Headline

Innovation Ecosystem Leader | Institution Builder | Entrepreneurship, Startup Incubation, Open Innovation | University–Industry Collaboration | Rural & Tier-2/3 Innovation | Author

About

I build institutions that enable entrepreneurs to succeed. Over the past 28 years, my professional journey has evolved from design and technology to entrepreneurship, innovation, and institution building. For more than a decade, I have dedicated my work to fostering innovation, entrepreneurship, startup incubation, and ecosystem development by bringing together academia, industry, government, investors, and entrepreneurs. Most recently, I served as the Founding Chief Executive Officer of the Tumkuru Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship Council (TIIEC), where I established governance systems, operational frameworks, incubation programmes, strategic partnerships, and institutional capabilities for a university-promoted innovation ecosystem. My work has increasingly focused on democratising access to entrepreneurship by strengthening innovation ecosystems beyond metropolitan cities. I believe the next generation of entrepreneurs will emerge not only from established startup hubs but also from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, rural communities, universities, government colleges, and first-generation entrepreneurial families. Building these ecosystems requires strong institutions, local partnerships, mentorship, and sustained capacity building. Over the past four years, I have engaged more than 6,000 aspiring and first-generation entrepreneurs, innovators, students, researchers, and faculty members through entrepreneurship development programmes, innovation initiatives, mentoring, design thinking workshops, and institutional capacity-building efforts. My work spans: Innovation Ecosystem Development Institution Building & Governance Entrepreneurship & Venture Development Startup Incubation & Acceleration University Innovation & Research Commercialisation Rural Innovation & Inclusive Entrepreneurship Tier-2 & Tier-3 Ecosystem Development Public Sector Innovation Strategic Partnerships Technology Transfer Beyond executive leadership, I serve as a mentor with the Stanford Seed and EY Entrepreneur Mentoring Community programmes and as a reviewer for the MIT Solve Global Challenge and the US National Innovator Challenge. I am also the author of Don't Think Big, Think Giant, with two forthcoming books exploring leadership, systems thinking, and institution building. I believe entrepreneurs build companies, but institutions build ecosystems. My mission is to strengthen those institutions so innovation can create lasting economic and societal impact—especially where opportunity has traditionally been limited.

Location

Bangalore Urban

AI stack

aistudio

anthropic apis

antigravity

Work experience

Chief Executive Officer | Institution Building & Systems Leadership at Tumkuru Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship Council, Feb 2025 - Dec 2025 · 11 mos, Tumakuru, Karnataka, India, Built a university-backed innovation and entrepreneurship institution from inception. Key outcomes: • Established incubation and entrepreneurship programs serving 1,500+ participants • Incubated 9 early-stage ventures from ideation to market readiness • Built partnerships with incubators, corporates, and ecosystem organizations • Conceived and delivered ANVAYA International Entrepreneurship Conclave with 30+ speakers and 600+ participants

Co-Founder at Avas Digitech International Pvt.Ltd, Sep 2021 - Dec 2024 · 3 yrs 4 mos

Co Founder and Director at Avas Digitech International Pvt.Ltd, Jun 2021 - Dec 2024 · 3 yrs 7 mos

Trust Member - AgriTech at The EvXprts Foundation, Apr 2021 - Apr 2022 · 1 yr 1 mo

Mentor UX/UI at Springboard, Mar 2020 - Sep 2021 · 1 yr 7 mos

Founder at Aasalabs Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Mar 2018 - Dec 2023 · 5 yrs 10 mos, Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Education

MBA, General Management, Vinayaka Mission's Research Foundation - University

Doctor of Philosophy, Business Administration and Management, General, CMJ UNIVERSITY