Chaitanya Prakash

Chaitanya Prakash serves as the Chief Investment Officer at Shashi Group, responsible for overseeing all capital markets-related activity for the company including acquisitions, development, and financing. Chaitanya also oversees the asset management function of the company.

Chaitanya brings nearly two decades of hospitality experience to his role at Shashi Group, with a career that spans nearly all aspects of hospitality financial management, including development, mergers and acquisitions, revenue management, and guest services.

Prior to joining Shashi Group, Chaitanya was the Director of Corporate and Real Estate Finance for the Kimpton Hotel and Restaurant Group. During his tenure with the company, he led the investment analysis team with a focus on development and built the financial planning and analysis platform after the IHG acquisition. Prior to that acquisition, Chaitanya served as the Senior Director of Finance, managing the corporation’s private equity platform with a $1.5 billion value. He worked to finance multiple ground-up, existing, and adaptive reuse projects for the company, aligning the projects with the Kimpton hotel brand and standards of quality. He also led the disposition efforts for several hotel projects.

Earlier in his career, Chaitanya worked with the Taj Group of Hotels in India as a management trainee. During this time, he gained essential experience in a wide range of operational capacities, such as front office, housekeeping, food & beverage, and revenue management. Upon arriving in the United States in 2000, he continued to expand his exposure with larger hotel companies, including Marriott, Accor, and Loews. He also worked in mergers & acquisitions for CIBC World Markets (currently Oppenheimer & Co.), a leading national investment boutique.

Chaitanya earned his MBA from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.