What happens when someone who scaled billion-dollar operations at Visa and Mastercard turns their focus to something even more ambitious—closing the opportunity gap for millions of underserved students around the world?
Meet Pankaj Asthaana, founder of Impactis, a for-profit platform on a mission to unlock the full potential of global talent through scholarships, guidance, and networks.
Rooted in Pankaj’s own journey—starting work straight out of high school, navigating challenges without a safety net, and later helping to build transformative financial systems—Impactis was born from a simple but powerful idea: no one should have to succeed alone.
In this conversation, we dive into the personal moments and professional insights that sparked Impactis, the structural shift from charity to scalable impact, and how the team is following an “Amazon-like” approach to build a borderless, AI-powered engine for human potential.
Whether you're a founder, funder, or future builder, Pankaj’s story is a masterclass in systems thinking, mission-driven innovation, and what it means to truly invest in people.
What was the lightbulb moment - origin story of Impactis?
Pankaj: Impactis was born out of my own lived experience and deep professional conviction. I started working right after high school, and those early years were filled with financial and personal challenges. I quickly realized how much of success depends on access—to networks, guidance, and belief—that many people simply take for granted.
Over time, I discovered I had a knack for scaling multimillion-dollar businesses, especially during my time at Mastercard and Visa. But I started to wonder: what if I applied those same principles—systems thinking, efficiency, and relentless ambition—to a very different problem? What if I used them to bridge the opportunity gap at scale?
Loans are helpful, yes, but they’re transactional. Scholarships, on the other hand, send a powerful message: that a stranger believes in you. That kind of belief can change a life. It can change the world—if we make it easier for strangers to back other strangers and remove the notion that anyone must succeed alone.
As I reflected on how to build something meaningful, I realized charity wasn’t enough. We had to design for scale from the beginning—millions, not hundreds. Traditional philanthropy often starts with the idea of doing a little good. At Impactis, we flipped that question: how do we enable millions?
Two things really catalyzed the idea for me: reading about the Tata Group and how Ratan Tata built social enterprises with values at the core, and watching Super 30, a film about unlocking potential through education. That’s when it clicked. We needed a for-profit, values-driven tech platform that could create borderless, scalable impact—especially for underserved youth.
What is the mission and vision of Impactis?
Pankaj: Our mission at Impactis is simple but bold: to ensure that every year, one million promising higher-ed students get access to funding, guidance, and networks so they can pursue better, bolder careers.
Our vision is to build a platform that helps organize, identify, and connect the world’s talent through scholarships, mentorship, and community.
We're essentially creating a system to discover and develop talent that might otherwise go unnoticed.
We’re heavily inspired by Amazon’s playbook—relentless cost optimization, compounding advantages, and a focus on global design from day one.
Whether it’s AI-driven scholarship matching, diaspora engagement, or corporate partnerships, everything we do points to that one north star: serve millions, not just a few.
How does Impactis impact lives in a positive way?
Pankaj: At Impactis, we go far beyond just providing funds. We connect students with a global network of scholarship givers and corporate volunteers who offer mentorship, encouragement, and access to circles they’d otherwise never reach.
This kind of social capital is often what underserved youth lack the most.
For our givers, it’s not just about money—it’s about purpose. Supporting driven young people and seeing their journey unfold brings a sense of deep meaning and fulfillment.
Our volunteers often tell us they gain just as much, if not more, from the relationships they build.
But most of all, what we’re creating is a cycle of belief and support—a full-circle moment where potential is realized and giving becomes self-sustaining.
How have you funded the company thus far?
Pankaj: We’ve mostly been funded by friends—people who believe in the mission and in me. Recently, we’ve also had customers step up and offer funding, which has been incredibly validating.
Raising from VCs has been tough, to be honest.
Maybe we haven’t found the right backers yet.
What we’re building doesn’t fit neatly into traditional categories—it’s an outlier, and we need investors who understand that.
We're looking for mission-aligned capital, people who understand systems thinking and the value of patient scale.
What tools do you use to run your organization?
Pankaj: We’re building our own technology platform—that’s the core of what Impactis is.
But we also use some fantastic external tools to support our operations.
HubSpot is our go-to CRM for managing tasks and outreach.
We use Descope for login management, Stripe for payments, and we’re experimenting with tools like Dripify, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, and Mailbluster for long-tail customer acquisition.
We try to stay lean but smart—every tool we use must tie directly to our mission of scale and impact.
