About
A boutique built around what one partner can actually carry.
Founded in Dubai. Operator-led. Five advisory lanes and a published list of what we will not do.
In short
Keel Partners is a boutique advisory firm in Dubai, founded by Pratap Chandra. We work with owners and boards across five advisory lanes — business management, go-to-market, mergers and acquisitions, CFO services and digital transformation — in the UAE, the wider GCC and along the India–GCC and MENA–Europe corridors. A partner carries every file.
Origin
Why the firm exists
There is a gap in this market between the large firms, who sell a brand and staff the work with people you will never meet, and the setup agencies, who sell a licence and disappear. The decisions in between — what to sell, in what order, to whom, at what price, with whom on the team — are the ones that actually decide whether a business grows.
Keel Partners was built to take those decisions seriously, at a scale where one partner can hold the whole file. The firm carries forward the practice Pratap founded as RedDot Life in 2020, which ran advisory and boutique asset management across South Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the US, concentrated in healthcare, retail, hospitality and niche manufacturing.
A keel is the part of a boat you cannot see. It does not make the vessel fast; it makes it possible to hold a line in weather. That is the job.
Principles
What we believe
Operator first, adviser second
Every recommendation has to survive the question “who does this on Monday, and with what budget?” We have run the P&Ls we advise on.
Transparency beats hidden costs
Fees, assumptions and conflicts are on the table before the work starts. Custom reporting and governance are part of the engagement, not an upsell.
We return money we should not have taken
At RedDot Life we returned a client cheque within three months when the risk turned out to be wrong for them. That instinct is the firm.
Long-term partnership over the transaction
We would rather hold one client for five years than win five for one quarter. Referral is the only distribution a boutique really has.
Data underneath traditional businesses
Analytics, compliance tooling and open-source platforms applied to retail, healthcare, hospitality and manufacturing — not technology for its own sake.
A clear list of what we will not do
Boutiques die of breadth. Our NOs are published, not implied.
Pratap Chandra
Founder & Managing Partner · Dubai
Operator-led growth, healthcare performance and UAE/MENA market entry.
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Anup Ranjan
India Partner · India
Deal sourcing, supply-chain engagement and India-based operating support.
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Shilpa Abhishek
Senior Advisor · India
Investment banking, fundraising and strategic business development.
Read bioThe firm
Facts
| Founded | 2026, Dubai — carrying forward the RedDot Life practice founded in 2020 |
| Base | Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
| Markets | UAE, Saudi Arabia, GCC, MENA, UK, DACH and wider Europe |
| Working languages | English, Arabic, Hindi |
| Team | Two operating partners and one senior advisor |
| Sectors | Healthcare, consumer and retail, financial services, technology, family business, niche manufacturing |
| Regulated activity | None. Licensed work is performed by licensed parties, named in writing at mandate |
| Legal entity | Keel Partners FZE LLC |
| Trade licence no. | 2624619442888 |
| Legal form | Free Zone Entity — FZE LLC |
| Licensing authority | Ajman NuVentures Centre Free Zone |
| Registered office | Office CWS-1V-868085, 26th Floor, Amber Gem Tower, Sheikh Khalifa Street, Ajman, United Arab Emirates |
Next step
Book a 30-minute briefing
No deck, no pitch. Bring one decision you are stuck on and we will work it through.