A new wave of financial discourse emerged from Gurugram on June 28, 2025, as Crowwd unveiled its inaugural event, Arthavaad — a gathering that went beyond conventional conversations and into the heart of what truly drives investment, risk, and purpose.
A Platform with a Mission
Crowwd, a rising social media platform with its roots in Belgium and its sights firmly set on transforming India’s financial landscape, is not just another fintech startup. Under the leadership of its CEO and Co-founder, Ajitesh Gupta, Crowwd is redefining how investors, entrepreneurs, and learners interact with financial information — making it more open, more human, and more relevant.
At Arthavaad 1.0, Mr. Gupta took the stage to share Crowwd’s story. From its European origins to its current role as a community-driven force in India’s investment space, his address captured the journey of a company founded on trust, growth, and dialogue. But the evening’s true resonance came not from business metrics, but from the stories that followed.
A Keynote Rooted in Reality
The highlight of the event was the keynote address by Mr. Sunil Malik, Founder and Managing Director of multiple publicly listed companies, collectively valued at over ₹480 crores. Yet it wasn’t just his financial success that captivated the room — it was the honesty with which he narrated his journey.
Mr. Malik’s reflections stretched beyond profit margins. He spoke of his beginnings, of the discipline that underpinned his rise, and of the role that purpose plays in sustaining success. To the 120+ attendees — a diverse mix of startup founders, students, industry professionals, and senior bankers from institutions like HDFC and ICICI — his words rang with lived truth. He didn’t offer clichés; he offered clarity.
“When we talk about finance, we often forget the people behind the numbers,” he said. “But it’s in those stories that the real lessons lie.”
Dialogue, Not Just Discourse
What set Arthavaad apart from typical industry meetups was the rawness of the conversations that followed. There were no panels reading from scripts, no sanitized success stories. Instead, what unfolded was something rare in the world of finance — vulnerability and shared growth.
In a conversation moderated by Mr. Gupta, Ms. Shruti Bishnoi, the founder of ethical fashion brand Basata, and Mr. Vishesh Mathur, who leads startup investments at Project Guerrilla, delved deep into their respective worlds. From the passion of building a brand rooted in authenticity to the nuanced process of identifying early-stage ventures, their dialogue illustrated the dance between risk and reward, art and analysis.
This wasn’t theory. It was real-time exchange between people who’ve felt the pressure of pitch decks, the uncertainty of product-market fit, and the exhilarating hope of possibility.
More Than an Event — A Movement
Post-session, the room shifted from rows of chairs to clusters of conversations. Founders trading lessons on burnout, students discussing fintech careers with seasoned bankers, and professionals revisiting their own definitions of success. The lines between roles blurred. The hierarchy dissolved.
Arthavaad wasn’t just a curated experience — it became a microcosm of what Crowwd envisions: finance not as a cold arena of charts and ratios, but as a living dialogue grounded in humanity.
What started as a speaker session evolved into something deeper. It was mentorship over coffee, ideas sparked over laughter, and a reminder that growth in the financial world need not be lonely.
The Road Ahead for Crowwd and Arthavaad
As Crowwd continues its journey, initiatives like Arthavaad serve as a beacon of its core belief: when the right people gather with the right intent, innovation follows. The success of this first edition reaffirms the platform’s commitment to building not just tools for investment, but environments for transformation.
In a world awash with information but starved for wisdom, Crowwd’s model stands out. By creating spaces that prioritize dialogue over dominance, empathy over ego, and vision over vanity, it is setting the stage for a new era of financial engagement.
A Closing Thought
Finance has long been considered the domain of the few — those who speak its language fluently, who know how to navigate its peaks and pitfalls. But events like Arthavaad remind us that the language of finance is changing. It’s becoming more inclusive, more personal, and more courageous.
And at the heart of this change are communities like Crowwd — platforms that understand that real investment begins not with money, but with trust.
