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Brown Girls, Bold Moves

Brown Girls, Bold Moves

By: Bhargavi Varma
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 Brown Girls, Bold Moves is a podcast featuring conversations between the world’s most inspiring South Asian founders and the investors who funded them. These are the women making Bold moves.

Bhargavi Varma is the founder of Brown Girl Angels, a global angel and VC collective of South Asian women mobilizing their capital and investing in South Asian female led startups. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter - Brown Girls, Money Moves and our global dinner series, Brown Girls, Desi Dinners and stay connected.

Bhargavi Varma Economics Leadership Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • Stage 4 Cancer survivor to clean tech CEO—Nivatha Balendra (Dispersa) on scaling impact, why every “no” matters and choosing the right investor in Olga Cruz (Good & Well, BDC)

    Stage 4 Cancer survivor to clean tech CEO—Nivatha Balendra (Dispersa) on scaling impact, why every “no” matters and choosing the right investor in Olga Cruz (Good & Well, BDC)
    Nov 11 2025

    If you believe business is about more than the bottom line—or if you need fresh faith that purpose-driven founders can commercialize real innovation—this is your new playbook.

    In this truly inspiring episode, host Bhargavi Varma sits down with Founder Nivatha Balendra (Dispersa), and Investor Olga Cruz (BDC) to talk about resilience, science-driven innovation, and the power of value-aligned investing.Nivatha shares the remarkable journey of launching Dispersa, a cleantech startup which converts food waste into eco-friendly biosurfactants. Olga reflects on her path as an Investor (from Good & Well to BDC Thrive Lab) and the importance of intuition, seva, and supporting women founders.


    Together, they unpack what it takes to commercialize sustainability solutions, navigate fundraising, and stay grounded through meditation, community, and resilience.


    About The Founder:Nivatha Balendra, (Forbes 30 Under 30 Science) founded Dispersa, a biotechnology company that transforms food waste into sustainable, biodegradable surfactants for the cleaning and personal care industries. After the 2013 Lac-Mégantic oil spill, she began researching oil-degrading bacteria at the age of 17 and has since been recognised for her innovative approach to environmental sustainability.


    About The Investor: Olga Cruz, is a Director at BDC Capital’s Thrive Lab, where she leads a $50 million investment fund focused on early-stage, women-led, impact-driven businesses across Canada. In addition to her investment work, Olga is a certified breathwork and meditation teacher with the Art of Living Foundation, emphasizing the importance of clarity, presence, and emotional intelligence in leadership.

    🔗 Mentioned in this episode:

    Dispersa

    PuraSurf (by Dispersa)BDC

    BDC Thrive Lab for Women Good & Well

    Hyve

    For Nivatha's Mom
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    39 mins
  • The Value of Power: Shaherose Charania (Women 2.0, Unshackled, Nike) invests alongside Serena Williams in Ishveen Jolly (OpenSponsorship) and proves the power that comes from giving to others.

    The Value of Power: Shaherose Charania (Women 2.0, Unshackled, Nike) invests alongside Serena Williams in Ishveen Jolly (OpenSponsorship) and proves the power that comes from giving to others.
    Oct 28 2025
    In this episode, Shaherose Charania(Women 2.0, Unshackled, Nike) and Ishveen Jolly (OpenSponsorship) join host Bhargavi Varma for a conversation that embodies the core values of Brown Girl Angels: The power of paying it forward. They dive into how Sevā and giving to others influences their work and creates pathways to capital, while also sharing insight into the practices that make a strategic angel and if there’s a right time to raise funds.Together they discuss the growing presence of South Asian women in business and sports, and what it’s like to be supported by someone like Serena Williams. From a serendipitous first meeting to nurturing a business that’s creating powerful changes in sports sponsorship- they have set the bar for Investor/Founder relationships. Grab your chai, join us! About The Founder:Ishveen Jolly is the founder and CEO of OpenSponsorship, the largest two-sided marketplace for sports sponsorship, connecting tens of thousands of brands and athletes globally. Notably, Brandin Cooks’ Levis x Dicks Sporting Goods campaign and Jamal Adams’ Quorn campaign.About The Investor: Shaherose Charania is the CEO and Co-Founder of Women 2.0, a Partner at Unshackled Ventures, and the host of the podcast First Funders. Coming from a background in Strategy, Advisory and Investments with Nike, Shaherose has since expanded her vast portfolio to include angel investing, her own VC firm and advisory of others. 🔗 Mentioned in this episode:OpenSponsorship Women 2.0 Unshackled VenturesFirst Funders PodcastSerena VenturesOregon Sports AngelsAll RaiseBrown Girls, Bold Moves is hosted by Bhargavi Varma. Find out more about Brown Girl Angels here. The show is made by editaudio. It’s edited, mixed and produced by Megan Hayward. Our Production Manager is Kathleen Speckert. Our Associate Producer is Kam Grewal. Theme music for Brown Girls, Bold Moves is by Kunal Merchant, Prateeksha Srivastava, and 6091 from Indo Warehouse.Get involved with Brown Girl Angels below:Follow us on social @browngirlangels Watch us on YouTube at Brown Girl Angels Sign up to the Brown Girls, Money Moves newsletter Join Brown Girls, Desi Dinners in your city by visiting our website: www.browngirlangels.com See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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    45 mins
  • Let’s Talk Angel Investing - Your Questions, My Story

    Let’s Talk Angel Investing - Your Questions, My Story
    Oct 14 2025

    In this episode Host and Founder of Brown Girl Angels, Bhargavi Varma shares insights on the true value of women-led businesses and why it’s time for more of us to take our seat at the cap table. Answering your questions, she shares her own journey into the world of angel investing and what inspired her to create a space for South Asian women to talk money, risk, and entrepreneurship.

    🔗 Mentioned in this episode:

    Brown Girl Magazine

    McKinsey 2024 Report: Women in the Workplace

    Brown Girls, Bold Moves is hosted by Bhargavi Varma. Find out more about Brown Girl Angels here. The show is made by editaudio. It’s edited, mixed and produced by Megan Hayward. Our Production Manager is Kathleen Speckert. Our Associate Producer is Kam Grewal. Theme music for Brown Girls, Bold Moves is by Kunal Merchant, Prateeksha Srivastava, and 6091 from Indo Warehouse.

    Get involved with Brown Girl Angels below:

    • Follow us on social @browngirlangels
    • Watch us on YouTube at Brown Girl Angels
    • Sign up to the Brown Girls, Money Moves newsletter
    • Join Brown Girls, Desi Dinners in your city by visiting our website: www.browngirlangels.com

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
    Show More Show Less
    25 mins
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