The Gray Ghost Ventures (GGV) team brings to the social investment arena diverse public and private sector experience. Our team includes professionals with expertise in investment banking, corporate finance, non-profit management and international development. We take a proactive and creative approach to addressing the funding needs of our investment partners and collaborate to provide the knowledge, insight and support our investees need to grow and succeed.

 

Rusabh Ashar
Finance Manager,
Gray Ghost Ventures
Rusabh is a member of the Accounting and Finance Team within Gray Ghost Ventures. As a Finance Manager, Rusabh is responsible for the diverse accounting, organizational, and fundraising needs of GGV's affiliated funds. He oversees all the day-to-day accounting activities.

Prior to joining Gray Ghost Ventures, Rusabh was a real estate-fund associate in Morgan Stanley’s MSREF Domestic Funds where his primary responsibilities included preparation of fund financial statements and investor statements, as well as tracking of fund investments. Prior to Morgan Stanley, he worked at Ernst & Young (E&Y) in their Financial Services Office – Asset Management practice. As senior auditor at E&Y, Rusabh worked on various hedge fund and private equity clients auditing the fund financial statements and performing investment valuation.

Rusabh received his Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from Georgia State University. He is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the state of Georgia and a Level II Chartered Financial Analyst candidate. He is fluent in English, Hindi and Gujarati.

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Brian Cayce
Vice President,
Social Venture Group
Brian brings experience in both the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors in developed and developing countries. He has been involved with sourcing, underwriting, monitoring and managing direct investments in innovative early-stage ventures since joining GGV in 2005. He was instrumental in establishing SVG, as well as building the initial GMC social investment portfolio.

Previously, he served as an early employee of Benevolink, where he was involved in a variety of aspects of product, technology, and business development. Brian has also held positions at CARE International, where he was Deputy Director for the southern Balkans offices, and KPMG, here he served as a Consultant in the business valuations practice. Brian began his career as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer in Turkmenistan, Central Asia.

Brian is a Kauffman Fellow and is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Georgia Honors Program, where he earned a BA summa cum laude. Brian also holds an MBA in Finance from Georgia State University and is proficient in Russian.

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Nikhil Dandavati
Investment Analyst,
First Light Ventures
As an analyst, Nikhil conducts diligence on potential investments and provides ongoing support to portfolio companies. He joined First Light after co-founding the Unreasonable Institute, an incubator for high-impact entrepreneurs. He gained his initial exposure to venture capital in Hyderabad, India, through his work with the NASSCOM-ICICI Innovation Fund and began to pursue his entrepreneurial aspirations by setting the groundwork for a medical device company in Boulder. He continues this pursuit with a company that helps make higher education more affordable for students in the Rocky Mountain region. Nikhil received his B.S. in finance from the University of Colorado.

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Arun Gore
President and CEO,
Gray Ghost Ventures
As the President and CEO, Arun assumes full responsibility for the general management and day-to-day operations of Gray Ghost Ventures. He also serves in a portfolio management capacity and plays a governance role as a board member for a number of Portfolio Companies.

Arun brings an extensive background in mobile telecommunications, finance and operations. His 30 years of experience in the United States and India, which includes serving as a member of the executive team at T-Mobile USA as the Chief Financial Officer of Cook Inlet T-Mobile, has been valuable in underwriting the investment opportunities and working with the entrepreneurs of Portfolio Companies. Arun also brings a wealth of entrepreneurial experience as the prior owner and manager of various start-up businesses.

Since 2006, Arun has been actively engaged in promoting the Social Venture Group within GGV. In 2008, his role as Managing Director included responsibility for overseeing the development, evaluation, governance and operational management of the social venture portfolio. Arun is a native of Chennai, India. He completed his undergraduate studies in India and holds dual degrees: a BSc in the Sciences and a BS in Accounting. He completed post-graduate studies in the United States and holds an MBA in Finance.

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Mark Hand
Investment Analyst,
First Light Ventures
As an analyst, Mark conducts diligence on potential First Light investments and supports existing investments as they seek to grow their companies to their next round of funding. Prior to First Light, Mark worked for four years in community development organizations in the US and developing countries, including serving as the founding Director of a community development site in Ecuador for Manna Project International. Mark received a B.A. in International Political Economy from Vanderbilt University.

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John Hardman
Investment Manager,
First Light Ventures
John is the Investment Manager for First Light Ventures, an early-stage impact investment fund affiliated with Gray Ghost Ventures. Both First Light and Gray Ghost believe in the potential of entrepreneurs to develop sustainable, market-based solutions to the challenges faced by customers living in low-income communities worldwide. As the Investment Manager, John oversees the operational management of First Light and the team’s efforts in sourcing, developing, and managing the First Light portfolio.

Prior to joining First Light, John provided business and legal advisory services to start-ups, individuals and small companies through his own firm, practiced law within the corporate group of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, and worked at Synovus Financial Corporation. Among his volunteer and developing world experience, John spent a year teaching economics, social studies and English in the Dominican Republic and served as an election monitor during the 2008 Nepalese elections.

John has a MBA from INSEAD, a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law, and a B.A. from Stanford University, and is involved in numerous nonprofit and community organizations in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Bahniman Hazarika
Senior Investment Analyst,
Social Venture Group
As Senior Investment Analyst, Bahniman brings to the team extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, growth equity, buyouts and restructuring. He works closely with the Principals to source, evaluate and execute investment opportunities, as well as build, monitor and manage the portfolios under management.

Prior to joining the Manager, Bahniman worked at Viscogliosi Brothers LLC, a New York based Private Equity firm and held positions with Navigation Capital Partners (NCP), Atlanta and Ernst & Young (E&Y), in New Delhi, India. As an Investment Manager at NCP, he worked on M&A transactions and completed technology related investments. During his tenure at E&Y India, he worked as an Associate Consultant in the Business & Risk Advisory Practice, advising companies in the Indian subcontinent on issues related to performance improvement, restructuring and enterprise-wide risk management.

Bahniman is a native of Guwahati, India, and is fluent in Hindi, Assamese and English, with basic proficiency in Bengali and Punjabi. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting from Shriram College of Commerce (University of Delhi) and a CIA (Certified Internal Auditor) designation from the Institute of Internal Auditors, Florida. He earned his MBA with a concentration in Finance and Accounting from Emory University in, Atlanta.

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Margaret Yuan
Investment Analyst,
Social Venture Group
As an Investment Analyst, Margaret brings to the team valuable transaction origination and execution experience. She works closely with the Principals and Senior Investment Analyst in evaluating new investments and follow-on opportunities, conducting due diligence, and performing financial analysis. She is also actively engaged in the portfolio monitoring process and contributes to the industry’s social metrics platform.

Prior to joining Gray Ghost, Margaret worked at Chatham Capital, a Mezzanine Finance firm specializing in growth and acquisition capital in Atlanta, GA. While at Chatham, she helped source, evaluate and underwrite both originated and syndicated transactions. She was also an integral part of Chatham’s fundraising efforts and assisted in managing investor relations.

Margaret holds a BBA/BA in Finance and Biology and a Minor in Chinese Language from Emory University in Atlanta. She is fluent in English and Mandarin.

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