Indian American Arjun Gupta Named Chairman of Newly Formed Investment Capital Advisory Committee
- The founder and Chief Believer at TeleSoft Partners is among 14 members who will advise the Small Business Administration in the development of a more inclusive and accessible ecosystem for small businesses nationwide.
Indian American Arjun Gupta, founder and Chief Believer at TeleSoft Partners, a special situations venture capital firm, has been named chairman of the newly established federal Investment Capital Advisory Committee (ICAC), Small Business Administration head Casillas Guzman announced last week. He is among 14 members who will advise the Small Business Administration in the development of a more inclusive and accessible ecosystem for small businesses nationwide.
The ICAC, formed “to increase small businesses and startups’ access to investment capital, consists of members with diverse perspectives, experiences, and occupational backgrounds in and related to the U.S. private investment industry,” the SBA said. The committee’s main objective is “to promote, expand, and strengthen the ecosystem of private funds financing U.S. small businesses and startups, to fund entrepreneurs and small business owners from traditionally underserved communities.”
Over the last two decades, Gupta has “overseen investing in and helping build over 60 private companies, resulting in several acquisitions and IPOs to date,” according to his company profile. In his current role at Telesoft, “he has raised capital commitments of more than $625 million and has established several corporate partnerships,” the profile said. He serves on the boards of Calient Technologies, Nexant and Validity Sensors, and is also president of the AG Community Foundation, which he launched in 2001.
Earlier in his career, he was a strategy consultant with McKinsey & Company, and a software engineer with Tektronix, Inc. He holds a BA (honors) in Economics from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, an MS and BS, Phi Beta Kappa, in Computer Science from Washington State University, and a MBA from Stanford. He is a member of the 2001 class of Henry Crown Fellows and a trustee of the Aspen Institute.
In 2013, Gupta joined a new ownership group to purchase the Sacramento Kings NBA basketball team and to help revitalize the city of Sacramento. A passionate outdoorsman, he was a liaison officer with the Indian Mountaineering Foundation and has climbed with six Himalayan expeditions to peaks over 20,000 feet. He was a member of the 100th Anniversary Ski Expeditions to the North Pole and to the South Pole. Based on his work in conservation over the last 30+ years, he was elected a Fellow of the Explorer’s Club (USA) and a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society (UK). FAO of the UN, appointed Arjun a UN Mountain Partnership Ambassador.