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Monish Pathare is Lightbox’s in-house data scientist and is almost always buried in reams of data to derive actionable insights for the Lightbox investment team. Driven by the desire to solve complex problems and empower entrepreneurs, his passion for technology, data analytics and startups converge to craft innovative, out-of-the-box solutions that have a deep impact on the firm’s investment processes.
Monish developed a deep interest in machine learning and analytics while pursuing mechanical engineering from IIT Bombay. In his second year at college, an internship with Hero MotorCorp got him involved with two projects (optimising production at the factory level and automating workforce deployment), both of which received positive feedback. The experience taught him that grit, faith and creative thinking could deliver impactful outcomes. He started his career in data science with EXL Analytics, working on market intelligence focused on the retail and media sectors. His interest in data science inevitably sparked an interest in startups and after eight months of mentoring from Lightbox’s Varun Varma, he decided to put his skills to work at the firm.
Monish’s primary mandate is to leverage data analytics to drive decision-making and deliver strategic insights for the firm’s investments. He is the architect of Lightbox’s data and science division which provides performance insights for the fund and portfolio companies. Data analytics play a big role in the evaluation and selection of potential investments; mapping of industry trends; competitive landscape and emerging technologies; and delivering fund level and portfolio performance metrics to limited partners. Additionally, Monish steers Lightbox’s ongoing internship and fellowship programme.
When he’s not at his desk, Monish dives into a good book (he’s trying to read at least one book a month), invests in the financial markets, acquires new skills and works on his fitness. He lives vacation-to-vacation, often preferring sports-oriented ones where he can learn something new, like skiing.
“This year, the focus was on assisting some of our portfolio companies in utilising data more effectively. For example, one project involved consolidating and organising a company's historical data, then analysing sales by zip code to provide reference metrics for expanding its store network. Another project focused on automating MIS generation for a different company, significantly reducing manual tasks by 90%. Both projects were highly appreciated by the teams, and their success has motivated me to undertake similar initiatives wherever value can be added across other portfolio companies.
I also set up the first of its kind fellowship programme at Lightbox, leading to the onboarding of four undergraduate students from IIT Bombay to collaborate with the investments team across space evaluation, content generation, competitor analysis and portfolio projects. We extended the fellowship period for three out of the four candidates. The success of the fellowship pilot this year will serve as the foundation for similar initiatives in the future, including involving students from universities across the country.”
