Team

From left: Ajay B. Pradhanang, Amod Rajbhandari, Suman Joshi, Niranjan Shrestha, and Ajay Shrestha.

Accomplished entrepreneurs with illustrious track records, they are the key shareholders of True North Associates.

Suman Joshi

Founder and Managing Partner
Suman has intimate knowledge of commercial and investment banking having started his career in the sector in 1990. He held various senior positions with ANZ Grindlays and Standard Chartered Bank in India and Nepal for more than a decade. He moved on to become the founding CEO of Laxmi Bank where he completed 3 consecutive tenures during which he conceived, managed, and scaled various subsidiaries for the bank. Suman is widely regarded as one of the most innovative and creative banking experts in Nepal. He received his education on Private Equity & Venture Capital from Harvard Business School. He is the Inaugural Chair of Nepal Private Equity & Venture Capital Association.

Suman is constantly looking to push boundaries of existing financial and entrepreneurial landscapes in Nepal.

Nidhaan Shrestha

Investment Manager
Nidhaan’s experience encompasses sectors such as Banking, Energy, Petrochem, Fintech, Development & Management Consulting, M&A and Alternative Investments in Nepal, India, and the Philippines. He earned his MBA in Finance & Strategy from the Asian Institute of Management, Philippines and Behavioral Economics, Finance and Marketing from Yale School of Management. He has worked in various capacities for organizations such as Standard Chartered Bank Nepal Ltd, NMB Bank Ltd, Meralco Powergen Corporation (Philippines), Manali Petrochem Ltd (India), and UNCDF. He led our portfolio company Foodmandu for about 2 years (under secondment from TNA) and helped company grow multifold and successfully raise the Series B investment.

Arpan Khanal

Investment Manager
Arpan, CFA, started his career in the Investment Banking Division of J.P. Morgan. He moved back to Nepal and founded two Quick Service Restaurants, which he successfully exited in 2017. He sits on the board of Foodmandu – Nepal’s largest food delivery business.

Arpan is also the Co-Founder and the Managing Partner of an equity research and investment management company, Khanal Pradhanang Investment Services.

Luja Mathema

ESG Officer
Luja has worked at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) as a Gender and Social Associate which saw her working extensively to improve conditions of workers in brick factories through ground level interventions and policy dialogue with stakeholders. Her earlier work includes research and analysis on women’s health, education, and nutrition in South Asia with South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and legal challenges women face at the Forum for Women Law and Development (FWLD). She has a masters degree in Gender, Development, and Globalization from the London School of Economics and her educational qualifications also include a B.Sc. in International Relations from the same university. She pursues a number of philanthropic activities. She is also supporting Nepal India Chamber of Commerce & Industries with various research and outreach activities.

Sujan Shrestha

Finance Officer
Sujan is a qualified ACCA member since 2016. and also holds an MBA in Entrepreneurship from Westcliff University. He started his career in audit and assurance and then joined TNA as Finance Executive.

Sujan is currently on secondment to One To Watch – a portfolio company – as Finance Manager.

Pranayna KC

Brand and Strategy Lead
Pranayna has over a decade of experience in both MNC and startup environments. She has worked with companies like Vodafone, Frost & Sullivan and, at the same time, built startups from ground up. As the Chief Business Officer, Pranayna played a key role in raising series A funding for Hopscotch Health – an India based platform. She also managed Nepal operation of electric vehicles company NIU as the CEO. Aligning branding strategy with business goals is her core area of expertise.

Satish Khadka

Analyst

Satish is an MBA graduate from Kathmandu University School of Management with a specialization in Finance. Before joining TNA he was involved in an audit firm and a startup incubation program. Satish has worked with numerous startup companies helping them with their financial models, plans, valuation etc. He also co-founded a tech-enabled business.