About

Amit Somani is a Managing Partner at Prime Venture Partners (PVP), an early-stage fund based in Bangalore, India. With over 20 years of experience in leadership roles at companies such as Makemytrip, Google, and IBM, Amit brings a combination of first-hand entrepreneurial experience, operating expertise, and meaningful capital to PVP. The current fund of US $72M is focused on investing in disruptive product companies out of India, with a particular focus on Fintech & SaaS. Amit actively engages with the startup ecosystem and volunteers with iSpirit, NASSCOM, and TiE. He was a part of the leadership team that took Makemytrip public on NASDAQ in 2010 and was also the head of various teams focusing on search, mobile, and advertisement products at Google. One of his products, the search-based keyword tool, won the Google founder's award. Apart from his professional experience, Amit has traveled to over 50 countries and worked with and managed folks in several countries, including Silicon Valley, India, China, Japan, Germany, and Israel. He has also been granted eight US patents and has won several global awards for his work in innovation, including the Best Global Innovation Award in B2C category for RoutePlanner at PhocusWright Miami 2013. At PVP, Amit is responsible for identifying unique differentiated ideas that solve 'real' problems and are powered by technology and product, serving big markets. The fund writes an early stage check of typically $1-1.5M and reserves another $2.5-4M per company for their follow-on financing. All partners work actively with the entrepreneurs post-investment for 12-18 months. PVP has invested in 22 companies life to date, including MyGate, MoneyTap, WheelsEye, KredX, Niyo, Happay, Quizizz, and more. Amit holds a Master of Science degree in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Bachelor of Technology degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Varanasi. He is also skilled in various technologies such as search, research scientist, mobile, and web. Amit is an accomplished professional with 27.80 years of relevant experience and is passionate about helping entrepreneurs succeed.