Haresh Chawla is an investor, entrepreneur and business builder with over three decades of experience across media, consumer businesses and the digital economy in India.
He currently invests independently in consumer, food and digital businesses, working closely with founders and management teams to help build and scale enduring companies.
He also serves as a visiting faculty at SPJIMR where he teaches a course that lies at the intersection of Digital Transformation and Entrepreneurship.
Previously, Haresh was a Partner at True North (formerly India Value Fund Advisors), one of India’s most respected private equity firms, where he focused on investments in the food and consumer sectors and worked closely with management teams to transform and scale mid-sized businesses.
He is widely recognised for his role in building and transforming the Network18 Group into one of India’s most influential media networks. As Founding CEO, he led Network18 through a period of extraordinary growth, turning it into India’s fastest-growing media and entertainment company. Over a 12-year tenure, he scaled revenues from $3 million in 1999 to over $500 million in 2012.
In his dual leadership roles across Network18 and Viacom18, he helped create a multi-platform media conglomerate reaching more than 300 million households across television, print, film, mobile and digital. Under his leadership, the group expanded from a single TV production business into India’s leading multimedia network with over 11 television channels, including Colors, CNBC-TV18, CNN-IBN, MTV India and Nick India. He also forged landmark partnerships and joint ventures with global media leaders such as NBC (Comcast), CNN, Viacom, Forbes and A&E Networks.
Haresh has been closely associated with India’s consumer internet evolution since its early days and has played a role in building several of the country’s most recognised digital platforms, including Moneycontrol and BookMyShow.
He continues to mentor and invest in emerging consumer and technology ventures.
Earlier in his career, he was part of founding teams at HCL Comnet; ABCL, where he set up the film distribution business; and the Times of India Group, where he launched Times Music.
Haresh holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from IIT Bombay and a Master’s degree in Business Management from IIM Calcutta.
