April 2nd, 2026
Techne is thrilled to welcome Chitra Nayak to the firm as Venture Partner. A powerhouse of Silicon Valley operational expertise and global strategic leadership, Chitra brings three decades of experience scaling high-growth technology, financial services, and logistics ecosystems.
Chitra’s background as a seasoned operator is unparalleled. She previously served as COO of Comfy (acquired by Siemens), a pioneer in smart building and real-estate tech, and COO of Funding Circle US, where she drove rapid revenue acceleration. Her foundational leadership includes eight years at Salesforce, where she served as COO, Platform and SVP of Global Sales Development, as well as strategic roles at Charles Schwab and BCG.
Currently, Chitra serves as a Board Director at Infosys (chairing the ESG Committee and sitting on the Risk and Cybersecurity Committees) and at Vimo, an AI-enabled health insurance platform. As a BCG Executive Advisor, she actively guides high-growth companies across SaaS, AI/ML, and IoT on the mechanics of go-to-market execution and global scaling. A dedicated advocate for institutional change, Chitra co-founded Neythri.org to empower South Asian professional women and established the Salesforce Women’s Network. She also co-created the “Women in Leadership” MBA course at California State University.
Chitra holds an MBA (Honors) from Harvard Business School, an MS in Environmental Engineering from Cornell, and a B.Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT).