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In 1991, Kalpathi S. Suresh, after having just returned from the US, co-founded SSI Ltd., along with his two brothers, Kalpathi S. Aghoram and Kalpathi S. Ganesh, with a bold initiative to launch High-End Short Term IT Training courses, a concept that was unheard of in the Indian market.

For almost a decade and a half, SSI Education, the IT Training arm of SSI Ltd., became/remained India’s first and only High-End Short Term IT Training provider. 

Within a short period of 10 years, SSI grew from a one centre Education provider to a strong 1000-location organisation with a completely new offering in the marketplace.

By the mid-1990s, SSI offered shares to the public in a highly successful IPO, within 4 years of its incorporation.

In the late 1990s, SSI set up a technology arm, SSI Technologies which subsequently led to the creation of Indigo Markets, the much-talked-about Joint Venture with The NASDAQ Stock market. It was the software of SSI Technologies that powered some of the high profile stock exchanges globally.

At the turn of the century, SSI became the first Indian IT company to list in the main market on the London Stock Exchange with an offering of $100MM; later in one of the biggest acquisitions in the IT Industry, it acquired North America based Albion Orion.

In less than a decade, SSI had achieved significant milestones – MotilalOswal award for the biggest wealth creator along with Wipro, nominated for E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year award, Best Annual Report for a listed company and rated by S&P as the best in adopting corporate governance along with Infosys. 

While SSI Education had become one of India’s top 3 IT Training and Education brands with a national presence, SSI Technologies saw one of the fastest IT ramp-ups in the Indian Industry having achieved 0 to about $100MM in under 5years.

By 2004, SSI had successfully bought out Aptech and merged SSI’s education arm with Aptech, and sold the technology arm to Cambridge Technologies.  Subsequently, SSI also sold Aptech (now merged with SSI Education) to an investor group based out of Mumbai.

The Kalpathi Family then made an entry into the real estate space with the purchase of the 70 acres Binny Mills Property in North Madras. The group also purchased the marquee Dasaprakash Hotel in Ooty as a part of its property portfolio. Within 3 years, the group sold the real estate business, including this high profile property, in a deal worth around Rs.1000 crores.

Having built and created a hugely successful global brand, the Kalpathi Group has now turned its focus on encouraging young entrepreneurs to create new global brands with their flagship company Kalpathi Investments, a Chennai based VC Fund.  The group is also developing an entertainment business on its own under the brand of AGS that includes production, distribution, and exhibition.

Suresh Krishn is the President of CREDAI (Confederation of Real estate developers Association India), Tamilnadu and Chairman of the Infrastructure panel, CII (Confederation of Indian Industry). He was a past President of the Rotary Club of Madras North.

Suresh completed his undergraduate in Civil Engineering from PSG College of Technology in 1987 with Distinction and then went on to complete his post graduation in Structural Engineering with Distinction from Annamalai University in 1989.

He started his own construction firm in 1992 and Consulting Firm in 1994.

He began a property development Firm with his friends in 1997 and branched out in 2004 to start his own firm “ISHA HOMES (INDIA) PRIVATE LIMITED”

ISHA HOMES has completed more than Two million sq.ft. and also in the process of developing one million sq.ft. ISHA HOMES brought a lot of innovation into the construction Industry by building First Child Safety Homes, ISHA GITIKAA in Chennai and First Mega Villa Project, ISHA SIGNATURE VILLAS. 

ISHA HOMES also completed Platinum pre-certified Eco-Friendly Solar Powered Villa Project, MIA VILLAS in Chennai. This is the first Villa project in Tamilnadu to get the Platinum certification.

He has also invested in various other fields like Insurance Broking, Construction Material Manufacturing, Contracting and in an online meat delivery startup.

Suresh Krishn was awarded “OUTSTANDING ENTREPRENEUR AWARD OF 2010 FROM ENTERPRISE ASIA, MALAYSIA”.

Isha Homes received “BUILDER LINE AWARD” for the Best Independent Housing Project. They also received the “BUILDERS ASSOCIATION OF INDIA AWARD – 2012” for the Best Builder of the Year – Best Gated Community Provider.

Swetha Kochar is a Chartered Accountant with All India Rank 13 in CA Final in 2011 & All India Rank 41 in CA Intermediate. Post a stint with KPMG’s M&A Advisory services, Swetha is amongst the few CAs to be hired by McKinsey & Company in India. At McKinsey, she advised CEOs of Indian multinationals such as SBI, Sun Pharma, Mahindra Finance, Ashok Leyland, 3i Infotech, and others on 5-year strategy roadmaps, turnaround strategy, driving operational excellence, and cost reduction initiatives.

With a vision to bring cutting-edge consulting expertise to mid-sized companies & family-managed businesses in India, she set up PKC Management Consulting. PKC has over 150 consultants and has served 450 client groups on setting up systems & processes, production increase, software integration, improving profitability, tax & audit advisory, and fundraising. PKC has 100s of client success stories of exponential growth and seamless client operations through their model of advisory coupled with on-ground implementation at clients.

Swetha has won several entrepreneurship awards including the Entrepreneur of the Year 2020 – Consulting by Entrepreneur India. She is a speaker and member at forums such as Madras Chamber of Commerce, RAI (Retailers Association of India), Madras Management Association (MMA), and Association of International Wealth Management of India (AIWMI).

Outside of work, she has traveled to all 7 continents, is an avid reader of Jain philosophy, and works on empowering women to have the freedom of choice.

Nutech is a leading real estate development firm with over 30 years of experience and has completed over 150 projects in Chennai and Bangalore. The group also has interests in renewable energy and infrastructure projects.

He was previously working at Brookfield Asset Management, a Canadian Private Equity Fund, in Mumbai and was responsible for all the real estate investment activities in India. He was actively involved in deploying ~$1B in India acquiring offices and hotels across the country.

Before Brookfield, he worked at Colony Capital, one of the largest Real Estate Investment Trusts in the United States, in New York overseeing a portfolio of 320 hotels in the US with a valuation of over $5B. He was primarily involved in strategic initiatives and portfolio management.

He is an alumnus of Cornell College of Business and College of Engineering, Guindy. During his free time, he enjoys reading, traveling, and outdoor activities like trekking and swimming.

Vardhman has set up and runs multiple businesses. He exited his first venture in 2010, a healthcare BPO to set up a vocational training company, LaurusEdutech. 

A serial entrepreneur, he and his brother have set up WorldHaus India, a company that caters to the low-cost housing market; and a telemedicine company that will make primary medical care accessible to rural India. Vardhman is also involved in Asia (Chennai) Engineering, his family’s construction business.

Vardhman is passionate about politics. Apart from his love for work and politics, Vardhman is a keen traveler and an absolute techie at heart. He is always on the lookout for the next gadget.

Aperture

Education: B.S. Computer Science – University of Texas, Austin. 

B.Sc, Statistics – Loyola College

Interests: Technology, Current affairs, Fitness, Cinema

Latest Fad: iPad, MacBook, UP by JawboneOne liner from friends: Quiet performer, Discreet, Reliable

Venkatesh, fondly known as Venky, currently serves Cavinkare as Director & CEO.  In addition to directly taking care of the largest SBU (Personal Care & Alliances), he also serves as a senior board member/director playing an active role in mentoring the various business verticals/SBUs on their strategy, go-to-market, and driving the overall strategic growth priorities of Cavinkare.

He also has an active interest in the startup ecosystem and has been making small angel investments & guiding some of the new economy startups. He is also an advisor on the board of one of the management programs offered by TAPMI.

With a cumulative experience of over 25 years, Venky joined Cavinkare in April 2018 after an exciting, extensive leadership stint of almost 20 years in the telecom industry. 

Prior to joining CavinKare, Venky was with Airtel. A long-timer in Airtel, Venky has served in varied roles across strategy, operations. Earlier in his career, Venky has worked with Reliance Industries, Escotel Mobile communications.

A Chemical Engineer from Anna University, Chennai, Venky has done his PGDMM from Times School of Marketing, Delhi. He has also completed Executive Management Programs from Tepper School of Management, Carnegie Mellon University, and Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. 

Venkatesh is a proud recipient of the Fulbright Scholarship awarded by the Board of Education & Cultural Affairs, USA.

Personally, an avid reader and a marathoner, Venky loves travelling. Having travelled across the globe and lived across almost 8 cities across India in the last 25 years, he counts this as a priceless experience of living/travelling amidst varied cultures & people.

Founded in 2012, Social Beat is one of India’s fastest-growing independent digital marketing solutions companies, enabling businesses to build their brands and achieve business results via the digital medium.

They manage 2% of digital media investments that happen in India. Social Beat is a Premier Google Partner, recommended Facebook agency and a member of Facebook India SME Council, and a trusted online expert with offices in Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, and Delhi.

Our expertise with video content, as well as platforms such as Influencer and 22 Languages, makes us the ideal digital marketing solutions partner for brands and businesses as they seek to engage with audiences in both urban and rural markets.

The 170-plus member team of digital experts offers integrated digital marketing solutions including brand strategy, social media marketing, digital media planning, content marketing, video production, Search Engine Optimisation, influencer marketing, UX, technology services, and impactful language content.

Vikram is Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Mytrah Energy, one of India’s leading pure play renewable power generators with a focus on delivering sustainable, clean energy solutions in a world without subsidies.

Vikram founded and scaled Mytrah energy into India’s 3rd largest renewable energy company. Mytrah has raised over USD 3 billion of capital from Marquee investors since its founding in 2011 while still holding majority stake in the company. Mytrah’s primary investors are Goldman Sachs, APG (Dutch pension fund), capital international and the Piramal Group.

Mytrah has recently ventured into electric mobility, and designed and operated India’s first intercity electric bus. It’s one of the few companies that has confirmed orders for 500 electrical buses. The Mytrah group had revenues of USD 450 million in the year 2020, this has grown from zero in the year 2012.

Mytrah operates in about 12 states in India and is looking to spread into the UK.

Prior to co-founding Mytrah Energy, Vikram had previously worked with the Energy & Utilities Investment Banking group of Credit Suisse in New York and Deloitte Consulting in India. Apart from running a successful business, Vikram also oversees the firm’s social initiatives that are run through the Mytrah Foundation with partner institutions like UNICEF, Govt. of AP, SIDBI and the Gopichand Foundation.

Vikram was involved in preparation master plan for ‘New India’ across sectors under the initiative named “Champions of Change” with Hon’ble Prime Minister on Transforming India. Post this, Vikram also drafted Sectoral Strategy& Action Plan for 2 subgroups.

Vikram has been featured also as keynote speaker and as a panelist at various global business conventions including World Future Energy Summit, Abu Dhabi, Global Entrepreneurship Summit, Hyderabad, CNBC Power Conclave, New Delhi, Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, Lucknow, Power and Energy Week, Dhaka, Bangladesh, UN Young Change Makers Conclave, New Delhi, etc.

Vikram has been a member with YPO Hyderabad Chapter since 2011. He has been a prolific tech investor since early 2000 in the US and since mid-2010 in India. He has primarily invested through funds in the past and now is an active seed and pre-series A investor.

Mr.Vinod K Dasari is amongst the top few CEOs in India with a proven track record of managing complex businesses globally. Before joining Royal Enfield, he held the position of Managing Director & CEO, Ashok Leyland since 2011. He joined Ashok Leyland in 2005 as the Chief Operating Officer.

Mr. Vinod Dasari has held senior positions in Cummins India Limited, where he served as the President and went on to become its Joint Managing Director. 

He joined Timken Company, a world leader in bearings and steel, after starting his career with General Electric in 1986. He served as the Managing Director of Timken India and thereafter as the President of its Global Railroad business in the USA.

In his career, Vinod has received several accolades for his leadership including the “CEO of the Year” by Business Today and more recently Business Standard. He has also been honored as the “CV Man of the Year” by CV Magazine and “Autocar Professional of the Year”. 

Vinod has also served as the President of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) from 2015 to 2017 and as President of the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), from 2013 to 2015.

Vinod holds a Master’s degree in Engineering Management from the McCormick School of Engineering and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the Kellogg School of Management. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the University of Louisville in1988 and a dual degree from Northwestern University.

Vinod is married to Sarita, a doctor with a specialisation in Nephrology and Hypertension.  They have two sons, Vishal and Sanjay. Vinod enjoys cricket, movies, and golf.

He has a broad knowledge base and a good understanding of a wide range of technologies and an Engineering leader with more than 12 years of professional experience in embedded systems, system software, cloud backend, and frontend applications, web services, Linux kernel development, kernel optimization, system performance, ETL, Data Analytics, QlikView and Data encryption.

He has extensive experience working up and down the stack and an open-source evangelist.

A through and through Start-up person. In 2009, he joined as a member of the founding team and second engineer at Kno, an education startup (raised $90M from the likes of A16Z, Mike Maples, etc) which eventually got acquired by Intel Corporation.

He quit the job in 2016 and started an IoT senior healthcare startup called Togg (YC 2017 batch), which raised $3.9M from YCombinator, Google Ventures, etc and in 2018 went onto join Success4, a customer success management startup as a co-founder and Head of Engineering (current startup).

He is highly passionate about technology, entrepreneurship, and startups.

Yogeshwaran (Yogesh) is the Founder Director at MatexNet.com and a member of The Chennai Angels. Yogesh, an MBA graduate, started his career in the Financial Services industry in ’89 and then moved to Kotak Mahindra handling their Investment Banking Division before starting Matexnet.

Matexnet.com is India’s first Internet-driven B2B company started as an Internet-driven auction company and since then moved into procurement for large corporations.

Matexnet transacts 1500 cr through its platform, employing 150 people across 14 offices in India catering to 800 large corporates and 20000 SMEs and Traders.

Yogesh has the unique advantage of being an Investment Banker, Investor, and Entrepreneur for the past 23 years.

He has turned around several stressed companies and nurtured entrepreneurs in planning their growth strategies.

Yogesh recently co-promoted Kuwy.in, a Digital Lending Company for the Used Automotive Industry, and has also backed 2 more companies in the B2B space.

Manav  is a third-generation entrepreneur born and brought up in Chennai. He has done his schooling from DAV, Gopalapuram and immediately after his B.Com graduation from Loyola College in 1994 he got involved with his apparel export business as a trainee and in the span of 10 years graduated to the role of the managing partner . He also holds the distinction of being the youngest Committee Member of the Apparel Promotion Council of India. He has been a part of EO Chennai Chapter since 2007 and is currently serving as an Executive Committee Member ( Co-opted) in South India Hotels& Restaurants Association (SIHRA) since 2019 and also EC Member  (Co-opted) with Federations of Hotels & Restaurants India (FHRAI) – 2023.

Presently he is an Executive Director in Adyar Gate Hotels Ltd and besides holding a board position, he’s actively involved with the group’s business development and future hospitality projects. Amidst the entrepreneurial journey he pursued his MBA in a Management Executive Program for family Businesses from IIM Bangalore and followed on with a Professional Development Program from Cornell School of Hotel Administration, Ithaca- Area of focus being Strategic Hotel Management. In 2020 he was inducted in the Board of Mumtaz Hotels ( Amar Vilas Agra) and is keenly looking at further growing the hotels portfolio with this entity.

His friends find him to be a honest, good but a moody friend to while he considers himself as an extrovertly yet introvert person. Around his wife Shikha and son Aahan he feels 25 years young with almost 25 years of experience. He enjoys having dinner and watching TV with his son and every so often talking about sports, business, politics while trying to imbibe the values of Trust, Loyalty, and Respect that he firmly believes in.

The quest for learning and the passion for growth are the primary motivators for expanding and nurturing the journey of self-fulfilment. He hopes, through FHRAI he interacts and learns from his peers and also engages himself with the new age ideas.