Niraj Khanal

Niraj Khanal is the co-founder and CEO of Antarprerana, an investment and consulting company registered in 2015 that specializes in business incubation and making early-stage startups investment-ready. With over a decade of experience in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, Khanal began his journey around 2009 while working at the Samriddhi Foundation. In 2014, he launched and ran the first business accelerator program in Nepal, helping local startups secure early-stage funding. Today, his work through Antarprerana spans six districts in Nepal as well as collaborations with the government of Bhutan.

As an investor and mentor, Khanal emphasizes the importance of evaluating a founder's character and alignment over mere business ideas. He advocates for a philosophy of experimenting and learning from failures at a minimum cost, preferring to support entrepreneurs as a mentor rather than getting involved in daily operations. Through Antarprerana, he has invested in over ten early-stage companies with ticket sizes ranging from 5 to 50 lakhs, and he is currently transitioning the firm toward a co-investment model. Additionally, Khanal is developing a mentorship guidebook and a Business Health Check-up software to further support the growth of the startup ecosystem.