# Dhawal Shah > Dhawal Shah is a person that is a Web3 founder and investor who builds crypto and AI products, including Elsa AI, and has led multiple startups and ventures. - Canonical URL: https://iq.wiki/wiki/dhawal-shah - Categories: People in crypto - Tags: Ethereum, Advisor, Founder, Investor, Speaker - Created: 2026-09-11T16:27:36.019Z - Last updated: 2026-09-11T16:38:27.929Z - Source: IQ.wiki — the world's largest blockchain and crypto encyclopedia (https://iq.wiki) --- **Dhawal Shah** is an entrepreneur and business executive with a background spanning franchising, digital business development, marketing, venture investing, and [decentralized finance](https://iq.wiki/wiki/defi). He is Founder and CEO of [Elsa AI](https://iq.wiki/wiki/heyelsa), having previously co-founded [Frontier](https://iq.wiki/wiki/frontier) and held venture and strategic advisory roles at Bison Fund and Woodstock Fund. [\[6\]](#cite-id-aHfggUECOJJ1g6mb) ## Education Shah earned his Bachelor of Management Studies in Finance and Digital Marketing from Narsee Monjee. [\[1\]](#cite-id-za8lmooupg) ## Career Shah began his career at the Franchising Association of India, where he served as Deputy Executive Officer from 2006 to 2008 and worked on client relations, training programs, team development, and new product and service initiatives. In 2009, he founded Maverick Franchise Ventures, where he built Way2Franchise, a web-based franchise directory for the Indian market, and worked across sales, marketing, advertising, digital strategy, and lead generation. From 2013 to 2015, he served as Regional Director at Quiznos Global, supporting franchise development, country marketing plans, digital initiatives, customer journey analysis, and IT infrastructure across its Indian operations. From 2016 to 2017, Shah was Franchise Development Director at the Middle East and North Africa Franchise Association, where he managed a team and strategic relationships supporting franchise brands in the UAE. He then joined CedarBridge Capital Partners as Franchise Manager in 2017, where he worked on franchise growth strategies, partner relationships, market expansion, and operational development until 2020. During this period, he also became a Strategic Advisor at [Frontier](https://iq.wiki/wiki/frontier) and later a Co-Founder and Venture Partner at Woodstock Fund, where he was involved with early-stage distributed ledger technology companies and liquid tokens. Shah co-founded Unifrontier Technologies, the company behind [Frontier](https://iq.wiki/wiki/frontier), in 2020 and served as Chief Business Officer until December 2022, focusing on business development, partnerships, and alliances for its cross-chain [DeFi](https://iq.wiki/wiki/defi) aggregation platform. He was also a Seed Investor at Bison Fund from November 2021 to October 2024, investing in early-stage [Web3](https://iq.wiki/wiki/web3) companies. In March 2024, he founded [Elsa AI](https://iq.wiki/wiki/heyelsa), where he serves as CEO and works on an AI-powered assistant for [cryptocurrency](https://iq.wiki/wiki/cryptocurrency) transactions and asset management. [\[2\]](#cite-id-rt4oza6o9u) ## Interviews ### Crypto’s Rise In a January 2026 interview on the When Shift Happens podcast, Shah discussed his entrepreneurial background, the lessons he learned from building and managing early ventures, and his transition from crypto wallets to artificial intelligence. He described the challenges of developing [Frontier Wallet](https://iq.wiki/wiki/frontier) and explained how onboarding users and navigating [cryptocurrency](https://iq.wiki/wiki/cryptocurrency) products led to the development of [Elsa](https://iq.wiki/wiki/heyelsa), an AI-powered crypto co-pilot designed to assist with onboarding, transactions, and portfolio management. Shah discussed [Elsa's](https://iq.wiki/wiki/heyelsa) use of OpenAI AI models and its focus on combining artificial intelligence with [decentralized financial](https://iq.wiki/wiki/defi) infrastructure, while emphasizing product utility, user adoption, and long-term development. He also discussed the broader relationship between AI and [cryptocurrency](https://iq.wiki/wiki/cryptocurrency), including the role of major AI companies and the potential use of a token within [Elsa's](https://iq.wiki/wiki/heyelsa) ecosystem. The interview concluded with Shah discussing his long-term outlook for the [cryptocurrency](https://iq.wiki/wiki/cryptocurrency) market and the importance of continued research and building for long-term adoption. [\[5\]](#cite-id-caiqrb784t) [YOUTUBE@VID](Qj1ivxTchlc) ### Shah’s Journey with AI In a May 2025 interview on the [Hive Hub](https://iq.wiki/wiki/hive) Podcast, Shah discussed his entrepreneurial background and the development of [Elsa AI](https://iq.wiki/wiki/heyelsa). He described his transition from franchising into investment banking and later into [Web3](https://iq.wiki/wiki/web3) ventures, including Woodstock and Frontier, and explained how challenges with the complexity of cryptocurrency platforms influenced the creation of [Elsa](https://iq.wiki/wiki/heyelsa). Shah said [Elsa](https://iq.wiki/wiki/heyelsa) was designed to combine AI and [crypto](https://iq.wiki/wiki/cryptocurrency) to simplify onboarding and common activities such as managing [gas](https://iq.wiki/wiki/gas) fees, private keys, transactions, and other aspects of using onchain applications, with voice interaction developed to reduce the need for manual processes. He also discussed plans to expand [Elsa's](https://iq.wiki/wiki/heyelsa) multichain support and integrate additional [decentralized applications](https://iq.wiki/wiki/decentralized-application), as well as early partner support and the challenges of fundraising, emphasizing product development, persistence, and networking. [\[3\]](#cite-id-l1r6yrmzeq) [YOUTUBE@VID](-soEqZ19nH8) ## Presentations ### Elsa AI In an October 2025 demo at Toronto DAO, Shah introduced [Elsa](https://iq.wiki/wiki/heyelsa) as an AI-powered platform designed to simplify interactions with [decentralized finance](https://iq.wiki/wiki/defi) applications. He described the complexity created by multiple [blockchains](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain), wallets, and tokens and explained that [Elsa](https://iq.wiki/wiki/heyelsa) uses a natural-language interface to abstract these processes, initially supporting eight chains. Shah demonstrated use cases including [staking](https://iq.wiki/wiki/staking), swapping, lending, borrowing, bridging, token creation, portfolio management, and limit orders, along with features such as multi-protocol [staking](https://iq.wiki/wiki/staking), leverage, stop-loss orders, and safeguards intended to reduce user errors. He explained that [Elsa](https://iq.wiki/wiki/heyelsa) used OpenAI models for intent orchestration and onchain tool calling, connecting to more than 65 APIs, while token databases and model fine-tuning addressed hallucinations and improved transaction accuracy and speed. The demo also covered [Elsa's](https://iq.wiki/wiki/heyelsa) [transaction-fee](https://iq.wiki/wiki/transaction-fee) model, which ranged from 0.2% to 0.39% depending on usage, as well as its token research and portfolio creation capabilities. [\[4\]](#cite-id-brol41ptpi) [YOUTUBE@VID](s0CmzaM8rw0)