Darren has over 8 years of experience working with early-stage impact enterprises. He is part of the Aavishkaar Africa Fund focusing on fundraising and scouting for early-stage investment opportunities in Agribusiness, Financial Services, Clean Energy, Healthcare, Education, WASH, and Technology across Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Nigeria.

Prior to Aavishkaar, Darren worked at Intellecap facilitating investments into high impact enterprises through the Intellecap Impact Investment Network (I3N). He worked actively with enterprises and investors to facilitate investment closure, supporting business plan preparation, due diligence, and term sheet negotiations. He has worked with over 100+ enterprises facilitating investments into 15+ enterprises across India and East Africa in sectors like Agriculture, Fin-tech, Healthcare, Citizen-Gov Services, and Technology.

In East Africa Darren helped set up the region’s first angel investment network focused on investing in impact enterprises across Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Uganda. He helped facilitate the network’s first three investments in the region – a Rwanda based mushroom production company and a Fruits & Vegetables export business and a Kenya based coffee trading company.

Prior to Intellecap, Darren Co-founded Grassroutes Journeys Private Limited, a community based rural tourism venture where he helped set up first the first 3 villages run by Grassroutes.

Darren has a Masters in Rural Management from Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar and a Bachelor’s in Commerce from Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics, Mumbai.