Welcome to our new Meet the Team series where we will feature a member from our Team each week to give you a behind the scenes look at the people that make it all happen at NGP Capital.

Feature of the week

Divya Raghavan – Vice President, Intelligent Enterprise Team

Divya joined NGP Capital as a Senior Associate in the spring of 2020, right at the start of COVID, and she has done an amazing job diving right into her role, even while remote. She works closely with our Partner Rohini Chakravarthy, focusing on edge cloud companies in the intelligent enterprise sector. So far, Divya has been closely involved in our investments in Coda and Immuta. Her prior hands-on experience in the tech sector definitely has put her in tune the latest software developments and gives her an eye for trends.

What was your first job in the tech or VC world?

My first job in the tech industry was as a software engineer at Citrix, which really helped me to understand the nuts and bolts of building software and this had a huge impact on my interest . It was definitely a more product driven role.

What first got you excited about the tech industry?

It was definitely the ability to program. I actually built a periodic table as part of my undergraduate coding program. In doing so, I combined my love of science and tech — it was really amazing to see all the things you could do.

If you got $1B of funding for your own start-up, what kind of company would you start from scratch today?

First off I wouldn’t take $1B of funding. It comes with such high expectations. But if I took the money, I would venture into autonomous cars. I would want to figure out a way get them to market faster.

What do you like to do in your free time that does not involve a screen?

I love to hike and explore nature. I'm also a big water person and I especially love snorkeling. I also like to write — with actual pen and paper.

Diversity and Inclusion is hot topic now. What improvements do you think the industry could make overall?

I dislike the perception being tied to lowering the standard. Our strength is in our differences in some ways. D&I has a snowball effect. Representation matters. The Ellen Pao case (vs. Kleiner Perkins) was the first time I learned about VC. Seeing a woman in that job, as an investor, showed me that this is a job I could do. Representation matters and D&I definitely has a snowball effect.