Gaurav Chandel

Warwick Business School

“A resilient social entrepreneur who views obstacles as opportunities and will always be the first to offer help.”

Hometown: Pune, Maharashtra, India

Fun fact about yourself: I love tinkering with science experiments and electronics. I once built a contactless piano using LDR sensors, where the melody changed with the amount of light one let through

Undergraduate School and Degree: Pune University, B.Engineering- Production Engineering (First Class with Distinction) & (Student of the year 2017-2018)

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school: Founder & CEO of Rootivate®, a holistic wellness CPG startup in India

Where did you intern during the summer of 2024? I will be interning this summer at an early-stage, sector-agnostic VC firm that takes big bets on idea and seed stage founders

Where will you be working after graduation? I plan to join a venture capital firm focused on climate and consumer tech in emerging markets, leveraging my background in sustainability and growth-stage investments.

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School: Change Maker Scholar & Student Ambassador at WBS; Vice President, VC-Finance Club; Vice President, Entrepreneurship Club; Finalist at the 238 Capital x WFS VC Pitch Competition (2025)

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? My proudest achievement has been being a finalist in the 238 Capital x WFS VC Pitch Competition. It helped validate my passion for merging entrepreneurship and finance, especially with a social impact focus. Competing with talented peers and presenting my startup under intense scrutiny gave me a confidence boost to continue my pursuit and relentlessly push into venture capital, which is one of the most challenging industries to break into – and it has paid off.

Being an entrepreneur was an incredibly fulfilling journey, but it came at a significant cost to my mental and physical health. In the early years of building my startup, I found myself overwhelmed by severe anxiety—an invisible burden I struggled with every day. It was a constant battle. Through sheer determination, I slowly began to regain control.

It was in those moments of struggle that I realised the importance of seeking guidance. I started working with mentors who could offer a different perspective and provide the wisdom I desperately needed. Their support was life-changing, and it gave me the strength to keep going.

Now, as I mentor young entrepreneurs on their own journeys, I focus on what I wish I had been shown: a path of holistic and sustainable growth. My own challenges and the lessons I learned along the way have inspired me to guide others with the same care and support that helped me find my way. I want them to grow in a way that nurtures not just their business, but their well-being too.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? When I set out to build Rootivate®, I knew I wanted to create products that were not only better for the consumers but also better for everyone around them(society). That’s because we could only grow stronger if we all grew together. After persevering through two Covid lockdowns across two years and almost shutting down, I bootstrapped the startup and scaled it to a $1.1 million valuation in less than two years. When we finally got to see the results with farmers earning more and women’s social co-operatives thriving, our consumers told us how much healthier they felt and how our social projects (like feeding the homeless) created true impact. I knew I had achieved a small dream of mine of doing well by doing better.

Why did you choose this business school? It was a fairly straight forward choice for me. WBS was the one school that resonated with me at a holistic level personally and professionally. I knew their academics and faculty were world class in their ability to merge real world practice with theory and deliver it in class. However, their focus on driving impact beyond just business and its core “Change Maker” ethos aligned with my growth as an individual, risk taker, and a big believer in people. I knew i would be surrounded by like-minded people who were on a journey to learn, grow and transform ourselves and society

Who was your favourite MBA professor? I would pick Professor John Colley (Strategy & Leadership). He masterfully bridges theory and real-world application, ensuring every session is both academically rigorous and practically relevant. He brings refreshing and sharp honesty to class, which I feel helps better mold our expectations for the real world. Plus, his engaging teaching style keeps us all on our toes

What was your favourite course as an MBA? Corporate Reporting and Decision Making was a true revelation. I had assumed that accounting would be the most challenging subject to get excited over, but I could not have been further from the truth. We used a business simulator to see how our decisions based on accounting and financial business and industry reports impacted our simulated companies in real time. At the same time, we compared and benchmarked with our peers companies across our module. Getting a first-hand overview of how reporting choices could ripple into real-world consequences and watching our decisions play out drove home just how crucial financial acumen and being able to interpret balance sheets and P&L are for strategic and holistic decision-making.

What was your favourite MBA event or tradition at your business school? My favourite MBA event was the Sector Connector. Here, over 40 alumni from more than a dozen industries, spread across various geographies, came together to engage with our MBA cohort. It’s a real testament to Warwick Business School’s global reach and deep professional network. It offered us invaluable face-to-face conversations about real-world challenges, emerging trends, and career pathways. Beyond just networking, it helped bridge the gap between classroom theory and practical application, which reflects WBS’s commitment to equipping us with the best resources and opportunities for impactful, global careers.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? I would have liked to collaborate with students from other departments, like engineering or design. That way, I could’ve combined business insights with varied perspectives and technical expertise. While I built great relationships within the MBA cohort, I recognise how powerful cross-disciplinary partnerships can be in sparking innovation and would have like to explore that more.

What is the biggest myth about your school? That Warwick’s location limits global exposure. In reality, it has an extremely international cohort, worldwide corporate partnerships, and a sprawling alumni network.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? Coventry’s close-knit community and rich heritage. It perfectly balances a historic charm with modern development and offers plenty of opportunities to connect with locals, experience cultural diversity, and enjoy a safe space for discovering one’s self.

What movie or television show best reflects the realities of business and what did you learn from it? For me, it would be The Pursuit of Happiness. Chris Gardner’s relentless perseverance in the face of adversity reminds me of every entrepreneur’s journey: dealing with limited resources, rejection and uncertainty, yet refusing to give up. It taught me the value of optimism, adaptability, and unwavering resilience.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? Although AI adoption can be slow to filter into traditional curricula, Warwick Business School has a special initiative called the ‘AI Learning Circle.’ It’s a student-led club that keeps us on the cutting edge of AI trends and tools, while also spotlighting how to use them responsibly. Through hands-on workshops and discussions, I’ve seen firsthand that the real key to unlocking AI’s potential isn’t just technical know-how, it’s learning how to align AI solutions with practical business needs

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? I admire Hassan El Akoum. He single-handedly represents his middle eastern heritage and culture. At the same time, he is truly always brave enough to stand by his convictions and never shies away from expressing what is on his mind, even if that means going against the majority. That kind of confidence is refreshing and has earned him genuine respect from our cohort. Yet, it’s important to also point out that it’s his humility of equally being open and quick to admit to mistakes and grow from them that sets him apart. Above all, his team-oriented mindset and habit of leading by example underscore the difference between mere confidence and genuine leadership.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list?

1. Establish an impact-focused venture capital fund to invest in climate and consumer tech ventures across emerging markets.

2. Launch a global accelerator program that bridges academic research and real-world entrepreneurship to tackle sustainability challenges at scale.

What made Gaurav such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2025?

“Gaurav has fully exploited the opportunities available at Warwick Business school including wider networking with peers and the local community. I was struck by his natural curiosity and diverse business interests which in class contributed to deeper exploration of topics. From this I could see he was someone excited and energised by any opportunities to innovate in a business context.”

Prof. John Colley

DON’T MISS: MBAS TO WATCH: CLASS OF 2025

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