Startup, Venture Capital & M&A Lawyer

Raj Barot

Raj Barot is a cross-border corporate lawyer and former tech operator working across the San Francisco Bay Area and Singapore, with more than 20 years of experience in the US and Asia. He advises founders, emerging companies and investors on venture capital financings, M&A, and technology transactions, with a focus on deals connecting Silicon Valley and Asia. Having built and scaled businesses from the ground up, Raj understands the commercial pressures behind fundraising, expansion and exits. He gives practical advice focused on solutions, not obstacles.

Before founding Agile Counsel, Raj was an operator and general counsel to technology companies across AI, SaaS, e-commerce, logistics and payments. He began his career building and leading the Asia operations of a San Francisco legal tech company, where he managed a team of more than 100 engineers, linguists and lawyers and helped develop AI tools to automate legal review for complex litigation and investigations.

He went on to serve as general counsel to venture-backed companies, investors and a venture capital fund, managing the full legal function and often as sole legal counsel. For Luxola, he ran the company's legal function across Southeast Asia and led it through its acquisition by LVMH; for DOCOMO Digital, he negotiated mobile payment agreements with major streaming and app-store platforms; and for an ASX-listed logistics platform, he supported expansion across Southeast Asia. For the fund, he negotiated investment terms for its portfolio investments. Across these roles he advised on corporate governance and board matters, technology licensing and IP protection, employment and equity incentive plans, privacy and compliance, disputes, strategic joint ventures and M&A.

Raj is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at INSEAD, where he has mentored AI founders through the AI Venture Lab, and is a mentor with the Google for Startups Accelerator.