About Kajal

Biography

Inspired by her immigrant family’s entrepreneurial journey, Kajal Sanghrajka started her first business while studying in New York after successful corporate career working in the City and on Wall Street, She leveraged her knowledge in Strategy and Operations to bootstrap and scale her first business in New York. Today, Kajal, an entrepreneur, advisor and keynote speaker, draws upon her experience transitioning from corporate and academia to a portfolio entrepreneurial career.

Kajal sits on the Board of the London School of Economics entrepreneurship. LSE Generate and is an advisor to The Entrepreneurs Network, a think tank for Britain’s most ambitious entrepreneurs. Through her advisory practice, Growth Hub Global, she has worked with clients globally on launching and growing entrepreneurial ventures and programs.

Her work has been featured in the BBC, Bloomberg, Inc Magazine and she has spoken on entrepreneurship, innovation and diversity at leading institutions including TEDx, Columbia University and the Houses of Parliament.

She is a passionate advocate of building entrepreneurial skills for university students and has mentored and advised more than 50 early-stage start-ups on business growth, bootstrapping, fundraising and managing mental health through the ups and downs of entrepreneurial life. In 2012, Kajal co-founded Columbia University’s first incubator for graduate entrepreneurs and built a first of its kind university entrepreneurial ecosystem in New York. She recently designed and launched the London School of Economics’ (LSE) first Accelerator GAP 1.0 for impact-driven start-ups and serves as an advisor to the Aspect Accelerator — the first cross-university social sciences accelerator in Europe funded by Research England. Kajal was awarded the Churchill Fellowship in 2017 and travelled to 25 cities to conduct research on immigrant entrepreneurship. After presenting her findings in Parliament and the Economics Ministry in Finland – her work has influenced policy changes for start-ups. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and holds degrees from the London School of Economics and Columbia Business School.

Keynote Speaking

Kajal is passionate about inclusive entrepreneurship and is a regular speaker on a broad range of topics within innovation, entrepreneurship, diversity and inclusion. Her recent speaking topics have included:

Waiting for Superwoman – Empowering female founders

Rise of the Graduate Entrepreneur – On building entrepreneurial skills at university

Why my dad doesn’t eat potatoes – On the untapped potential of immigrant and female entrepreneurship

She combines energy and passion of the topic with rigorous research and insights to inspire entrepreneurial thinking for her audiences.

"Kajal’s speech convinced the Finnish decision makers present at the event of the urgent need for the commitment of national and city representatives on talent attraction and retention to make Finland and it’s cities succeed in international competition for talent. Her lively presence and commitment to the subject make her an excellent keynote speaker to any event".

Laura Lindeman

Chief Specialist and Team Leader at Työ- ja

Previous Speaking Engagements

Board and Business Advisory

Kajal is the founder and director of Growth Hub Global and has over 16 years experience leading strategy, innovation and entrepreneurial projects for high growth startups, educational institutions, FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 clients. She combines the rigour of top tier consultancy experience with an entrepreneurial mindset to successfully launch new ventures and expand to new markets. Contact her below to find out more about her consulting work.

She holds several advisory roles including the Board of LSE Generate (the home of entrepreneurship at The London School of Economics), Research Advisor for The Entrepreneurs Network ( a think tank for the UK’s most ambitious entrepreneurs).

"Rarely have I met a person with these traits combined with the deep understanding in a broad spectrum of topics and fields. She has all the ingredients that make her a true leader, entrepreneur and C-level partner. I do recommend Kajal for any opportunity that requires excellence".

Pascal Kaufmann

Founder & CEO Mindfire and Founder of Starmind

Writing

Kajal writes regularly on entrepreneurship covering topics from building inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems to reporting to university entrepreneurship programs. Her periodic editorial, The Transatlantic Post discusses innovation and entrepreneurship across cities and universities (with occasional British satire).

Why not join thousands of founders, investors, policymakers and informed citizens by signing up to The Transatlantic Post.

“Regularly, an eagerly awaited email pops up in my inbox: the Transatlantic Post. In these short yet very insightful reviews, Kajal explores the entrepreneurial ecosystems she visits in her unstoppable quest for finding out what makes cities and entrepreneurs thrive. The reports are always very informative, but above all they are deeply humane, and full of entrepreneurial optimism. Strongly recommended for anybody looking to understand what drives entrepreneurs around the world”

Cedric Mutz

Investment Director, Emerald Ventures