 — presentSan Francisco Bay Area
- Pyze Inc.Board Observercurrent2019 — present
- TagnosBoard Membercurrent2018 — presentIrvine, California
- BlendidBoard Observercurrent2017 — present
- Macrometa Corp.Board Member2017 — 2025Palo Alto, California
- Enterprise 4.0 Technology Acquisition CorpChief Acquisition Officer2021 — 2023
- TotangoBoard Member2020 — 2021
- TotangoBoard Observer2016 — 2020San Mateo, California
- 1871Mentor2014 — 2016Merchandise mart, Chicago
- Shasta VenturesIntern2014Menlo park
- SpiderCloud Wireless, IncProduct Manager2012 — 2013San Francisco Bay Area
- SpiderCloud Wireless, IncEngineer (Technical Lead)2008 — 2012San Jose, California
- United Way SIlicon ValleyBoard Member2011 — 2013San Jose, california
- Emerging Leaders United, United Way Silicon ValleyChair, Steering Committee2011 — 2013San Francisco Bay Area
- National Institute of Technology Karnataka Alumni NetworkPresident2011 — 2013San Francisco Bay Area
- Texas InstrumentsSoftware Design Engineer2007 — 2008Germantown, MD
Skills & more
Coaching & MentoringInvestment ManagementBusiness-to-Business (B2B)9Financial Planning4Research and Development (R&D)3Investments5Cross-border Transactions2Market Analysis1Leadership Development2Marketing Strategy2Business Development1Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)2
+12 more
WirelessSystem ArchitectureDigital Signal ProcessorsStart-upsAlgorithmsEntrepreneurshipSoftware DevelopmentMobile DevicesEmbedded SystemsEmbedded SoftwareSaaSEnterprise SoftwareLanguages Hindi
- Fellow of Startup Leadership Program
From Yashwanth's professional profile.
Deals · 2
TotangoLed round
via Benhamou Global Ventures · filed Oct 2017
FollozeLed round
Attribution from SEC filings, press coverage, and firm rosters.
Other disclosed investments
Led
6dbytesMacrometaTagnos
Investor
Blue CedarDrishtiKaptivoSpikes/Cyberinc
Per the firm's website.
Colleagues at Arka Venture Labs
Network3
Andre Turenne
Partner at D.E. Shaw
B.V. Jagadeesh
Venture Partner at Inventus Capital Partners
Gary Little
Operating Partner at Canvas Ventures
Investors connected to Yashwanth in public investor directories — a warm-intro map.
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Yashwanth Hemaraj?
- Yashwanth Hemaraj is a General Partner at BGV, where he invests in and supports early-stage B2B startups, and the Founding Partner of Arka Venture Labs, a cross-border accelerator fund focused on helping Indian B2B startups scale in global markets. He has over 17 years of experience in enterprise software, with a background in strategy, product management, and product marketing. He serves as a board member or observer for several BGV and Arka portfolio companies, including AiDash, BoostUp, Folloze, Macrometa, Pyze, Tagnos, and Blendid.
- Where does Yashwanth Hemaraj work?
- Yashwanth Hemaraj is Founding Partner at Arka Venture Labs.
- What does Yashwanth Hemaraj invest in?
- Yashwanth Hemaraj invests in AI & Machine Learning, Enterprise Software, IoT, Robotics.
- What companies has Yashwanth Hemaraj invested in?
- Investments tracked here include 6dbytes, Folloze, Macrometa, Tagnos, Totango, Blue Cedar, Drishti, Kaptivo, Spikes/Cyberinc.
- Where did Yashwanth Hemaraj go to school?
- Yashwanth Hemaraj studied at Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management (Master of Business Administration (MBA), Finance); University of Maryland (Master of Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering); National Institute of Technology Karnataka (Bachelor of Engineering, Electronics and Computer Engineering).
- Does Yashwanth Hemaraj lead rounds?
- Yes — Yashwanth Hemaraj has led 5 tracked investments.
Same school
Also attended Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management746
Jenny LeeSenior Managing Partner at Granite AsiaKunal BahlCo-founder of Snapdeal; co-founder of Titan CapitalCristina JunqueiraCo-founder of NubankAndy FligelSenior Managing Director at Intel CapitalDavid Clark GuillermoInvestments at Impact America FundGiuseppe DonvitoPartner at P101 Ventures
+ 740 more
Also attended University of Maryland297
Katrina PagliaChief Legal Officer at Pantera CapitalSujal PatelStrategic Director at Madrona Venture GroupDaniel DemmerInvestor at OpenView Venture PartnersDan RochkindCFO at Lerer HippeauAaron EpsteinGeneral Partner at Y CombinatorKevin NiechenInvestment Team at 8VC
+ 291 more
Also attended National Institute of Technology Karnataka30
Anandhi GokhaleInvestment Director - Energy at Emerald Technology Ventures AgAditya SarafExecutive Director, Portfolio Manager at The Spartan GroupVishal PatilData Analyst at Advanced BlockchainShraya SapruInvestment Analyst at TDK VenturesVivin HegdeFounding Partner, North America at Zacua VenturesHari GantiInvestor at Sand Hill Angels
+ 24 more
