Alumni News

Kristal. AI manages investments worth over $1 billion dollars

Kristal.AI, a Singapore-based digital private wealth management platform, founded by IIMB alumnus Asheesh Chanda has exceeded USD $1 billion in Assets Under Management (AUM), essentially doubling its worldwide AUM over the last twelve months.

Asheesh Chanda, Founder and CEO, Kristal.AI said, “The mass affluent and emerging HNWI class of investors in Asia are growing exponentially. As we cross the US$1B mark in AUM, we intend to fully capture this segment and have tailored our private wealth solutions to address their needs. Since our inception, we have always prided ourselves on relentless innovation and digitalization and this is showcased through our platform, which offers hybrid investment advisory combining the high tech of AI and the high touch of human experts.”


Indian venture debt platform 8vdX expands to UK, Singapore and Australia

8vdX Founders: Vijay Lavhale and Ravi Chachra

8vdX founded by Ravi Chachra and IIMB Alumnus Vijay Lavhale, to offer cross-border venture debt, or a type of finance, to start-ups through local entities in the new geography. By 2024, 8vdX said it aims to fund 100 start-ups with assets under management of $200 million and also has plans to expand to Singapore and Australia.

“We aim to offer a cross-border venture debt solution to the start-ups in these countries so that founders can spend more time on their businesses and less time on chasing small ticket investors. Start-ups do not require the ‘flip’ process in order to raise cash.


IIMB Alumni Keerthi Prakash appointed as Renault Nissan Automotive India Chief

Nissan, the Japanese manufacturer, has announced that Keerthi Prakash would begin leading operations at the company’s alliance facility in Chennai on September 1 as the Managing Director of Renault Nissan Automotive India Pvt Ltd (RNAIPL), effective immediately.

“Keerthi has a wealth of production and engineering experience, having held numerous management and senior management positions within the plant since 2008. I also thank Biju for his dedication to RNAIPL throughout his 14 years at the plant. His contribution has been pivotal to RNAIPL’s transformation,” Frank Torres, President of Nissan India Operations, said in a statement.

Keerthi, who has over 20 years of expertise in the automotive industry, started working at the company in 2008. He takes over for Biju Balendran, who chose to look for possibilities outside of Nissan. In his new position, Keerthi will report to Roddy Macleod, Vice-President of Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management for Africa, the Middle East, and India, and will also report to Torres.


FPM Alumni Dr Ankur Arora files 100 Patents Globally

Dr Ankur Arora, Vice President and Data Scientist at Mastercard AI Garage, came in third place among Mastercard’s 100 global patent applications. The technologies covered by the submitted patents include blockchain, fraud and risk detection, graph learning, and time series forecasting. These filed patents have aided in the creation of incredible products and the advancement of research at Mastercard.

We wish you many congratulations.


IIM Bangalore’s One-Year EPGP shines in Bloomberg Best B-Schools Survey 2022

As #1 in India and #5 in APAC, the Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management notches up high scores on Learning, Networking,  Entrepreneurship, and Compensation.

The one-year fulltime Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management (EPGP), offered to experienced professionals by Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB), has been ranked the best in India and #5 in the APAC region, in the Bloomberg Best Business-Schools Survey 2022, announced last evening.

The programme is India’s top ranked one for experienced professionals in the APAC region in the Bloomberg survey.

Professor Rishikesha T Krishnan, Director, IIM Bangalore, said: “IIMB works hard at educating leaders who will think broadly of their role in society and foster inclusive innovation and growth. It is a good feeling when rankings, global and national, reflect our efforts.”

In India, IIM Bangalore bested ISB this year, reversing the ranking order from last year’s survey results. Globally, IIM Bangalore is just after NUS Singapore in Bloomberg’s APAC region ranking.


FT B-school rankings (MiM): IIM Bangalore Reinforces Leadership Position

From Eduniversal and QS to the latest FT Masters in Management Ranking 2022, IIMB is ranked #1 in India; the IIMB two-year PGP is #31 globally in the FT MiM ranking, up 16 places

Indian Institute of Management Bangalore has been declared India’s Best B-school in the Financial Times (FT) Masters in Management (MiM) Ranking 2022, announced this morning. 

The school’s global position has also seen a significant leap this year – IIMB is at #31 globally in 2022, up from #47 in 2021. IIMB has topped this year’s FT MiM global ranking on parameters such as faculty with doctorates, graduates’ weighted salary (US$), and graduates employed at three months.

“We are happy that our focus on excellence is being consistently reflected in national and global rankings. IIMB’s leadership position in these rankings play a part in raising the visibility and reputation of the school,” said IIMB Director Professor Rishikesha T Krishnan.

In the FT MiM Global Ranking 2022, IIMB has scored significantly well in terms of faculty with doctorates, women on the school’s board, female students, and international mobility of its graduates. The school has also scored extremely well in terms of average salaries as reported by its graduates. The B-school’s graduates have among the highest weighted salaries, not only in India, but among the top 100 FT MiM schools around the world, and have rated their school highly for helping them achieve their professional aims and for career advice.