Sumit Arora

With 23 years of experience in sales & marketing in Pharma industry, Sumit Arora brings a wealth of expertise in Channel Management, Operation set ups, In-Licensing, Out- Licensing and Project Management. Earlier he was associated with Dr Reddy`s Laboratories, Ashland, Viatris, Viyansh etc.

He holds MBA in International Business from IIFT


Uma Rao Ganduri

Uma is a seasoned human resources professional with more than thirty years of expertise gained from diverse roles in global and domestic multinational corporations in India. In her capacity as a strategic HR leader, Uma has successfully implemented and overseen various business initiatives, demonstrating her proficiency in managing robust HR processes both within domestic and international contexts. Among her noteworthy accomplishments are spearheading the transformation agenda as an HR Business Partner, securing Great Place To Work certifications, successfully negotiating long-term settlements with unions, and establishing effective leadership pipelines.

Uma holds a postgraduate degree in HR from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and has completed the Global Advanced Management Program from the ISB-Kellogg School of Management. She is a certified coach and is currently pursuing her doctorate in management.


Baskaran Pagadala

Baskaran Pagadala has 3 decades of experience in Operations including manufacturing, EHS, Projects and Operational Excellence. Prior to joining Sekhmet Pharmaventures he served various roles in Lupin, Hetero, Granules, Cipla and JK Pharma. Most recently he headed API – Operations role at Lupin.
Baskaran holds Masters in Chemical Engineering from JNTU


Aswin Vikram

Executive Director at PAG
On the Board of Acme Formulation since October 2021
13+ years of private equity experience with global mega funds like Blackstone and Bain Capital
Qualifications: Bachelor of Technology degree from the IIT, Madras; Post Graduate Diploma in Management from IIM, Bangalore


Mr. C Kalaichelvan

Mr. Kalaichelvan is the Founder and Director of Anjan Drug. Prior to founding Anjan in 1991, he has worked with Tamil Nadu Dadha Group and was in charge of the API division.
Deep technical expertise in API manufacturing, especially in CNS


Dr. D. Srinivasa Reddy

Dr D Srinivas Reddy is the Founder and Director of Optimus Group. His vision to leverage technological advancements in drug development & manufacturing, Innovation to provide cost-effective & affordable products to the people in need has driven the company’s objective.
Under Dr Srini’s leadership, Optimus has shown exponential growth, making it one of the fastest-growing Pharma companies based in India, with a worldwide presence. With over two decades of rich experience across all divisions, His guidance & support has proven vital to the company’s success.
Dr Srini holds MSc & PhD in Organic chemistry. Prior to Founding Optimus, Srini has been associated with Prestigious Pharma companies & MNC’s


Anchit Gupta

Anchit Gupta joined Samara Advisors in May 2012 and is Managing Director, investments in the firm.
He leads investments for the firm in certain sectors - Technology Services and Products, Pharmaceutical, Auto & Auto Ancillary and Media & Entertainment. He serves on the board of Cogenics, Oaknet Healthcare, SMS Integrated Facilities Management & Gamot (API Pharma platform) and is involved in More Retail Limited.
Previously, Anchit was at Kubera Partners and was involved in seven investments and two exits with more than USD 100 million at work across sectors such as technology, media services, automotive ancillary, education and biotechnology. Prior to Kubera, he was an analyst with the corporate finance practice at McKinsey & Co.
Anchit has an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, Chicago and a B.Sc. in Computer Science from Delhi University. He also holds an MS (Finance) and a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Charter from ICFAI University, Hyderabad.


Vivek Chhachhi

Prior to joining the Investment Advisor in 2010, Mr. Chhachhi was a Director with CVCI, where he had about 15 years of investing experience. During his tenure with CVCI, Mr. Chhachhi worked to identify, manage and exit a large number of companies across a wide spectrum of industries including, among others, IT, pharmaceutical and specialty chemicals, IT enabled services, financial services, auto, metals and mining, infrastructure, oil and gas services, media and textiles. Prior to CVCI, Mr. Chhachhi had two years of experience as an equity research analyst at a Citi-affiliated brokerage firm, Citicorp Securities & Investments Limited. Mr. Chhachhi has served on the boards of the following Fund 1 portfolio companies — Thyrocare, Nueclear, Thyrocare Gulf, Sutures and Natco. Prior to this, Mr. Chhachhi also served as a board member or as an observer on the board of several CVCI portfolio companies, such as i-FLEX, Jubilant Organosys, Sasken Technologies, RelQ Software, Newgen Software, Himadri Industries, Techno Electric, IVRCL, Perlecan Pharma, International Tractors, Jai Balaji, and Globe Capital, among others. Mr. Chhachhi earned a master’s degree in Management Studies from the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, University of Mumbai and a B.Sc. degree in Computer Science from St. Stephen's College, Delhi University.


Nikhilkumar Srivastava

Nikhil Srivastava is a Partner and Managing Director, Head of India Private Equity at PAG, one of Asia's largest alternative investment managers with USD 45 billion in assets under management. He started PAG's India office and is currently investing from a USD 6 billion private equity fund. Prior to joining PAG, Mr. Srivastava spent almost a decade at KKR in India, Singapore, and the United States. Previously, he worked in investment banking at Goldman Sachs and was an early employee at Inphi (NYSE: IPHI). Mr. Srivastava has an MBA from Harvard Business School, a Masters in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering from BITS-Pilani where he graduated as University gold medallist. He is the author of several patents.


Anil Khubchandani

Anil has over 30 years of diverse experience across technical, commercial and managerial roles in the Life Science Industry. Before joining Sekhmet Pharmaventures, Anil was the Co- CEO & Whole-time Director at Jubilant Ingrevia Limited and has served as a strategic business leader, developed high-performing teams, and oversaw solutions and offerings of the company to the global customers. He also spearheaded several Global CDMO assignments and new business initiatives for Pharmaceutical Innovator companies.

Anil has an exemplary academic track record and is an alumnus of premium institutes like the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Indian Institute of Management (IIM), & Kellogg School of Management. He holds a B.Tec degree in Chemical Engineering from IIT, Varanasi , and holds Management certifications from IIM-Calcutta & Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Illinois, USA.