Prachi Vakharia
Country Advisor - US/North America
Prachi is an Associate Partner at IMPROVED.
Based out of Washington, DC, Prachi advises clients on the rapidly evolving Mobility and Energy market dynamics and provides them with an extensive global network within the sector.
Prachi has over 10 years of experience in transportation innovation, standards and infrastructure advancing projects in autonomous vehicles, digital, electric, and shared mobility.
Prachi recently joined Amazon to accelerate their foray into new and advanced transport solutions. She also worked in clean transportation, and was brought in by AES Next, the venture arm of energy firm AES, to invest in electric mobility. Prior to that, she spent over three years at the World Bank, financing urban transport projects across Latin America, Africa and Asia.
Given her curiosity and love for science and innovation, Prachi mentors and invests in growth-stage tech, transport and energy start-ups. She had 3 successful exits with acquisitions by Daimler AG in 2014 and since then invested in and served on the board of a number of growth-stage start-ups. She also advises US federal government programs to support science commercialization programs. She contributes to academic research and standards development and chairs committees for the US National Academies of Sciences TRB and the Society of Automotive Engineers.
To advance women in STEM+E, Prachi co-founded and funds WOMANIUM Foundation that has trained students in i.a. computational neuroscience, telescope and satellite development, atomic clocks, and quantum computing, and given hundreds of scholarships to students from over 42 countries. Additionally, she serves on the Board of the Business Schools at George Mason University and George Washington University.
Prachi’s extensive experience in the Technology, Energy and Mobility sectors allows her to connect our clients with her enviable network while providing insights into industry trends.
