“Entrepreneurship has always given me the ideal opportunity to take calculated risks and turn my passion into a reality. Overcoming the challenges it poses helps me to grow multifariously each day.”
Vandana Tolani (Founder & CEO, Convanto)
Mark Twain explained the lure of entrepreneurship best when he wrote, “Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. With a voracious appetite, Vandana Tolani, the Founder & CEO of Convanto always had the desire to explore and discover the world of entrepreneurship.
Vandana had her own family office in Singapore and Jakarta. She worked as an Investment Banker & Advisor to family offices and angel investors in Jakarta and Indonesia, helping start-ups from diverse backgrounds like Fin-Tech, B2B Tech, and consumer startups. Her work revolved around raising funds for them. After 15 years of staying in Singapore and Jakarta, she came back to India. Here, she did different investments but then decided to return to the advisory. The switch from investment to advisory led to the creation of Convanto, an acronym for Consultant Vandana Tolani.
Today, she is also a Venture Advisor with Loyal VC, the INSEAD-led Canadian VC Fund, with a core portfolio of over 160 investments in more than 35 countries. She is also a Partner with a Silicon Valley-based Venture builder.
Over the years, she has arranged funding for startups & growth-stage companies in diverse sectors like EdTech, FinTech, Consumer B2C & B2B, AgriTech, Health-tech, Food- tech, Disruptive & DeepTech as well as non-tech sectors.
VANDANA’S LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY
Leadership is a hard row to hoe but success only comes to those who dare to attempt. Vandana’s structured approach to leading others has not only guided her in decision-making but has also helped her establish core principles, perspectives, and values within the company.
Vandana prioritizes a people-centric and a customer-focused approach as she believes that this mindset proactively seeks ways to improve the total experience, leading to happier clients and increased profits.
Furthermore, she masters the art of managing her team and understanding their strengths and weaknesses to get a far deeper understanding of the team’s dynamics and potential.
CONVANTO: A BOUTIQUE INVESTMENT BANKING FIRM
Convanto is a highly renowned boutique investment banking firm led by Vandana that focuses on fundraising and consulting early-stage startups. Over the years, Convanto has successfully executed fundraising assignments for various Fintech, B2B Tech, and D2C startups.
With a range of services aimed at enabling young start-ups, Convanto works with intellectual professionals that help start-ups with services like Fund Raising, Marketing & Growth Advisory, GTM Strategic Advisory, and Value-added services like Building Investor Presentations and Financial Models.
CONVANTO STAND OUT FROM ITS COMPETITORS
Convanto, a highly acclaimed consulting firm establishes itself unique in the corporate landscape by consistently delivering top-notch services. Moreover, in an industry that is highly male-dominated, Convanto is one of the few boutique investment banks led by a woman. Vandana’s intensifying approach towards her business sets Convanto apart from similar-sized players in the market.
MAINTAINING HEALTHY CLIENT RELATIONSHIPS
Vandana deals with big, small, and medium-sized businesses that are in need of any kind of funding along with documentation. Vandana positions herself as a highly competent and self-reliant businesswoman as it helps her build trust with clients.
“When it comes to developing strong client connections, communication holds pivotal importance. We develop open channels of contact with our clients so that they can freely share feedback and suggestions,” Vandana mentioned.
THE CORE VALUES
Vandana with distinctive core values tries to create unity and synchronicity within employees toward a common goal.
“Transparency is our key as it encourages honest and two-way communication between me and my team. Subsequently, it increases trust & communication and generates greater employee engagement,” Vandana asserted.
VANDANA’S VISION FOR CONVANTO
As per Vandana, companies that have a strong organizational culture and optimize key resources throughout the phases of a long-term strategy are able to better articulate their business objectives to a targeted audience, increase sales, and experience success.
The leaders who run the companies, execute and update their plans, help their employees to learn and excel while maintaining the companies values and market competitiveness, thereby helping the organizations to become leaders in their respective industries. Convanto is one such company that works around these goals.
ADVICE FOR BUDDING WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS
Vandana shares four great pieces of advice for the leaders of tomorrow:
- Maintain a clear perspective as it enhances the chances of making better decisions
- Hath faith in your choices; never underestimate yourself
- Maintain consistency as it establishes awareness, builds trust, and helps in delivering services efficiently
- Understand your target market as having a thorough grasp of it can aid in making strategic decisions
AWARDS & MILESTONES
Vandana has added many feathers to her cap quite recently. Some of them are:
- Recognition under Top 10 consulting firms by a female founder and Women entrepreneur of the year 2021
- Listed among Top 10 Women Leaders in Wealth Management 2021
Her firm Convanto has also been the recipient of many awards and accolades. It has been:
- Listed under the top 10 women entrepreneur brands along with Nykaa
- Listed under Top 10 Futuristic Women in 2022 along with Nykaa
- Awarded by Kiran Bedi for The Best Financial Institution for Supporting Startups in Feb 2022
WORDS THAT INSPIRE HER
“We’ve been making our own opportunities, and as you prove your worth and value to people, they can’t put you in a box. You hustle it into happening, right?” — Jennifer Lopez
Vandana, through her highly esteemed fundraising and consulting company Convanto, has done 165 investments in more than 35 countries. She wishes to do more investments and help growing start-ups with their fundraising and documentation work and envisions doing C, D, and E series funding in the coming years.
