Upasana Nallari is a research and investment analyst with experience across impact investing, social enterprise, and development finance. She has worked across Ashoka, Villgro, and ACT, building expertise in primary research, founder evaluation, and investment thesis development.
Most recently at ACT, she is moving into the investment research space, where her work on gender and livelihoods and blended finance has prepared her for a research-led investment role.
At ACT, she developed an independent gender and livelihoods investment thesis that reshaped the firm's investment criteria, and co-authored a white paper on blended finance instruments now being pitched as part of ACT's next fund raise.
At Ashoka, she ran end-to-end founder assessments across eleven social entrepreneurs, owning sourcing, due diligence, docket writing, and board presentations that secured fellowship funding.
At Villgro, she served as the coordination hub for a multi-institution RCT involving Harvard Business School, Chicago Booth, J-PAL South Asia, and eighty startups.
