Sheela Krothapalli is a Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), where she advises Bio + Health portfolio companies on people strategy, leadership, and organizational design to help them scale effectively.
Prior to a16z, she served as Chief People Officer at Forward, a health technology company, where she led the people and talent function and played a key role in doubling the company’s size while partnering closely with the executive team to scale operations. Before Forward, Sheela was Chief People Officer at Verily Life Sciences, where she built the people function from the ground up and supported the company through significant growth, geographic expansion, and portfolio diversification. Earlier in her career, she held a range of people strategy, operational, and leadership roles at Google.
Sheela also serves on the Executive Board of the San Francisco chapter of Pratham USA, a nonprofit focused on transforming education at scale in India, and is a member of the Strategic Leadership Council for SALUTE, a community of South Asian women advancing unity, progress, and systemic change.
Originally from Tallahassee, Florida, Sheela is now based in the Bay Area. Outside of work, she enjoys staying active, traveling, and creating meaningful experiences with her husband and son.
