Our Team
We bring deep experience in venture capital, private equity, and M&A with a partner-led, senior-focused approach.
Our team brings over four decades of collective professional experience across venture capital, private equity, and M&A. We offer a partner-led approach to every mandate, ensuring we deliver focused, senior-level attention from start to finish.
Akshay Jeet Bhat
Partner
With over 20 years of professional experience, Akshay has represented clients across the full spectrum of investment, acquisition, and exit transactions. He has advised numerous investment funds on their Indian strategies, from seed-stage deals to investments in listed companies, giving him a deep and holistic understanding of the legal and commercial dynamics that drive the lifecycle of a business. He is ranked in Venture Capital by Chambers and Partners (Asia-Pacific Guide 2026).
Akshay graduated with B.A, LL.B (Hons) degrees from the National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata in 2005.
Prior to co-founding First Principles Law, Akshay was a partner in the corporate practice of one of India’s oldest and largest full-service law firms.
Prasad Subramanyan
Partner
In over a decade of dedicated transactional practice, Prasad has operated in every part of the venture capital, private equity, and M&A vertical. His experience is distinguished by his time as both a founder side counsel as well as the head of legal at a leading Indian venture capital investor, which gives him an invaluable investor-side perspective on deal-making and structuring. This unique vantage point allows him to provide intensely practical and commercially-focused advice.
Prasad has led deal teams and partnered closely with founders and funds on a wide range of advisory and transactional mandates across sectors. He has been recognized as a ‘Top Individual Lawyer’ by Forbes Legal Powerlist 2020 and as an ‘Up and Coming’ lawyer in Venture Capital by Chambers Asia Pacific 2021.
Representative Experience Highlights
(includes experience prior to founding First Principles Law)
The partners have represented the following illustrative set of clients across various transactions.
Venture Capital and Private Equity funds such as Accel India, Bessemer Venture Partners, Elevation Capital, Fireside Ventures, Lightspeed India, Peak XV (fka Sequoia Capital India), RPSG Capital Ventures, SoftBank Vision Fund, Tiger Global and Z47 (fka Matrix Partners India).
Companies / Corporates such as Akshayakalpa, Amazon, BigBasket, Bombay Shaving Company, Darwinbox, Reckitt Benckiser India, Tata Electronics and VerSe Innovation (Dailyhunt).
Team Profile
Aarathi Krishna
Aarathi is a corporate lawyer with experience in general corporate advisory, commercial contracts, and a range of corporate transactions. She is a graduate of the Gujarat National Law University.
Prior to joining First Principles Law, she has worked at AZB & Partners, River Law (fka Rajaram Legal) and a leading fin-tech player in their in-house team. She is particularly interested in working closely with founders and supporting clients on day-to-day legal and operational matters.
Anushka Garg
Anushka is a corporate lawyer with five years of experience in general corporate, mergers and acquisitions, and investment transactions.
Prior to joining First Principles Law, Anushka was a Senior Associate in the General Corporate, M&A, and Private Equity practice at Khaitan & Co., where she worked on a wide range of high-value domestic and cross-border transactions. Her experience spans the full transaction lifecycle, from legal due diligence exercises until post-closing compliance. Anushka has been a part of teams that have advised large private equity funds on equity investments across sectors including financial services, healthcare, technology, and consumer goods.
She graduated from National Law University, Jodhpur in 2021 and holds a B.B.A., LL.B. (Business Law Hons.).
Joanna Joshua
Joanna Pranika Joshua is a corporate lawyer with experience in a broad spectrum of corporate transactions including mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments, and general corporate advisory. Joanna completed her law from Symbiosis Law School, Pune.
Prior to joining First Principles Law, Joanna worked at AZB & Partners and the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.
Joanna is a keen legal researcher and has published extensively in reputed national and international journals. While her primary area of practice is corporate law, she also maintains a strong academic interest in international law, which informs her analytical approach to complex legal issues.
Khyati Kapoor
Khyati focuses her practice on private equity, venture capital, and mergers & acquisitions. She has been involved in advising Indian and foreign institutional investors on strategic acquisitions and equity stake sales across diverse sectors, including e-commerce and manufacturing. She has developed a strong foundation in conducting red-flag legal diligence and managing transaction closing obligations.
Khyati graduated with a first-division law degree from School of Law, Christ University, Bangalore.
Sravanti Pemmaraju
Sravanti holds a law degree from Christ University, Bangalore, and a master’s degree from Queen Mary University of London.
Prior to joining First Principles Law, she was part of an in-house legal team in London.
Her work focuses on venture capital investments and advising clients on other corporate and commercial transactions across various sectors. She is passionate about working with stakeholders to create long-term value and drive sustainable growth in the startup ecosystem.
Suryanarayana Mohan
Suryanarayana is a corporate lawyer with over 5 years of professional experience in the Venture Capital, Private Equity, and M&A landscape. With a deep understanding of the deal ecosystem, he advises VC/PE investors and companies, navigating them through the complexities of the deal lifecycle. His sector expertise is diverse, with extensive focus on high-growth markets including AI, Technology, Consumer, Financial Services and Healthcare.
Prior to joining FPL, Suryanarayana was a Senior Associate in the private equity and venture capital practice at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas. He is also an alumnus of the London School of Economics, holding a master’s degree in corporate law.
Varshini Ramesh
Varshini Ramesh is a transactions lawyer specializing in venture capital, private equity, and M&A, with experience across 100+ transactions from pre-seed to late-stage funding rounds. She has advised founders, investors, and corporates on investment structuring, exits, PE and strategic acquisitions, business transfers, and pre-IPO placements across sectors including technology, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, financial services, and consumer goods. Varshini has also led training initiatives and PE market deal terms analysis for leading law firms in India.
Varshini graduated from Christ University, Bangalore. Prior to joining First Principles Law, she advised clients at Luthra and Luthra Law Offices India and Burgeon Law.