Propel
Venture Overview
Propel is an accelerator program that helps education-focused nonprofits in Latin America improve outcomes, funding access, and service delivery through a digital transformation fellowship. Founder Vijay Raghunathan has spent over 14 years in societal and environmental impact, advising Fortune 100 companies, the California state government, and contributing to climate investments through Breakthrough Energy Ventures. With graduate degrees from Texas A&M and Stanford GSB, Vijay combines environmental leadership and systems thinking to strengthen nonprofit infrastructure in emerging markets.
Website: www.wepropel.org
Venture Issue Area: Education & Talent
Venture Headquarters: San Francisco, California
Venture Founder
Vijay is a rejoicing environmental champion and an aspiring social entrepreneur. He is currently working to help close the K12 education gap in Latin America through his newly founded social venture. Prior to that, Vijay has dedicated 14 years of his life to the societal and environmental impact space. He has led transformational risk management projects for Fortune 100 clients in U.S., Europe, and India. Vijay advised the California state government on developing its first threat assessment tool to help utility companies prevent environmental catastrophes like BP’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill. More recently, he worked on two successful seed investments at Bill Gates’ Climate Fund- Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Vijay has mentored 100+ graduates for five years on career progression as part of Texas A&M University. He also volunteered as a project coordinator in ASHA for education, helping with school construction projects in rural India. Vijay has a Master’s in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M University and a Master’s in Business from Stanford Graduate School of Business (Sloan Fellow).
