Shripriya Mahesh to Join Omidyar Network as Partner

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (August 17, 2015) — Omidyar Network today announced that Shripriya Mahesh will join the philanthropic investment firm as a partner, based in Redwood City. Mahesh will serve on the leadership team that guides the organization and will oversee Omidyar Network’s global Consumer Internet & Mobile initiative.

“We are extremely pleased to have Shripriya join us and lend her considerable talents to our mission,” said Omidyar Network Managing Partner Matt Bannick. “Her experience as an angel investor and operating executive in technology gives her both invaluable insights into the challenges entrepreneurs face and extensive expertise in recognizing early investment opportunities. Her career and professional pursuits demonstrate a strong alignment with our values and mission, and she will be an exceptional addition to our team.”

Omidyar Network’s Consumer Internet & Mobile initiative focuses on supporting new digital solutions to connect people, enabling them to share ideas and do business more efficiently and at scale. Current and past investments in for-profit companies include Change.org, HealthKart, Meetup, NationBuilder, Quikr, and Versé, and grants to nonprofits include DonorsChoose.org, DoSomething.org, and the Alliance for Affordable Internet.

Mahesh is an angel investor and an advisor to several private companies. Previously, she oversaw product and design for First Look Media and held several leadership roles at eBay, including vice president of product marketing where she was responsible for business and marketing leadership of all aspects of buyer and seller products, the eBay Developer’s Program, and Private Marketplaces. During her tenure at eBay, Mahesh also ran the global Product Management and Product Strategy teams. Prior to eBay, she was vice president, e-commerce at NextCard and held positions at Mitchell Madison Group and TVS Group.

Mahesh is also a filmmaker who has written and directed several short films including “Waking Jed,” a segment featuring Academy Award nominees James Franco and Jessica Chastain that is part of the feature film “The Color of Time,” which premiered at the Rome Film Festival 2012 and that had a theatrical release in the United States in 2014. Mahesh has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.A. in economics from Stella Maris College, and she is an MFA candidate in Film at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.