Welcoming Shwetank Verma as an Advisor to The Scale Factory

We're delighted to welcome Shwetank Verma as an advisor to The Scale Factory!

Shwetank is Co-founder and Managing Partner of Leo Capital, where he leads the firm's investment activities outside India — including a Helsinki office with a distinctive thesis: backing European companies with Indian heritage. Based in Singapore and an entrepreneur before he was an investor, he built businesses in the health and education sectors from the ground up, and has spent two decades building and backing companies across India and Southeast Asia.

That combination — operator first, cross-border investor second, with a foot in Europe, India and Southeast Asia — sits precisely on the corridor The Scale Factory works every day.

Why The Scale Factory?

What stood out to me about TSF is the focus on execution, not just strategy. A lot of firms talk about cross-border expansion, but very few actually help companies build revenue on the ground.

Shwetank has built built and backed businesses across India and Southeast Asia, and seen how hard the EU–Asia corridor really is:

It's not a market entry problem, it's a go-to-market execution problem. TSF is one of the few teams approaching it that way, which is why I was keen to get involved.”

His advice to founders building in the EU–Asia corridor

My biggest advice is: don't underestimate how different these markets are!

He continues to explain: "What works in Europe won't directly translate into Asia — whether it's pricing, buyer behaviour, or decision-making cycles. Founders often assume product-market fit travels, but in reality you have to rebuild go-to-market almost from scratch."

The ones who succeed are those who localise early, move fast on feedback, and invest in the right on-the-ground relationships.

We're excited to have Shwetank joining us as an advisor and look forward to drawing on his perspective across the EU–Asia corridor!