Jahanvi is a rare investor who embraces complexity, in markets and in people. She brings out the best in you so you can build the best version of your company.Chris Ellis,
CEO of Thatch
Jahanvi Sardana is an early-stage and growth investor at Index Ventures in New York, where she partners with founders building category-defining companies in AI, enterprise software, healthcare, and financial services. Since joining Index she has led investments across these categories and serves on the boards or works with companies including Sublime Security, Thatch, Crosby Legal, and others.
Her investment philosophy is simple: invest for strength, not for the absence of weakness. “In the end, I think amazing success can be achieved by highly imperfect people,” she says. “What matters is finding alignment in values and conviction in a founder’s spike, an area of extreme competence or insight that will give them unfair advantage. The rest we can work on together.”
Before Index, Jahanvi invested at Stripes, backing companies like Island, Axonius, Lithic, and Oyster. She holds a B.S. in Finance and Business Analytics from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
What shaped your early years?
I grew up in a small town in northern India, the daughter of two surgeons. My parents pushed me to aim beyond what was comfortable for them. Because there were no good schools in our town, they sent me to boarding school in the Himalayas at the age of 10. When I said I wanted to go to college in America, they said “why not?”, even though most of my family had never left the country.
Where I come from, unfortunately the bar for girls was often set too low. The greatest gift my parents gave me was the opposite: very high expectations. That changed my trajectory - allowing me to imagine a life that spanned continents and industries. It also taught me that the right kind of support can change someone’s destiny, and that belief now informs the way I back founders.
What do you look for in founders?
Ambition you can physically feel in the room when you're with them. A problem obsession that outweighs love for a specific solution. I gravitate to people who are relentlessly positive - who see the glass half full - but who have the humility to acknowledge what they don’t know and the curiosity to keep learning. There’s a lot of emphasis in venture capital on childhood trauma or chips on shoulders; I’ve found that unwavering support from spouses, family or friends is just as important. Starting a company is a marathon, and the people around you determine whether you run it alone or with a cheering section.
How do you work with founders?
When I started in private equity, I knew I loved analysing businesses; I didn’t realise how much I’d love working with founders. My ambition is to be the most impactful investor on your cap table - the one who truly moves the needle. That might mean placing a critical executive, hustling with customers, or helping you close that game-changing first hire. I see this role as a round the clock support function: whatever the company needs, whenever it needs it. I take that responsibility very seriously.
Company building is an emotional roller coaster, and my job is to be the steady point of equilibrium - grounding you when the highs are dizzying, lifting you when the lows are crushing. Just as founders aspire to be the best at their craft, I’m hungry for feedback on how I can be the best at mine.
