# Avi Lele

> Avi Lele is the co-founder and founding CEO of Stockpile and founder of Zeffo. An MIT engineering alumnus and Harvard-trained lawyer, he spent 16 years in patent litigation before building a stock-gifting business inspired by an unsuccessful attempt to buy shares for his nieces and nephews. His later work brings small-scale investing and mutual fund gifting to India.

- **Role:** Founder at Zeffo
- **Organizations:** Stockpile, Zeffo
- **Education:** Engineering studies; exact degree not verified, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Law degree, Harvard Law School
- **Known for:** Co-founded Stockpile and built its stock-gifting and fractional-share brokerage offering., Stockpile’s FinovateSpring 2014 demonstration won Best of Show., Led Stockpile during its announced $15 million Series A in 2015 and $30 million funding round in 2017.

## Career timeline

- **1990-1993** — Attended Harvard Law School, according to his public LinkedIn profile.
- **Before 2010** — Practiced law for 16 years, specializing in patent litigation.
- **2010** — Co-founded Stockpile with Sanj Kulkarni; served as founding CEO.
- **2014** — Demonstrated Stockpile with Dan Schatt at FinovateSpring; the demo won Best of Show.
- **2015** — Stockpile announced a $15 million Series A and expanded stock gift cards into selected US retailers.
- **2016** — Stockpile acquired SparkGift.
- **2017** — Stockpile announced $30 million in funding led by Eight Roads Ventures.
- **2021** — Zeffo’s development partner dates its public Android launch to August 2021.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Stockpile and built its stock-gifting and fractional-share brokerage offering.
- Stockpile’s FinovateSpring 2014 demonstration won Best of Show.
- Led Stockpile during its announced $15 million Series A in 2015 and $30 million funding round in 2017.
- Founded Zeffo to make investing more accessible in India.

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — Stockpile announced a wind-down of financial services and plans to transfer adult and custodial accounts to partner platforms; this is a company update, not an attributed action by Lele.
- **2026-07** — Stash’s updated FAQ confirmed the transfer of eligible Stockpile custodial accounts.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/avilele

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/avi-lele
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-25