Mahesh Yagnaraman is a seasoned CEO and entrepreneur with a wealth of experience in building and scaling businesses across different continents. With a MBA in Marketing and Finance from XLRI Jamshedpur, Yagnaraman's professional journey began at Unilever, where he held various roles in Sales, Sales Development, Category Management, and Key Customer Management. He took on Trade Marketing and Strategy Development in Castrol and BP, becoming the Director of Global Trends for BP Worldwide. In 2015, he was conferred the honor of Distinguished Alumnus from XLRI in recognition of his work in entrepreneurship and the energy sector.<br><br>

As the founder and CEO of First Energy, an alternative energy business in India, Yagnaraman led the transition of the company from within an MNC to an independent company. He built the company from project stage, initially serving underserved rural consumers before transforming its business model to focus on commercial enterprises with an alternative energy solution. First Energy was eventually acquired in strategic sale for its pioneering efforts in the B2B renewable energy business. Currently, Yagnaraman is the India Country Director at Acumen and an advisor at Khosla Impact.<br><br>

Yagnaraman's areas of expertise include building businesses from scratch to scale, strategy development, marketing, distribution, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), B2B, energy, and renewable energy.