The people behind Zeus.

CA Abhishek Barari is a Chartered Accountant and Designated Partner at Zeus Advisors LLP, with over a decade of experience advising startups, investors, incubators and growing businesses on strategic, financial, legal, regulatory and transaction matters. His approach is to view a business as a whole, weighing the commercial, financial, legal, regulatory and strategic implications together rather than treating finance, law, compliance or strategy as separate functions. His work spans business and financial strategy, fundraising, investment transactions and structuring, Virtual CFO services, valuations, equity and debt financing, financial planning and MIS, cap table management, ESOP structuring, compliance, investment documentation and strategic decision support. Zeus grew out of a gap Abhishek kept noticing in the startup ecosystem: promoters built businesses with energy and ambition, but professional support was fragmented. Finance, legal structure, compliance, governance and fundraising readiness were handled separately, or only when a transaction or problem forced the issue. The result was often unclear cap tables, weak agreements, valuation concerns, compliance gaps and strained founder-investor relationships, just when a business was preparing to grow. He conceived Zeus Advisors in 2015–16 to offer comprehensive, rather than siloed, advice. Having earlier built one of India's first co-working ventures, recognised among TiE's Top 4 Startups in India in 2014, he had also seen these challenges as a promoter. That experience shaped Zeus's philosophy, summed up in its thought, "Giving Structure to Ambition": strategy, finance, law, compliance and fundraising should not be separate conversations, since each affects the same enterprise. A large part of his practice is fundraising and investment transactions. He works with founders, investors and institutions on transaction structures, valuations and dilution, equity and debt raises, commercial terms and investor rights, supporting deals from first discussions through documentation and execution. His role often goes further, advising management on financial sustainability, governance, regulatory issues, contracts, stakeholder interests and long-term strategy. He is particularly strong in negotiations and stakeholder management, including founder-investor disputes, which have been part of his practice for several years. In these, he focuses on the underlying commercial issue, protecting the client's interests and finding solutions workable for the business. His practice also covers FEMA, cross-border transactions and the GIFT City ecosystem, including foreign and overseas investment, cross-border capital and international business arrangements. Through Virtual CFO and management advisory work, he supports financial reporting, MIS, budgeting, cash-flow planning, financial controls and decision-making, using financial data to understand the business, identify risks and support strategy rather than as a mere accounting exercise. He is also an advisor and mentor to startups and incubation platforms, with earlier associations including SINE–IIT Bombay, RIIDL–Somaiya and WISE–SNDT, mentoring on fundraising, regulatory and investor matters. At Zeus, he believes in understanding the business before advising on the issue, and in how strategy, finance, law, compliance, governance and stakeholder interests interact, to produce solutions that are commercially practical, financially sound, legally robust and implementable.

abhishek@zeusadvisors.in

Prajwal Haldankar is an Advocate and Designated Partner at Zeus Advisors LLP, where he focuses on transaction advisory, corporate structuring, investment transactions, regulatory matters and strategic legal advisory. His practice is primarily centred around the startup, investment and innovation ecosystem, where he works closely with investors, incubators, institutions, founders and emerging businesses across different stages of their growth and investment lifecycle. His experience includes advising on fundraising and investment transactions, shareholders' and investment agreements, term sheets, equity and convertible instruments, due diligence, corporate governance, ESOP structures, regulatory compliance, investor rights and exit mechanisms. At Zeus Advisors, Prajwal is actively involved in structuring and executing transactions from the initial commercial understanding through documentation, negotiation, closing and post-investment governance. His approach is to look beyond the legal document itself and understand the commercial objective, transaction structure and long-term implications of the rights and obligations being negotiated. Before moving predominantly into corporate and transaction advisory, Prajwal gained experience in dispute resolution and litigation matters involving forums such as the Debt Recovery Tribunal, High Courts and the National Company Law Tribunal, as well as matters under the Negotiable Instruments Act. This background gives him a practical understanding of how contractual provisions and commercial decisions may ultimately be interpreted, enforced or contested. He has also undertaken specialised studies in Company Law and Mergers & Acquisitions, Institutional Finance and Investment Laws, complementing his legal practice with a focused understanding of corporate finance and investment transactions. Prajwal believes that effective professional advice should combine legal precision with commercial practicality. His focus is therefore on providing clients with advice that is not only legally sound, but also clear, implementable and aligned with their broader business and investment objectives.

prajwal@zeusadvisors.in

Shubhangi Kavinkar is an Accounts Executive with over eight years of professional experience across accounting, financial reporting, taxation, audit support and statutory compliance. A B.Com. graduate, she began her professional career in accounting and finance in 2018 and has since developed extensive practical experience working with businesses across sectors including startups, manufacturing, trading, services, technology, real estate and professional services. Her core experience lies in accounting and financial reporting, where she independently handles client accounts and manages day-to-day accounting functions, reconciliations, ledger scrutiny and financial record maintenance. She has experience handling and reviewing the accounts of businesses with annual turnovers of upto INR 100 crores, including review of complex accounting transactions, identification and rectification of discrepancies, ledger reconciliations and preparation of financial statements, including Balance Sheets and Profit & Loss Accounts. Shubhangi also has strong practical experience across Income Tax, GST and TDS compliance. Her work includes preparation and filing of individual income-tax returns, including ITR-1, ITR-2 and ITR-3, TDS workings, return filings and corrections, GST reconciliations, annual return workings and reconciliation of statutory records with books of accounts. Her experience further extends to corporate and MCA compliance, including work relating to filings such as ADT-1, INC-22, AOC-4 and MGT-7A, as well as preparation and maintenance of Board Resolutions and other corporate statutory documentation. In addition, Shubhangi has supported statutory and other audit assignments, including preparation of schedules, reconciliations, financial data and supporting documentation required during the audit process. She also assists with valuation assignments and professional certification work, including preparation of valuation workings, compilation of financial information and preparation of supporting schedules and documentation required for valuation reports and various CA certificates. Shubhangi is proficient in Tally and Winman applications for Income Tax and TDS compliance, along with other accounting and compliance tools used in day-to-day client assignments. At Zeus Advisors, she independently manages accounting engagements and supports clients across accounting, taxation, audit, financial reporting and corporate compliance. Her approach is characterised by close attention to detail, analytical review and timely execution, with an emphasis on maintaining accurate financial records and ensuring that clients remain compliant with their statutory and regulatory requirements.

shubhangi@zeusadvisors.in