Gopal Srinivasan, Chairman & Managing Director

Gopal is the founder and a Chairman of TVS-Electronics, Director of Sundaram-Clayton Ltd, and several other TVS Group businesses. Gopal has incubated over eight businesses, and has over twenty five years of operational experience in India, along with a wide network of relationships across the world. Gopal has been serving as the Board member of several Indian companies further, he was the Chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Tamil Nadu State Council for the fiscal year 2007-08. . He chaired the "India@75" Mission (www.indiaat75.in) during 2008-09 and is currently chairing CII National Committee for Private Equity &Venture Capital. He is also the Chairman for India-Taiwan task force at CII National Council. He has served as the President of Manufacturers’ Association for Information Technology (MAIT) for the fiscal year ‘95-96. Gopal earned a B.Com from Loyola College, Chennai and an MBA from University of Michigan, USA.

Over the course of his career, Gopal has founded several companies operating in diverse sectors including computer peripherals, technology, financial services, and auto components. Many of these businesses started by Gopal are operational today, and a professional management team is in place to run these businesses. TVS Electronics, a company he established in 1986 has revenue of about Rs.191 crores in 2008-09. The company provides transaction automation products and has market leadership position in the dot-matrix printer segment. Another business that Gopal started, Harita Seating, is in the business of manufacturing and supplying vehicle seats and has sales of Rs.198 crores in 2008-09. Other companies that Gopal has founded and are currently operational include TVS Finance & Services, Harita Plastics, TVS-E Technology, TVS-E Servicetec and Harita Techserv. In addition, Gopal has successfully exited several businesses including TVS Whirlpool, TVS Contract Manufacturing, Harita Networks

Kenneth Tai, the Chairman & Co-Founder of Investar Capital, Co-Founder of Acer Computer in 1976

In the years with Acer, he held numerous key positions in Acer Group both in Taiwan and America. While being a Venture Capitalist, Mr. Tai is also Chairman of Richtek Technology Corporation, a world-leading power management IC design house, and Chairman of Digitimes, an IT focused publication company and research house. Mr. Tai currently sits on the Board of Directors of several listed hi-tech companies in Taiwan and Singapore. These companies include D-Link Corporation, Fullerton Technology, GrandTech Systems Inc, Wafer Works Corporation and Global Testing Corporation. At leisure, Mr. Tai participates in charity work and several non-profit organizations. He is the Chairman of Chiao Tung University Alumni Association in America (CTUAAA) since 2002. Mr. Tai received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan and a Master of Business Administration degree from Tamkang University in Taiwan.

H. Lakshmanan, Executive Director of Sundaram Clayton

Mr. H Lakshmanan is a TVS Group executive with vast experience. He joined the TVS Group in 1953. He became the Executive Director of M/s. Sundaram - Clayton Limited in 1982 and continues to hold the position. Mr H Lakshmanan now aged about 74 years has more than 5 decades of rich experience, expertise and knowledge in the areas of setting up Joint Ventures, Finance, HR, Industrial Relations, Business Administration and Management.

Lakshmi Narayanan, Vice Chairman, Cognizant

Mr. Narayanan has played a leading role in the global information technology industry for more than 25 years, managing divisions and business units in Europe, India and United States. As Vice-Chairman, he has been instrumental in formulating Cognizant’s strategy and building and managing the organization's development centers. Mr. Narayanan began his career at TCS, growing through the ranks from developer and technologist to program manager and business leader. He was a regional head of TCS in India when he joined Cognizant as CTO. Mr. Narayanan was earlier the Chairman of the board of NASSCOM and is currently a member on the Board of the US-India Business Council (USIBC). He holds a BS and MS in science and electronics from Bangalore University, and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. He has received several industry accolades including Economic Times Entrepreneur of the Year 2005. He has also recently been conferred the "Life Time Achievement Award" during CONNECT 2009, a premier ICT event of CII/Govt. of Tamil Nadu.

Puneet Dalmia, Managing Director, Dalmia Cement Bharat Ltd (DCBL), cement division of Dalmia Bharat Group

Puneet Dalmia (38) is spearheading the management of Dalmia Bharat Group since 1997. He has been the driving force for the exponential growth witnessed by the group in the last few years. Puneet is a visionary leader, responsible for transforming the organization and leading it on a path of accelerated growth while keeping intact the core values which have taken the organization so far. Puneet also co-founded JobsAhead.com in 1999. The venture was one of the very few successful dotcom companies and garnered a market share of 55%. It was acknowledged as the market leader with Puneet at its helm for five years. In 2004, JobsAhead.com was sold to world’s leading e-recruitment firm Monster.com for ` 40 Crore. Puneet has been a member of FICCI’s Executive Committee and Young President’s Organization (YPO) Delhi Chapter. Now, he is also the Co-Chairman of the manufacturing committee of FICCI. He is the Advisory Board Member of NSRCEL (NS Raghvan Center for Entrepreneurship) IIM Bangalore. A gold-medalist M.B.A from the prestigious Indian Institute of Management Bangalore Puneet also holds a B-Tech degree from IIT Delhi.

Rajeev Gupta, Managing Director of Carlyle Asia Partners and the Head of the Carlyle India Buyout Team

Mr. Rajeev Gupta was till recently the Managing Director of Carlyle Asia Partners and the Head of the Carlyle India Buyout Team. Previously he was a Board member and Head of Investment Banking of DSP Merrill Lynch Limited.
Prior to joining DSP Merrill Lynch Limited, Mr. Gupta was President and CEO of Cosmo Ferrites Limited, a leading Indian manufacturer of high technology soft ferrites.
Mr. Gupta earned his M.B.A. from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad and a B.Tech from IIT-Benaras Hindu University.

Dr. Sridhar Mitta, MD & CTO, e4e India

Dr. Mitta is an globally recognized expert with over 30 years of experience in the management of R&D in the information technology industry. Dr. Mitta has served as Chief Technology Officer and Head of Global R&D of Wipro. He was also the founder and CEO of US-based EnThink Inc. an IP design and licensing start-up for semiconductor building blocks for Internet Appliances. Dr. Mitta has also been actively been involved in developing entrepreneurship. He was elected to the Board of Trustees of TiE Global and most recently he served as President of TiE Bangalore. He also serves on Boards of several companies located in the United States and India. He is a senior member of IEEE and Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering. Sridhar Mitta holds an undergraduate degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering from Andhra University, an M. Tech from IIT Kharagpur and an MS and PhD from Oklahoma State University in the United States

D.Sundaram, Vice Chairman & Managing Director

D.Sundaram’s experience spans corporate finance, business performance, operations, governance, mergers & acquisitions, talent/people management and strategy. Sundaram served in Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) as Corporate Accountant, Commercial Manager and Treasurer till 1990. He was seconded to Unilever, London as Commercial Officer for Africa and Middle East Group between 1990 and 1993. He has served in various roles, including TOMCO integration, Head of Africa & Middle East among others. In May 1999 he was promoted as Finance & IT Director of HUL. Sundaram was elevated as Vice Chairman of HUL in April 2008. In all, Sundaram has more than 34 years of experience with Hindustan Unilever Limited. He is a two-time winner of the prestigious “CFO of the Year for FMCG Sector” award by CNBC TV18 (2006 and 2009). Sundaram brings deep financial expertise and significant understanding of consumer related businesses. This combination makes him a unique professional to help build TVS Capital Funds into a successful and durable institution. Sundaram’s expertise will guide the next-generation of entrepreneurs across India to build world class companies. Sundaram is a Post Graduate in Management Studies (MMS), Chennai, Fellow of the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants, and has attended the Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Programme. Sundaram is also an independent director on the Board of State Bank of India, and member of the board of governors of Institute of Financial Management and Research, Chennai.

R. Thyagarajan, Founder, Shriram Group

Mr. R. Thyagarajan is founder of the Shriram Group, one of India’s largest Financial Services Network, managing assets exceeding Rs.27,000 crores, with 4.5 million clients, served by 80,000 agents and 15,500 employees, through nearly 1,200 branches across India. He is an acknowledged expert in the general insurance business having spent over 25 years in the business, starting with New India Assurance Co. Limited He had subsequent stints with New India Assurance Co. and J.B.Boda & Co. Pvt. Limited, one of the largest reinsurance and insurance brokers in Asia. He holds a Masters Degree in Mathematics and Master Degree in Mathematical Statistics from the Indian Statistical Institute. He is also an associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute, London. He has conducted seminars and training courses on Fire Insurance Underwriting and Consequential Loss insurance for insurance companies in Malaysia and Hongkong. He was a guest faculty for the Asian Institute of Insurance, Philippines & Insurance Institutes in Singapore & Kuala Lumpur.