Chinmay Chauhan
Co-Founder at Acceler8
About
I'm Chinmay Chauhan, Co-Founder at Acceler8, where we provide real-time intelligence for workforce decisions at large enterprises. My career has spanned from software engineering at Microsoft to product leadership at Grab and Carousell, co-founding and scaling BukuWarung to 400 people and $80M in funding, and now building my latest venture. I'm passionate about leveraging AI for workforce intelligence, fintech inclusion in Southeast Asia, and supporting the startup ecosystem through angel investing and accelerator work. I offer deep expertise in product strategy, scaling, and fundraising, and I'm looking to connect with enterprise leaders, top talent, and fellow founders who share a drive for innovation and impact.
Networking
What I can offer
- ›Expertise in product, technology, fundraising, and scaling, particularly in SEA fintech and AI-driven enterprise SaaS
- ›Founder-to-founder empathy and coaching
- ›Access to network as angel investor and visiting partner at Iterative
Looking for
- ›Enterprise leaders interested in workforce intelligence
- ›Top talent for his companies
- ›Potentially founders for the Iterative accelerator program
Best fit for
Current Interests
Background
Career
Started as Software Engineer at Microsoft, moved to Product Manager & Software Engineer at Works Applications, became Product Lead at Grab and Kudo, served as Director of Product at Carousell, co-founded and scaled BukuWarung as President & Board Member, has been an Angel Investor since 2018, served as Visiting Partner at Iterative, and is currently Co-Founder at Acceler8.
Education
B.Tech in Computer Science & Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT Bombay); Y Combinator (completion circa June 2020); a16z speedrun (completion scheduled for January 2026).
Achievements
- ›Raised $80M in total funding and scaled team to 400 people at BukuWarung
- ›Processed billions in payments for 6.5 million small businesses at BukuWarung
- ›Led BukuWarung to recognition as LinkedIn Top Startup in 2021 and IFTA 2021 Fintech Rising Star award
- ›Raised seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz for Acceler8
- ›Drove 21x growth as early product leader (PM #8) at Grab
- ›Recognized on Forbes 30 Under 30 list
- ›Angel investor and advisor to over 40 startups
Opinions
- We are in a 'generational shift driven by AI'
- Workforce intelligence will become mission-critical for enterprises to win
- While finance and sales run on real-time data, people decisions are still 'calendar-driven' and powered by spreadsheets, which is unsustainable
- Emphasizes empathy, supporting teams during crises, and building a culture of 'extreme ownership, curiosity, resourcefulness, [and] bias for action'
- Strongly believes in giving back to the founder community by advising and investing early, helping others avoid mistakes, and providing empathetic coaching based on shared experience