Prashanth Prakash
Founding Partner, Accel
Prashanth Prakash has been at the heart of the start-up ecosystem since its very inception. He is a founding partner of a venture capital firm Accel Partners in India.
A trailblazer from the outset, he founded Visual Reality - one of India’s first animation companies in 1995. He co-founded NetKraft in 1997 successfully positioning it as a leading offshore solutions provider specializing in the retail and healthcare verticals.
Since 2004, Prashanth has been a pivotal figure in the venture capital landscape, contributing significantly to the evolution of Karnataka's and India's startup ecosystem. A pioneer in the field, he co-founded Erasmic Ventures in 2004, an early seed fund that invested in technology startups. Erasmic Ventures later morphed into Accel India, one of the earliest global venture funds to enter India. Prashanth has played a foundational role in shaping some of India's most successful and category-defining startups, including Flipkart, Ola, Freshworks, Bookmyshow, and Swiggy, among others.
His primary focus spans across digital-first consumer brands, B2B, Agritech, and SaaS. Prashanth has spearheaded investments in over 35+ Indian technology startups and serves as a Board member for more than 30 companies.
He holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science Engineering from Bangalore University, followed by a Master's degree in Computer Science from the University of Delaware, USA. Additionally, he has earned a Doctorate from the University of Mysore.
Serving as a Member of the National Startup Advisory Council, Government of India, Prashanth plays a pivotal role in shaping the future trajectory of India's startup ecosystem. His initiatives include pioneering a National Incubator Capacity Development Program and leading various other impactful projects.
As the Chairman of Karnataka's Vision Group for startups, Prashanth acts as a crucial link between startups, entrepreneurs, investors, and the state government. He has played a key role in crafting an enabling policy framework, essential for the development of Karnataka as a robust startup hub.
Under his leadership, the Vision Group has successfully launched transformative initiatives such as Elevate, Unnati, Innovation Hub, Talent Accelerator, KA Technology Mission, Bengaluru Tech Summit, KA Digital Economy Mission, and more. These initiatives have played a key role in propelling Bengaluru into its current status as India's startup capital.
Prashanth's commitment extends far beyond the startup realm. He has been passionate about giving back to the community and has generously borrowed lessons and learnings from the startup world to bring disruptive thinking and efficiency and create large-scale impact in society.
Collaborating with a diverse range of stakeholders including the government, NGOs, and the private sector, Prashanth has championed the concept of social entrepreneurship. Rallying their support, he has pushed for scale-thinking and the use of technology platforms to solve some of the toughest problems India is facing across environment, education, healthcare, and more.
His latest and most ambitious initiative is UnboxingBLR Foundation - a unique city-focused platform documenting Bengaluru's evolution as India's tech and startup capital. As its chairman and a blue-blooded Bangalorean, Prashanth strives to fortify Bengaluru's soft infrastructure, celebrate its cultural heritage, and foster vibrancy.
Initiatives include a contemporary biography of Bengaluru - ‘Unboxing Bengaluru - The City of New Beginnings’ co-authored by Prashanth, a forthcoming docu-series capturing the city's essence, and the Unboxing BLR Habba, a city-wide 10-day festival aspiring to become India's largest cultural celebration. Also, India’s first startup, tech and innovation museum is being envisaged. An annual data report that offers a granular view of different aspects of the city’s journey and evolution is on the cards too.
Since 2007, as the Chairman of the Sikshana Foundation, he has been working to improve the learning levels of students in government schools and Anganwadis. By far, the Prerana initiative has spread across 50,000 government schools in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra and Gujarat and has impacted 3 million students already. Also, his project that further shaped to the "Born Learning" program addresses the developmental needs of preschool children, expanding beyond the city to make a broader impact. Today, the National Education Policy also recognizes the learning and developmental needs of children from age 3 and not age 6.
With Krishi Kalpa Foundation, he is involved in efforts to increase incomes and livelihood opportunities for small and marginal farmers. He was also appointed advisor to the chief minister of Karnataka (strategy & planning) where he helped conceptualise Bengaluru Missions 2022.
Prashanth’s contribution during the pandemic has been unparalleled. With his belief that ‘anything is possible through the power of collective action’, he co-founded ACT Grants - Action Covid Taskforce with a 100 Cr fund by a collective of venture capitalists, tech entrepreneurs and social impact leaders who pooled their strengths to raise funds and deploy resources wherever
needed; actioning prevention protocols, providing oxygen concentrators, pioneering tele-ICU services, driving vaccinations & enabling mental health counselling. They stopped at nothing to deliver whatever the country critically needed during the COVID-19 1st and 2nd waves. Today, ACT is a robust community of people with expertise and goodwill who are working together to seed innovations that can address complex social problems at scale; across education, healthcare, climate action and gender inclusivity.
Prakash has initiated and also sponsored multiple initiatives to rejuvenate the ecology and environment in Karnataka. He currently serves as a chairperson of the United Way of Bengaluru (UWBe), a global social organization that works with multiple stakeholders to tackle environmental challenges faced by urban communities.
Under his stewardship, its ‘Wake the Lake’ campaign has already rejuvenated 35-plus lakes in the country. Besides this, Prakash has led other initiatives to conserve the rich biodiversity and heritage of Nandi Hills. A strong proponent of sustainable eco-tourism, he has been the brainchild behind Nandi Habba 2018. To create awareness around plastic waste and littering in Bengaluru, he was part of the initiative that organized PlogRuns across 50 localities in Bengaluru.
Prakash has been a keen wildlife enthusiast and conservationist. He co-produced the award winning documentary film “Wild Karnataka” which was narrated by Sir Richard Attenborough. The film helped promote and bring awareness about India’s splendid wildlife flora & fauna.
A strong ambassador of gender diversity and women empowerment, in 2019 Prakash backed “Under The Raintree” a women’s cultural festival as its main sponsor. The festival, a registered partner of the UN partnerships for SDGs, was themed on “Women Empowering Women”. It brought women from different walks of life to interact, inspire and influence positive change.
Intending to contribute to policy deliberations in the areas of technology and science, Prakash serves on the board of the independent think-tank The Takshashila Institution. Prashanth has also inspired India’s Young Billionaires and co-founded The Young Indian Philanthropic Pledge which is a commitment by India’s Young change-makers to dedicate a minimum of 25% of their wealth to enhance Global change, starting with India. Prashanth also serves as the Vice Chairman of Parks of Bangalore, chaired a mission that has already rejuvenated 35 plus lakes in the country, chaired an initiative to capture rainwater and sink it into the ground through pits/wells intending to raise the groundwater table over a while and also is leading many afforestation activities.
