Shashi Srikantan

Shashi Srikantan serves as the Managing Director and Head of Level Up Ventures at Hearst, focusing on investments in early-stage, tech-enabled startups led by Black and Latino founders. Srikantan also holds roles as a member of Global Women in VC and a scout for HearstLab, assisting in the evaluation of potential investments and advising early-stage, women-led startups. Previously, Srikantan was the Global Lead for Project Two.Eight, which supports female founders through workshops and mentorship. With a career spanning over a decade at Fitch Ratings as a Director in Sustainable Finance and as the founder of PLVSH, a fashion-tech company, Srikantan has extensive experience in structured finance, corporate development, and operations strategy. Srikantan earned an MBA from Columbia Business School and a B.S. in Business Administration with a focus on finance from Villanova University.