Hardika Shah – Founder & CEO, Kinara

Hardika Shah is the Founder and CEO of Kinara, a Bangalore based social enterprise that provides debt in the range of Rs.1Lac to Rs.10Lacs (~$2K-$20K) to micro and small enterprises in India filling the gap between microfinance and commercial capital. Kinara works with partners (buyers, trade organizations, franchisors) across supply chains to source and fund small scale manufacturing businesses and agriculture and renewable energy franchisees.
Prior to launching Kinara, Hardika was an accomplished executive with nearly 20 years of management consulting experience across multiple industries (Government, Financial Services, Insurance, and High Tech) and across borders (US, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, UK, Sweden and India) at Accenture.  Hardika has led teams of 200+, managed budgets of $50+M, and assisted and delivered sales of $100+M over the course of her career.
Hardika established a deep understanding of the social business landscape through her work with Santa Clara University, Stanford University, Accenture Development Partnerships and the Acumen Fund.  Since 2004, Hardika has served as a business mentor for Santa Clara University’s Global Social Benefit Incubator (GSBI) advising over a dozen social enterprises.  Hardika has also been a mentor at the Haas School of Business Social Sector Solutions program (2007), Stanford University’s Digital Visions program (2006-2007) and BASES Social e-Challenge (2009). In 2010, Hardika led the Social Enterprise-West Program for Columbia Business School.
Hardika earned her Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Knox College, Illinois and her executive MBA (Joint Program) from the Haas School of Business, University of California-Berkeley, and Columbia Business School, Columbia University, NY.