Meet the Startups Funded by New Orleans Firm Valmiki Capital

Valmiki Capital Management is a New York City based investment management company that acts as the investment manager to several funds, including its subsidiary based in New Orleans, Valmiki 504.

The New Orleans office focuses on venture capital and private equity investments into both regional companies and the company’s global investment portfolios.

One of the startups Valmiki has in its portfolio is a marketplace for musical expression called Manoke. The company has developed a music teaching app which provides music score sheets and notation in a very interactive and immersive environment.

The platform can be used by students, enthusiasts and musicians, and teachers and professionals.

Manoke launched in India in 2017 and brought pilot programs to Louisiana and throughout the Northeast earlier this year. The startup is gearing up for its U.S launch in 2019.

“This semester the music program at University of New Orleans is using the Manoke platform for its Jazz Piano Lab and the company is discussing usage in a number of high schools in the area,” shared Peggy Babin, managing partner at Valmiki Capital.

Another Valmiki portfolio company is Alphabeta, which was co-founded by Tulane grad Kirthi Ramakrishnan, the co-inventor of the underlying technology. The company’s founding investor is Ravi Suria, the Chief Investment Office at Valmiki 504, and their Chief Executive Officer is Babin.

Alphabeta has created an experiential lab environment for learning trading strategies and simulations for students of finance and economics.

“Valmiki Capital’s New Orleans based software incubator TOPXIGHT LA does much of the platform testing and is part of the global product development and deployment team for the company,” shared Babin.