Seema Chaturvedi
Founder, Sponsor, Managing Partner, Investment Committee Member
Biography
Seema is Founder & Managing Partner of Achieving Women Equity (AWE) Funds to invest in innovative enterprises which positively impact gender balance, by investing in women owned, led, influenced companies in India building on the investment thesis that investing in women businesses delivers both commercial returns and economic development impact.
Seema has over 25 years of capital markets and financial management experience. As an entrepreneur and investor, she brings a unique perspective to the strategic planning and investment process.
Seema is extremely passionate about promoting entrepreneurship in general and women entrepreneurship in particular. She founded and leads as chairwoman TiE Global’s marquee women’s entrepreneurship program: Project All India Roadshow for Women’s Economic Empowerment through Entrepreneurship (AIRSWEEE), for which she obtained funding from the US Department of State for an unprecedented 6 consecutive rounds of funding and has directly mentored 575 women from 106 Tier 2 and 3 cities in 20 states in India. These women further impacted 6,500+ women through a pay-it-forward multiplier.
She has promoted two chapters of The IndUS Entrepreneurs (TiE) – a global organization with 61 chapters in 14 countries with the mission of fostering entrepreneurship. She is a former member of TiE Global Board of Trustees and was first woman member of the Board.
Previously, she was founder and managing director of Accelerator Group, LLC, an investment banking & strategic advisory services firm. Prior to this, she has worked with Amherst Partners, LLC, Shearson Lehman and JM Financial Services (later JM Morgan Stanley-Indian affiliate of Morgan Stanley).
As a prolific thought leader and speaker, Seema has been a guest lecturer at Johns Hopkins’ Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) on Gender Lens Investing & Women Economic Empowerment, invited to US Department of State’s International Speakers Program. Additionally, she has participated in several international conferences as a speaker including Mackinac Leadership Conference, IFC Healthcare Conference, Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, TiE Global Summit and Private Equity in India conferences. She is one of three invited advisors to Bain & Company’s seminal study on Women Entrepreneurship in India.
To support economic development, Seema has been a founding member of the Great Lakes Manufacturing Council (along with Michigan Economic Development Corp and many local development institutions, inaugurated by then Governor Jennifer Granholm) and has served on several boards including co-chairing Michigan IT Summit, Marygrove College in Michigan, International Business Council at Automation Alley. She served on the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) of Center for American Progress, Washington DC based progressive think-tank; the boards of TiE Detroit, TiE Miami and TiE Global and the Miami-Dade Urban Debate League. She is an invited member of Indiaspora, a by-invitation-only not-for-profit organization to amplify the positive impact of Indians.
Seema has received several honors including Global Achievers Award, United Nations Women: Community Impact Awards (2nd Runner Up), Forbes Finance Council, Business Rankers Women Achievers Award, Crain’s Detroit Business “40 under 40”, Crain’s Detroit Business “Detroit’s Most Influential Business Women,” Detroit Historical Society’s Detroit’s Enterprising Women, Asian Indian Women’s Association’s Women of Distinction, inducted to Michigan Hall of Fame for Enterprising Women, Certificate of Recognition form the US House of Representatives, named Crain’s Detroit Influential Women in Tech, Special Recognition Award for promoting Women Entrepreneurship by TiE Global, Founder of Most Innovative Women Entrepreneurs Program by TiE Global.
Seema holds a master’s degree in Finance from Boston College and an undergraduate degree with honors in Economics from Lady Shri Ram College of the Delhi University in India. She has also received Certificate in Corporate Board Readiness from Harvard Business School.