Sandeep Tandon
Founder & Partner at whiteboard-capital
Reviewed Updated Jun 28, 2026This profile is AI-generated. If you spot an error, please help us fix it by sharing a URL to the correct information.
Background
Sandeep Tandon is a Mumbai-based entrepreneur and investor with more than 20 years of experience across California and India 1. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California and completed the Owner President Manager program at Harvard Business School 12.
Tandon co-founded Freecharge in August 2010 with Kunal Shah; the mobile recharge and payments platform was sold to Snapdeal in March 2015 for a deal valued at approximately $400 million, one of the largest Indian consumer internet transactions at the time 2. Axis Bank subsequently acquired Freecharge from Snapdeal in July 2017 for roughly $60 million 2.
Earlier in his career, Tandon founded IQBackOffice (sold in 2000) and led operations at Celetronix in India until its 2006 acquisition by Jabil Circuits 2. He is the Managing Director of Tandon Group and serves as Executive Chairman of Syrma SGS Technology and Chairman of Aavas Financiers 12.
In 2017, Tandon co-founded Whiteboard Capital with Anshu Prasher, a Mumbai-based early-stage VC firm that backs founders at ideation, pre-seed, and seed stages 13. He sits on the board of CRED and serves as an advisor to Unacademy and Spinny 1.
Identity note: This profile covers Sandeep Tandon the Freecharge co-founder. He is distinct from Sandeep Tandon, Founder & CIO of Quant Mutual Fund (a public-markets asset manager).
Stated Thesis
Whiteboard Capital states it invests at “ideation, pre-seed, and seed stages, partnering with visionary founders to transform bold ideas into thriving businesses,” and describes a hands-on, “founders first” model 3. The firm’s own framing on its site: “We invest our time, expertise, and resources in the ideas and teams we believe in. By fostering strong relationships and offering hands-on support, we aim to be a catalyst for growth and success.” 3
Tandon’s personal angel activity (begun in 2015 after the Freecharge exit) has emphasized Indian internet, fintech, and consumer businesses 24.
Inferred Thesis
Based on 14 independently verified investments spanning 2016–2021 (drawn from the cited sources below; sample is partial — public lists range from 19 to 36 total deals across sources 45):
Sector mix (14 verified deals): - Consumer brands / D2C: 5 — Atomberg, Damensch, Traya, Supertails, Spinny (~36%) 32 - Fintech: 4 — CRED, Progcap, indiagold, Dezerv (~29%) 32 - Commerce enablement: 3 — Dukaan, Apnaklub, Bharat Bazaar (~21%) 32 - Edtech: 2 — Unacademy, Genius Teacher (~14%) 2 - Healthtech: 2 — Zeno Health, Traya (counted under consumer; healthtech-adjacent) 3 - Media: 1 — Pocket Aces (~7%) 2
(Percentages exceed 100% because Traya straddles consumer/healthtech categories.)
Stage: All 14 verified deals are pre-seed, seed, or Series A. Tandon participates as an angel and via Whiteboard Capital; the firm’s stated focus on pre-incorporation and ideation-stage founders is consistent with several portfolio entries 3.
Geography: Portfolio is overwhelmingly India-based (Mumbai, Bangalore, Gurugram, Delhi). No international investments verified in the sample.
Founder pattern: Tandon’s network — Kunal Shah (CRED, ex-Freecharge), Gaurav Munjal (Unacademy), Niraj Singh (Spinny), Arjun Vaidya-era D2C founders — suggests strong repeat-founder and ex-founder-of-payments-cohort overlap. CRED’s Kunal Shah is his Freecharge co-founder; he joined CRED’s board in October 2018 6.
Sample size caveat: This analysis is based on ~14 of a claimed 19–36 investments. Patterns should be treated as directional rather than definitive.
Portfolio
| Company | Year | Stage | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pocket Aces | 2016 | Series A | 2 |
| Bharat Bazaar | 2016 | Angel | 2 |
| Unacademy | 2017 | Series A | 2 |
| Spinny | 2017 | Seed | 2 |
| CRED | 2018 | Board / Advisor | 12 |
| Atomberg | 2019 | Series A | 23 |
| Progcap | 2019 | Series A | 2 |
| Dukaan | 2020 | Seed | 2 |
| Genius Teacher | 2020 | Angel | 2 |
| indiagold | 2021 | Seed | 2 |
| Raise Financial Services | 2021 | Seed | 2 |
| Apnaklub | ~2020 | Early stage | 3 |
| Traya | ~2020 | Early stage | 3 |
| Damensch | ~2020 | Early stage | 3 |
| Dezerv | ~2021 | Early stage | 3 |
| Supertails | ~2021 | Early stage | 3 |
| Zeno Health | ~2020 | Early stage | 3 |
Years marked with “~” reflect approximate founding/early-funding periods inferred from the Whiteboard Capital portfolio page; exact deal dates not verified from primary sources.
In Their Own Words
No substantive interview or first-person quotes from Sandeep Tandon were verified during research. The Whiteboard Capital site presents firm-level statements without specific attribution to Tandon 3. Further searches across podcast directories and Indian VC press did not surface a primary interview transcript attributable to him.
What Founders Say
No independently sourced founder testimonials specifically about Sandeep Tandon were found. The Whiteboard Capital website carries founder testimonials from Traya and Zeno Health, but those quotes credit Tandon’s partner Anshu Prasher rather than Tandon himself 3. No verified third-party founder commentary on Tandon’s working style was located.
Sources
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Whiteboard Capital, “Team — Sandeep Tandon.” Accessed June 2026. https://www.whiteboardcap.com/team/sandeep-tandon↩↩↩↩↩↩
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StartupTalky, “Sandeep Tandon — Co-founder of FreeCharge | MD, Tandon Group.” Accessed June 2026. https://startuptalky.com/sandeep-tandon-freecharge/↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩
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Whiteboard Capital, homepage and portfolio. Accessed June 2026. https://www.whiteboardcap.com/↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩
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Crunchbase, “Sandeep Tandon — Founder & Partner @ Whiteboard Capital.” Accessed June 2026. https://www.crunchbase.com/person/sandeep-tandon↩↩
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Tracxn, “Sandeep Tandon — 2025 Portfolio & Founded Companies.” Accessed June 2026. https://tracxn.com/d/people/sandeep-tandon/__ziMDZ_CM4ulRJAp7ZSjsv2Xb2CsTxUea2hD3D780NRY↩
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Golden, “Sandeep Tandon.” Accessed June 2026. https://golden.com/wiki/Sandeep_Tandon-XK966JK↩