The US Small Business Administration (SBA), which represents America’s 33 million small businesses in the administration of President Joe Biden, announced the appointment of 14 members to the newly established federal Investment Capital Advisory Committee (ICAC) last week. Formed to serve as an independent source of advice and recommendations to SBA on matters relating to institutional investment market trends, innovation, and policy impacting small businesses’ ability to access patient investment capital; the ICAC consists of members with diverse perspectives, experiences, and occupational backgrounds in and related to the US private investment industry and is headed by Indian American Arjun Gupta as chairman.
The inaugural committee’s main objective is to promote, expand, and strengthen the ecosystem of private funds financing US small businesses and startups, to fund entrepreneurs and small business owners from traditionally underserved communities.
Founder and chief believer of venture capital firm TeleSoft Partners, Gupta invests directly in portfolio companies and fund-of-funds investments. TeleSoft was licensed by SBA for two small business investment companies between 1997 and 2012. Over the last 25 years, Gupta has invested directly or indirectly in over 250+ private technology companies, resulting in 150+ acquisitions and IPOs (including 60+ unicorns). Over this period, he raised cumulative capital commitments of over $1+ billion.
Gupta was on the Forbes Midas List of the Top 100 Venture Capital Investors in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. Earlier in his career, he was a strategy consultant for high-tech clients with McKinsey & Company and a software engineer and product specialist for Tektronix, Inc. In 2001, he launched a family foundation to support non-profit projects.
A graduate in economics from Delhi’s St. Stephen’s College (India); Gupta received his MBA from Stanford University and MS and BS in computer science from Washington State University. He is an advanced leadership fellow (ALI) from Harvard University and a Henry Crown Fellow and Trustee of the Aspen Institute.
A passionate outdoorsman, Gupta was a liaison officer with the Indian Mountaineering Foundation and has climbed with 6 Himalayan expeditions to peaks over 20,000 feet. He was a member of the 100th Anniversary ski expeditions to the North Pole and South Pole.
The inaugural committee’s main objective is to promote, expand, and strengthen the ecosystem of private funds financing US small businesses and startups, to fund entrepreneurs and small business owners from traditionally underserved communities.
Founder and chief believer of venture capital firm TeleSoft Partners, Gupta invests directly in portfolio companies and fund-of-funds investments. TeleSoft was licensed by SBA for two small business investment companies between 1997 and 2012. Over the last 25 years, Gupta has invested directly or indirectly in over 250+ private technology companies, resulting in 150+ acquisitions and IPOs (including 60+ unicorns). Over this period, he raised cumulative capital commitments of over $1+ billion.
Gupta was on the Forbes Midas List of the Top 100 Venture Capital Investors in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. Earlier in his career, he was a strategy consultant for high-tech clients with McKinsey & Company and a software engineer and product specialist for Tektronix, Inc. In 2001, he launched a family foundation to support non-profit projects.
A graduate in economics from Delhi’s St. Stephen’s College (India); Gupta received his MBA from Stanford University and MS and BS in computer science from Washington State University. He is an advanced leadership fellow (ALI) from Harvard University and a Henry Crown Fellow and Trustee of the Aspen Institute.
A passionate outdoorsman, Gupta was a liaison officer with the Indian Mountaineering Foundation and has climbed with 6 Himalayan expeditions to peaks over 20,000 feet. He was a member of the 100th Anniversary ski expeditions to the North Pole and South Pole.