Ajay Ramasubramaniam is a Mumbai-based startup builder who ran Zone Startups India for Ryerson Futures and now leads Startup Réseau and Hindsight Ventures.
About
Ajay Ramasubramaniam holds an MBA in Marketing and Finance from the Indian Institute of Planning and Management and has spent roughly two decades setting up and growing businesses across East Africa, Vietnam, Canada and India. By his own account he spent 2009 to 2013 working for the Government of Ontario, then in 2013-14 helped build out the India business of an Ottawa-based edtech company, before moving into venture-building work in earnest. From 2014 to 2019 he was Director of Zone Startups India, the Mumbai arm of the Zone Startups accelerator network run by Ryerson Futures (now Toronto Metropolitan University's innovation arm). In that role he helped bring the Zone Startups model, and Ontario government-backed programming for Indian startups, into India and Vietnam, and wrote for outlets such as Entrepreneur India as Director of the program. Along the way he also co-founded and directed Fintegrate Zone, a related venture-building effort. He now runs Startup Réseau, a Mumbai company he describes as an ecosystem builder connecting enterprise, markets, capital and services for startups in emerging economies, and has co-founded Hindsight Ventures alongside it. He continues to work what he calls the India-Canada and Africa-India corridor, speaking at industry gatherings such as the Black Swan Summit and the Bharat Fintech Summit on startup ecosystems, corporate innovation and market entry in Asia and Africa.
Work and impact
Ramasubramaniam spent five years directing Zone Startups India, the Indian outpost of a global accelerator network built by Ryerson Futures, where his work included Government of Ontario-backed programs recognizing and supporting Indian startups. That put him at the center of one of the more visible Canada-India startup bridges of the 2010s, helping Canadian institutions gain a foothold in the Indian market and Indian founders get access to Canadian networks and capital. He has since built Startup Réseau to do similar ecosystem-building work independently across emerging markets, and co-founded Hindsight Ventures. Founders, corporate innovation teams and government programs working the India-Southeast Asia-Africa corridor are the ones who draw on that experience today.
Canadian story
My Canada story: Worked for Government of Ontario from 2009-13 Built out the India business of an Ottawa based edtech from 2013-2014 Worked for Ryerson Futures setting up business in India and Vietnam from 2014-2019 Recognised as a “Friend of Canada” at the celebrations around 150th anniversary of the confederation in 2017 Continue to work in the India-Canada and Africa-India corridor cutting across technology, innovation, entrepreneurship and economic development
Highlights
- Director, Zone Startups India (Ryerson Futures Network), 2014-2019
- Founder & CEO, Startup Réseau
- Co-founder, Hindsight Ventures
- Co-founder & Director, Fintegrate Zone
- MBA (Marketing & Finance), Indian Institute of Planning and Management
- Contributor, Entrepreneur India
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