Bala Parthasarathy is an accomplished entrepreneur and business leader with over three decades of experience founding, scaling and advising technology companies globally.
Bala began his entrepreneurial journey in 1999 by founding Snapfish, an online photo sharing service. As CTO and co-founder, he quickly scaled Snapfish to become a $300M revenue business across 22 countries before selling it to HP in 2005. This early success demonstrated Bala’s ability to rapidly grow startups and make them acquisition ready.
In 2007, Bala returned to India and co-founded Prime Venture Partners, an early stage VC fund focused on supporting promising startups. Through Prime, he has mentored founders of companies like Happay, Synup and Quizziz. His operational expertise has been invaluable in guiding these startups through their critical early years.
Seeking a new challenge in 2015, Bala co-founded MoneyTap – an app-based credit line startup aimed at making credit accessible for India’s middle class. As CEO, he has led MoneyTap’s impressive growth across 50+ cities, shaping the future of consumer fintech in India.
Beyond his VC and startup experience, Bala actively gives back to the community. He serves on the boards of healthifyMe and People + AI, an organization focused on responsible AI. His diverse background allows him to provide unique perspectives on building ethical, purpose-driven companies.He also serves as an advisor to the Fide Foundation, which is involved with the development of the Beckn protocol.
As a mentor, Bala draws on his wealth of experience founding, scaling and exiting companies globally. His strategic thinking and operational expertise can benefit early stage founders looking to establish product-market fit and achieve rapid growth. His authentic passion for nurturing startups makes him an approachable mentor.’
