Arvind Purushotham

Global Head of Citi Ventures at Citi Ventures · Joined 2011

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Biography

Arvind Purushotham's path into venture capital started in electrical engineering, not finance: after a BSEE from IIT Madras and an MSEE from Case Western Reserve, he spent four years at Intel designing Pentium chips before earning his Harvard MBA and joining Menlo Ventures, where he spent nearly a decade as a Managing Director backing companies like Cavium Networks and nCircle Network Security. He joined Citi Ventures in January 2011 to help build its strategic venture investing program from the ground up, drawn by the realization that large banks needed exactly the kind of front-end and back-end technology overhaul that venture-backed startups were building. Under his leadership the group has invested in more than 120 companies including Betterment, Tanium, Pindrop, and Persado, with Silver Tail Systems' acquisition by EMC among its clearest realized outcomes, and in 2020 he helped launch the Citi Impact Fund, a dedicated vehicle for backing women and minority entrepreneurs across sustainability and financial inclusion.

Education

Previous Experience

Notable Investments

BettermentTaniumPindropSilver Tail SystemsKazeon SystemsCavium NetworksSolidcorenCircle Network SecurityIntelligent ResultsVhayu TechnologiesBVNK

Career Timeline

1995
Joins Intel as a design engineer working on Pentium chip designs, later promoted to program manager for Mobile Pentium II.
1999
Leaves Intel to pursue his MBA at Harvard Business School.
2001
Joins Menlo Ventures as Managing Director, spending nearly a decade investing and serving on boards.
2011
Joins Citi Ventures in January as Managing Director to help build its strategic venture investing program.
2020
Helps launch the Citi Impact Fund, backing women and minority entrepreneurs.

Sources & References

Citi Ventures Bio ↗Global Venturing Powerlist 2023 ↗