Women entrepreneurs have had a significant role to play in the development of local economies for decades. This further led to the overall development paradigm of the country. The contemporary start-up led ecosystem has also witnessed a surge in women entrepreneurs, who have successfully carved a niche for themselves.
One such diligent personality, Krutika Vakharia – CFO, Oakcapita Advisory has a rich experience of working in the Investment Banking industry. Being an expert in the various areas related to M&A, private equity and venture capital deals, and project finance; she is closely associated with leading family offices and HNIs. She juggles her daily work routine between countries like South East Asia and Europe while taking care of things in India. She says, “CFOs manage the money, analytics, data, decision-making strategies and now to become the strategic business partner. From number crunching to becoming an analytic leader, managing the cash flow, manage the team. It is an overflowing plate. “
The Stories from the Past
Krutika acquired her graduation and post-graduation degree from Symbiosis International University, Pune. She participated in national level competitions and fests of different top tier colleges. Apart from that, she was also involved in workshops and guest lectures from famous personalities that visited the college. “It was a place where academics and extracurriculars were given equal importance,” adds Krutika. Other than that, after classes, she used to engage herself in activities like drama, talent shows, quizzes and organizing events while writing articles for the college magazines.
Her professional career started with the Eastern Trade Links, in the Finance department. There she continued her work for two years and acquired hands-on experience relevant to the financial know-how pertaining to the industry. Then, she relocated to Pune in pursuit of PGDM from Symbiosis Law School. After all these endeavors, Krutika joined Oakcapita Advisory, as the Vice-president of Corporate Strategy. She describes the journey as inspiring, thrilling and yet overall learning experience to remember. Now, she has diversified the areas of investment for the firm while expanding its horizons into new markets, which was not considered amongst the forte of the company before.
Spreading the Legacy
As the CFO of the company, Krutika spearheads the Indian team along with the other Asian projects. She follows the most important ethic: integrity while conducting business operations across various planes. “If you don’t have integrity then nothing else matters,” she claims. Integrity is essential both for business as well as the individualistic approach. Ethics is the twin of integrity. The firm follows some norms that do not change for anyone be it a start-up or a listed company. Apart from that, she considers honesty, sincerity, openness to the situation and fairness which are the prominent ethics one should undertake in daily life.
She played a major role in the businesses of the company in India and other Asian countries. “They say some of the deals I cracked was due to my astute mind and fierce negotiating skills,” Krutika proclaims. She is considered as a no-nonsense boss and a tough taskmaster. She puts in 16 to 18 hours of work daily, which makes her a micromanager. Moreover, Krutika received an opportunity to be featured in the top 100 women in finance in India. Earlier, she had a major role in securing an award for the company (the top 10 highly trusted M&A consulting firms in 2018) which placed her on the pedestal to become the CFO from Vice-president in the company.
She advises the young generation of entrepreneurs by conveying, “The success totally depends on oneself. You have to be consistent with hard-work, and always be willing to learn while achieving more.”
The ‘Firm’ Belief
Oakcapita Advisory LLP is a boutique M&A Advisory Firm rendering advisory services to clients seeking in-depth strategic, investing, and financial expertise. From the last four years, the firm has become a brand to be reckoned with in the M&A sector. With its robust deal flow, dynamic team and exclusive access to high profile investors globally, the growth of the firm has been a thing of envy. The company has been recognized among the ’10 Highly Trusted M&A Advisory Firms’ and also ‘Outstanding Debt and Equity Advisory of the Year’. “We develop some strategic goals for the clients namely, taming asset quality deterioration, improving risk management framework, checking costs, and improving delivery standards,” says Krutika.
A Talent to Reckon – Krutika Vakharia – Transmuting the Industry Dynamics
