Kirthiga Reddy is a founder, investor, and technology executive with more than twenty years of experience leading transformative, future-defining initiatives. She is the Co-Founder and CEO of OptimizeGEO, a pioneering Generative Engine Optimization company helping businesses thrive in the new era of AI-driven discovery, and the Co-Founder and CEO of Verix, a high-growth, venture-backed Web3 startup reimagining trust, verification, and digital credentials. Verix is backed by leading investors including Randi Zuckerberg, Stacy Brown-Philpot, Nuseir Yassin (Nas Daily), Polygon Ventures, Blockchange Ventures, and Micron Ventures.

Kirthiga also leads as President of Athena Technology II, the third in a series of all-women-led SPACs dedicated to bringing exceptional leadership talent, access to capital, and transaction expertise to companies that are poised to become market leaders. She is a Founding Investment Partner at the F7 seed fund, supporting mission-driven founders shaping the future.

Beyond her commercial ventures, Kirthiga is deeply committed to social impact. She founded AIKiran, a nonprofit movement empowering women in AI across India through mentorship, learning pathways, and community leadership. She also co-founded Liftery, an initiative focused on transforming the landscape for working women and accelerating the careers of ten million mothers.

Previously, Kirthiga was the first female Investing Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers (SBIA), manager of the $100B+ SoftBank Vision Fund. At SBIA, she focused on frontier, enterprise, and health-tech investments while managing a portfolio of over $5B, and served on the Board of Directors for WeWork. She was also part of the Investment Committee for Emerge, a global accelerator supporting companies led by underrepresented founders.

Before SBIA, Kirthiga served for over six years as Managing Director, Facebook India & South Asia, beginning as Facebook’s first employee in India. She later held additional leadership roles overseeing key high-growth regions including Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa, and the Middle East. She has also contributed to global business leadership as Chair of the Stanford Business School Management Board.

Kirthiga holds an MBA from Stanford University, graduating with highest honors as an Arjay Miller Scholar; an M.S. in Computer Engineering from Syracuse University; and a B.E. in Computer Science from Marathwada University, India. She has been recognized in Fortune India’s Most Powerful Women list and Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business, among numerous other honors.