The July edition of TiE Silicon Valley’s Funding Friday brought together a select cohort of early-stage founders for high-impact, in-person 1:1 sessions with Riddhi Daftary, Principal at Celesta Capital.
Held at the TiE Silicon Valley office in Palo Alto, the session provided founders with a critical, early-check institutional perspective on fundraising readiness, technology roadmap alignment, and next-generation market positioning.
VC-Level Insight to Protect Upside and Scale
As an active early-stage investor focusing on deep tech, hardware, and software infrastructure, Riddhi brought a highly strategic, tactical lens to each discussion. Working on complex, capital-intensive technical frameworks day-to-day, the participating founders gained a rare opportunity to zoom out, view their ventures from a top-tier institutional perspective, and understand how to effectively align their engineering milestones with market upside.
The format—curated, one-on-one sessions—allowed for candid, focused strategic feedback tailored directly to each company’s specific sector, from semiconductors and robotics to cloud infrastructure and AI tools.
Strategic Pipeline & Continued Momentum
The July cohort featured a dedicated group of deep tech, hardware, and infrastructure-focused founders currently raising capital.
Participating Founders:
- 🔷 Abhigyan J Singh, Founder, Antriksh Cloud
- 🔷 Alok Mehta, PhD, COO & Co-Founder, Brelyon Inc.
- 🔷 Avinash Harsh, CEO & Co-Founder, Wizerr AI
- 🔷 Bharat Anadure, Founder, GreenVue Inc.
- 🔷 Harish Skumar, CEO & Founder, ArcheanX Inc
- 🔷 Kavitha Prasad, Co-Founder, CounterRun
Following the intensive sessions, momentum is continuing post-event. As a core part of the program’s post-session strategy, next steps include a strategic follow-up to review the participating founders and explore potential warm introductions to interested venture capitalists within TiE’s extensive, global investor networ
Why Funding Fridays Matter
TiE Silicon Valley’s Funding Fridays serve as an invaluable, high-signal platform for technical founders looking to pressure-test their fundraising strategy and unlock institutional capital. These sessions go far beyond standard pitches—they equip builders with the macro-perspective, technology validation, and investor connections required to move forward with absolute clarity and confidence.
As the program grows, TiE Silicon Valley remains dedicated to fostering direct, founder-first interactions that bridge the gap between groundbreaking innovation and foundational institutional backing.
VC Spotlight: Riddhi Daftary, Principal, Celesta Capital
Founder Spotlight: Abhigyan J Singh, Founder, Antriksh Cloud
Founder Spotlight: Barmak Heshmat, CEO, Breylon Inc
Founder Spotlight: Alok Mehta, COO & Co-Founder Breylon Inc
