edamama’s Bela Gupta D’Souza and Nish D’Souza Join the Endeavor Network
Endeavor selected the Philippines’ Bela Gupta D’Souza and Nish D’Souza of edamama at the 40th Virtual International Selection Panel (vISP) held September 18-20, 2023. The panel included Brynne McNulty (Habi), Enrique Linares (Letgo), Mateo Marietti (CookUnity), Rudy Gadelrab (MDisrupt), Henri Asseily (Leap Ventures), and Niall Horgan (Gym+Coffee).
edamama was founded by two parents, Bela Gupta D’Souza and Nishant (“Nish”) D’Souza, who struggled themselves to find reliable and trusted products for their children. Bela is a serial entrepreneur whose journey began in 2011 after graduating with a bachelor’s in economics from St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai, a postgraduate degree in PR and advertising, and an MBA from Stanford. Before edamama, she launched Groupon’s Thai operations, where she served as COO for a year. In 2012, Bela moved to the Philippines, where she founded a digital marketing tech company, AdSpark, which she ran as CEO for five years. After that, she spent two years as Managing Partner of Decapolis Partners, a business consulting and investment firm helping to support startups in the SEA region. Nish, on the other hand, started his career as a mechatronic engineer, having graduated from Curtin University in Australia, before turning to the world of business. Nish finished his MBA from Stanford in 2010. Since then, he has served strategic and operational roles in several global companies including the AES Corporation, AG&P and Mr. DIY, roles which brought him and Bela to the Philippines. Nish is also an entrepreneur at heart having co-founded Cardinal Agri, an agritech company in the Philippines, in 2015. Having worked at Creador, a Southeast Asia-based PE firm, for many years before joining edamama, Nish brings valuable experience from closing deals and building companies across sectors. Together, the two set out to leverage business and technology to provide fellow parents with a trusted platform and community for all their parenting needs.
The ISP is the culmination of a rigorous multi-step selection process to identify high-impact entrepreneurs who demonstrate the potential to leverage Endeavor’s resources and mentorship to create large-scale wealth and jobs, and are committed to reinvesting their time and money in their local entrepreneurship ecosystems to help others take off.
As part of Endeavor’s network, the newly selected entrepreneurs will gain access to comprehensive, strategic, global support services, including introductions to local and international business mentors, investors, and volunteers from Fortune 500 consulting firms who will help them address key needs.