Meet woman, an Indian who built company, sold it after 5 years for Rs 5480 crore due to...

Many Indians who worked abroad have returned to India to start their own businesses and Vani Kola is one such individual. A venture capitalist, Vani spent 22 years working in US' Silicon Valley before founding Kalaari Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm in India.

Born in Hyderabad, Vani graduated with an engineering degree from Osmania University and then moved to the US to complete her master's at Arizona State University. In 1996, she founded the e-procurement company RightWorks, which she sold to ICG for USD 657 million (approximately Rs 5480 crore today) after five years. She later founded and sold Certus Software before returning to India to start her venture capital firm.

Vani collaborated with Vinod Dham and Kuar Shiralagi to launch the Indo-US Venture Partners fund, supported by New Enterprise Associates (NEA). After four years, NEA exited the joint venture, and in 2012, Vani rebranded the fund as Kalaari Capital. Her firm has raised USD 850 million and funded over 110 startups, the company's website said.

Vani is an avid reader and enjoys writing and sharing her thoughts. She is also a nature enthusiast. She has 87.7K followers on X. In the 2000s, she was an adventurous hiker and runner, having scaled Mount Kilimanjaro and participated in multiple marathons. Vani is married to Srinivas Kola and is a mother of two daughters.