Asha Jadeja Motwani


Asha Jadeja Motwani is an angel investor and philanthropist based in Silicon Valley. She invests in for-profit tech, internet and high social impact start-ups in the Bay Area, New York and India. Asha and her husband Rajeev Motwani co-invested in over 100 startups as angels. Rajeev was the founding advisor to Google and the author of Google's algorithmic architecture.

Personal life

Asha Motwani was born and raised in India. She moved to America as a graduate student in 1985 and lives mostly in Palo Alto, California. Asha and Rajeev had two daughters, Naitri and Anya.

Education

Motwani pursued a Ph.D in political science from UC-Berkeley after doing her masters and undergraduate studies in urban planning and civil engineering from the University of Southern California.

Career

Asha invested in over 100 startups. She is listed in a directory of venture capital and private equity firms. She was the founder and managing director of Dot Edu Ventures along with her husband Rajeev Motwani.
Asha launched the Rajeev Circle Fellowship in order to help Indian entrepreneurs "visit and connect with entrepreneurs, mentors and seed investors in Silicon Valley."
Motwani helped introduce Maker Faire in India in 2012, gaining inspiration from California’s Maker Faire. She is also introducing Maker Fest Pakistan in an attempt to "create a civilian bridge between India and Pakistan."
She is the trustee of the Motwani Jadeja Family Foundation, a charitable organization based in Palo Alto and Ahmedabad, India. The Foundation aims to support entrepreneurs in under-served pockets of the world to promote world-class entrepreneurship at a local level.