Meet the MBA Class of 2026: Prapti Patel, London Business School

“My discipline is my biggest strength. I’m also resilient, curious, and have a sarcastic sense of humor.”

Hometown: Mumbai, India

Fun Fact About Yourself: I’m a lawyer-turned-social impact consultant-turned-venture capitalist. I live by the ethos that there is nothing I can’t do once I set my mind to it. Before I retire, I’m fairly certain I’ll have performed brain surgery (but I make no promises on the survival rates!).

Undergraduate School and Major: ILS Law College, India – Bachelors in Law and Ashoka University, India – Young India Fellowship

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Anthill Ventures – Lead, Urban Tech & Sustainability

What makes London such a great place to earn an MBA degree? London is one of those cities that isn’t just global in name but truly feels like a melting pot of cultures. It’s a hub of all things finance, technology, and business, but also has such a vibrant artistic scene, great outdoor spaces, and a close proximity to beautiful destinations in the UK and Europe. I can’t think of a better place to spend two years getting my MBA!

London Business School is one of the most culturally and professionally diverse MBA programs in the world. How do you see these global perspectives enhancing the value of your business education over the next two years? Businesses, no matter how large or global, are run by people at the end of the day. I strongly believe that knowing where someone comes from, what makes them tick, and how to inspire them to work with you is the key to success in any industry. What’s the saying: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”?

In my LBS class, I’ll be studying alongside classmates from 65 different countries across the world – that’s 65 different cultural contexts, including different professional experiences and working styles. This is an unparalleled opportunity to learn how businesses solve challenges in different parts of the world, and how to adapt solutions from one industry or geography to another.

Additionally, I don’t take it lightly that upon graduation, my professional and personal network is literally going to span continents! This is an invaluable asset as we will all have the opportunity to gain insights into each other’s perspectives, business environments, and opportunities long after we have all left the classroom.

Aside from your classmates and location, what was the key part of London Business School’s MBA curriculum and programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? I believe the flexibility in the curriculum truly allows each of us to make the MBA our own – whether we’d like to start a business, do multiple internships, pick up a new skill, or just complete the MBA as fast as possible and restart our professional journey. To me, the flexible curriculum is a signal that the school truly understands and reflects the spirit of individuality within diversity, and that was an important reason why I chose London Business School. I intend to use this flexibility to experience working in my target industries, play a leadership role in 1-2 student clubs, and explore the great outdoors with new friends! I’m also delighted to have been selected for a scholarship as part of the BK Birla Scholars Programme.

What course, club or activity excites you the most at London Business School? Professionally, I look forward to participating in the LBS Private Equity &Venture Capital Club to further my own career in the industry, as well as support classmates who wish to break into venture capital, especially those from a non-finance background – Yes, it can be done! I enjoy learning about personal productivity and effectiveness and so I’m looking forward to developing a stronger leadership style through the Global Learning Assessment for Managers, Leadership Launch, and similar courses. Outside of this, I’m excited to indulge my adventurous side through hiking, trekking, skiing, surfing, sailing, and whatever else comes my way!

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: My greatest professional achievement has been launching and growing the Urban Tech & Sustainability vertical at Anthill Ventures, which helps startups in Consumer, Media, Urban Tech and Health Tech to scale up. I took it from the smallest and newest team at the firm to the largest and highest revenue-generating one within two years!

When I started the process, there was no template to go by, but I was granted a large degree of ownership by my leaders and so I jumped right in! I developed an investment thesis, launched an accelerator program, worked closely with the startups to help them scale, and then invested in the winners from the cohort. This included an early investment in India’s largest EV-as-a-service startup that enables last mile deliveries in India to become electric, which has already achieved a multiple of 14x.

This first program had its successes but also taught me a lot about the Urban Tech space and early-stage startup growth in general. Consequently, I narrowed but deepened the focus of the second cohort, and brought in revenue for Anthill through partnerships with other funds. This empowered me to hire a team and allowed us to improve the support services we offered startups. As the Anthill brand in Urban Tech & Sustainability grew, I secured a number of other revenue partnerships, including one with Enterprise Singapore.

What is your unique quality that will enable you to make a big contribution to the Class of 2026? I have successfully pivoted my career twice thus far: first from law to social impact consulting at Dasra, and then into early-stage venture capital at Anthill Ventures. I have done this by setting intentional goals, breaking them down into achievable steps, and then following through – and I’m happy to bring this skillset to my MBA class. I know that many of my classmates hope to use the MBA to transition from one industry or function to another, and I look forward to helping them do so – it is challenging, but it’s not impossible!

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into London Business School’s MBA program? I have three main pieces of advice:

1. Take both parts of the application – the application form and the essay(s) – equally seriously. LBS has one of the longest, most detailed application forms of any top business school because a single 500-word essay cannot encompass a rich, full life. Use the form to showcase your previous work experience, your extra-curricular activities, your international experiences, and your close relationships. Your main essay can then be used to talk about how all of this has led you to LBS and what you will do after. Your optional essay can then be used to highlight anything else that you think the admissions committee should know about you.

2. Try and learn as much about LBS as possible through the admissions events, by talking to current students and alumni, and by visiting the campus (if you can). This will demonstrate that you are genuinely interested in coming to LBS and in what LBS specifically has to offer. (There is a space in the application form to showcase this interest, so use it well!).

3. Don’t be afraid to showcase your story as it is. I realized that having multiple career pivots was not a mistake or failure, but a strength. It instilled in me a growth mindset and taught me that in order to be good at something, sometimes you have to be bad at it first. So, whatever you think is the worst part of your story – reflect on how it has shaped you and reframe it as a strength.