Coldstar Team
The ColdStar team comprises of individuals who bring along several years of operational, investment & entrepreneurial experience creating a unique blend, thereby enabling strong focus on creating value from operational excellence.
Executive Management Team
Shagun Gogia – Director
Prior to Tuscan, Shagun was a Vice-President at ICICI Ventures, India’s largest private equity fund.
Shagun gained several years of experience in private equity placements in India, closing 5 deals with total equity investment of approximately US$100 million. Prior to ICICI Ventures, Shagun spent three years in the corporate finance team at Rabo India Finance. While at Rabo, Shagun worked on mergers and acquisitions and private equity placements across various industries including IT, BPO and biotechnology.
Shagun is a Cum Laude Double Major in Economics and Biology, Tufts University and holds an MBA from the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.
Shaukat Ali Farooqi - Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Farooqi spearheads operations and drives the development, implementation and expansion of ColdStar’s logistics infrastructure.
With a keen process orientation, Mr. Farooqi’s focus at ColdStar, is to set up end-to-end logistics solutions for temperature-controlled food products through a nationwide cold-chain.
With 22 years of cross-functional experience in logistics, warehousing, distribution and sales and marketing, Mr. Farooqi brings expertise and knowledge of industry best practices and unmatched local expertise honed by years of working in the Indian logistics environment.
Prior to this, Mr. Farooqi worked with Allanasons Limited (2006-2010) as Head of Inland Logistics. In his previous position, he worked with Reliance Industries Limited as a member of the core supply chain team for a few months. He has had a long tenure with Snowman Frozen Foods Limited in various positions during 1998-2005, responsible for cold warehouse operations at Ludhiana, Faridabad, Bangalore and subsequently heading the refrigerated transport division. Mr. Farooqi started his career in 1988 by selling courier services in the Northern part of the country for UBC.
Mr. Farooqi is a post graduate in Commerce from Rohilkhand University in Uttar Pradesh.
Sameer Varma - Head - Business Development
Sameer has 6 years of experience in the shipping, logistics and transportation infrastructure space spread across Asia.
Prior to his role as General Manager of India Container Services, he worked at the Indian Head Office of Maersk Line - the world's largest container shipping company - in Mumbai, responsible for the trade between India and the Americas.
During 2005 - 2007, he was the Asset flow and Procurement manager for the Maersk Line's activities in the Americas and Asia Pacific Rim based at Maersk Line's Regional Head Quarters in Singapore.
Sameer started his career as a part of A. P. Moller - Maersk's elite Management Training Program, prior to which he had worked with Alcan Labs and Grameen Bank. Sameer holds a Bachelor's degree in Physics from St. Xavier's College in Mumbai.
