Venture capital firm, Sequoia India and Southeast Asia have launched a new platform, Pathfinders, which will connect early-stage founders from India and Southeast Asia with global operators who can help these companies succeed in new markets with a strong focus on the US.
About Pathfinders
Pathfinders will leverage the international network that Sequoia has built over 50 years to give companies they partner with a head start in their global ambitions. Founders will provide their feedback on working with an individual pathfinder, which will be shared with the next set of founders getting these individuals onboard so they can make an informed choice that is predicted not only on the experience of the individual but also on how they have helped companies in the past.
For the operators, the program will be an opportunity to invest in promising tech companies from the region alongside Sequoia Capital India and Southeast Asia, at the same terms and with no commercials to Sequoia. It also lets them give back to the next generation of startup founders. Pathfinders is entirely pro bono, which means there’s no commercial benefit to Sequoia.
Glowing feedbacks
“Over the past year, we have onboarded 25 Pathfinders to the platform to include exceptional executives from unicorns to large tech companies across sales, marketing, product management, and engineering. Six of our companies have already received investments and mentorship from our Pathfinders and feedback has been unanimously glowing. We intend to scale the platform significantly over the next year by onboarding more Pathfinders and portfolio companies.” said Harshjit Sethi, Managing Director, Sequoia India.
Operators in the program
The operators participating in the program will be founders/CXOs from Silicon Valley-based technology companies, including Amit Singh (President, Palo Alto Networks), Oliver Jay (ex CRO, Asana), Param Kalhon (CPO, UIPath) Prasanna Sankar (Cofounder, Rippling), Pratyus Pattnaik (Snr Director of Engineering, Okta), Sandeep Johri (former CEO, Tricentis) and more.