EXECUTIVE TEAM
Pinaki Aich - Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Pinaki Aich is the Chief Executive Officer at Dubai Green Fund. He also serves as the CEO of Forward Investments, the global venture capital arm of DEWA making strategic investments in disruptive technologies. Pinaki brings with him over 20 years of experience in financial services in US, Europe & Middle East with coverage across multiple investment classes. He also has the unique expertise of working for a financial center driving strategy covering different aspects of financial services including regulation, technology & market development.
Prior to his current role, Pinaki Aich was Head of Strategy & Innovation at Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), a financial hub for the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia (MEASA) markets established in 2004 as a special economic zone in the U.A.E. Among other projects he was a key architect for the first accelerators & fintech fund in the region.
Prior to DIFC, he was based in San Francisco as Founding Partner at Auxano Capital Partners, a venture capital firm focused on helping U.S. technology companies expand globally. His expertise at the firm ranged across a wide spectrum of deep-tech solutions including clean-tech, food-tech and impact investments.
Pinaki Aich was previously with HSBC, overseeing research and business intelligence for the global banks across 8 markets and multiple asset classes including green financing.
Pinaki holds a Masters in General Management from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He also holds a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics.
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Joost Smulders- Chief Investment Officer
Mr. Joost Smulders has over 16 years of experience in Private Equity Investments and Investment Banking, having executed dozens of transactions with a combined value of over USD 100 billion, across Europe, Middle East, and Asia, in diverse sectors including renewables, energy, infrastructure, industrials.
At Dubai Green Fund, Joost is responsible for the Investment Division. Prior to joining Dubai Green Fund, Joost was the VP of Investments for a family office headquartered in Abu Dhabi, focusing on private equity transactions and portfolio management in the Middle East and Europe.
At the start of his career, Joost was a member of UBS’ Investment Banking Division for 7 years. Initially part of the M&A team in London, later he moved to UBS’s Dubai office to focus on M&A and capital markets advisory in the Gulf.
Joost holds an MSc in International Business from Maastricht University and he is a CFA charterholder.
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Sandesh Potkar- Chief Financial Officer
Sandesh is the Chief Financial Officer at the Dubai Green Fund. He brings more than 19 years of banking & finance experience. Working at top tier international banks and accounting firms, Sandesh gained expertise in Financial Accounting & Controls, Auditing & Taxation, Business Planning & Analysis, Regulatory Reporting & Compliance, and Automation & System Implementation.
Prior to joining DGF, he was the Financial Controller at Samba Financial Group (UAE). Previously, Sandesh had served as the Deputy Head of Finance at Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (UAE).
Sandesh also worked in Citibank’s Finance Division, KPMG’s Tax Division and Deloitte’s Audit Divison.
Sandesh is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Mumbai.
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