Uday Phadke
Uday Phadke’s core expertise is focused on the creation and development of innovative technology-enabled businesses. Over the past 30 years, he has worked across a wide range of industries and market sectors in Europe, North America and Asia. He has deep hands-on experience of all the key functional areas of business, ranging from research & development to sales & fulfilment. His key strengths include: the ability to synthesize novel, innovative solutions which meet emerging or difficult market needs; and building linkages between small businesses and large corporates to accelerate market entry.
Uday is a founder and Executive Chairman of AcceleratorIndia, where his primary role is the development of relationships with key customers and partners, in both Europe and India. His experience spans all four markets where AcceleratorIndia operates: engineering, cleantech, bio-pharma and media & telecoms. He is actively engaged in all aspects of the business and divides his time between India and the UK.
Uday is also Chief Executive of Cartezia, a business he founded in 1997, which builds IP-enabled technology businesses in the UK. He is very active in the UK high-tech eco-system: he is Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Judge Business School at Cambridge University, Investment Champion for the Creative Industries Network at the Technology Strategy Board in the UK, and a Charter Member of TiE, the Global Entrepreneurship and Mentoring organisation.
Following an early career in academia, he moved into industry via Detica, where he worked on the commercial impact of defence technologies. He subsequently ran the Computing and Telecoms practice at PA Consulting before becoming a founder-Director at Generics, the Cambridge technology consulting company. He left Generics to build a number of new digital media businesses, including an investment company, a research and analysis business and a strategy consulting firm. In 1997 he created Cartezia, which was in the vanguard of technology business-builders and has helped to build nearly 50 companies in the last 15 years.
Uday was educated at Trinity College Cambridge, where he read Engineering, followed by a PhD in aerothermodynamics at the University of Sussex. He is a Chartered Engineer and Member of the Institutes of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering. He still teaches from time-to-time at the Universities of Cambridge, Southampton and York.
Shailendra Vyakarnam
Shai is the Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning, Judge Business School, University of Cambridge. He also currently holds a Visiting Professorship at the Indian Institute of Science and is on the Advisory Board of the Venture Center, Pune. He is highly respected for having developed a unique approach to education for entrepreneurship and influencing curricula at numerous other Universities and institutions in India, Europe and Latin America.
Shai is a Director and a co-founder of AcceleratorIndia. His experience and expertise in early stage company development, along with research into entrepreneurship, publications, books, public speaking and track record in education have provided a strong platform for the development of an entrepreneurial ecosystem on which AcceleratorIndia is able to build and through which its clients can benefit. His particular focus is on technology and biotechnology entrepreneurship, especially in building management capability.
Shai's role within AcceleratorIndia is two fold. In Europe he champions the Indian innovation agenda highlighting opportunities. In India he provides entrepreneurship education in its broadest sense. During 2012 he will be conducting research into the social capital (and networks) that connects and drives the Indian technology entrepreneurship sector. This is based on the work he has been pursuing at Cambridge for a number of years.
David Pollock
David Pollock is a Director and a co-founder of AcceleratorIndia.
David has over 30 years’ experience in advising international companies on executing strategic growth and financing transactions. He began advising Indian companies on international financings from 1992 and brings expertise in assessing and executing value creation through inorganic cross-border growth and investment strategies and a network of contacts with private equity/VC funds in the UK and India.
He is also a Director and founder of Consilium Capital, a UK-based corporate finance advisory firm. Consilium Capital advises quoted and unquoted growth companies in the UK, India and the Middle East on raising capital and cross-border M&A transactions.
Prior to Consilium Capital, he was a Director of Equinox Securities, advising unquoted technology companies on raising private equity and on M&A.
Before that, David was a main board director of HSBC James Capel (now HSBC Investment Bank). As co-founder and then Head of International Equity Capital Markets in London, he led a team originating and executing equity and equity-linked transactions for major international companies in Europe and India. He initiated HSBC’s Indian international equity capital markets business and was involved in transactions from 1992 including international share (GDR) and convertible eurobond issues for leading Indian companies.
David previously worked for Morgan Grenfell (now part of Deutsche Bank) in the equity capital markets and international banking divisions.
He was educated at Oxford University. He is a member of Chatham House (the Royal Institute of International Affairs).
Rosalind Hill Abrahams BA (Hons), ACA
Rosalind is a corporate finance specialist with over 25 years business experience in quoted and unquoted companies.
Since 1998, Rosalind has been a director of City based corporate advisory business, Beaumont Cornish Limited (BCL). BCL advises as Main Market Sponsor, AIM Nominated Advisor (Nomad), PLUS Markets Advisor and Broker to a wide range of companies many of which have operations throughout the world.
Rosalind is a founder Director of AcceleratorIndia.
Rosalind’s directorship with BCL brings her substantial corporate advisory experience in listed companies to the AcceleratorIndia board. Where required, she provides a direct interface and access to the regulated services of BCL, complementing AcceleratorIndia's strategic advice to its Indian clients.
As a graduate in economics, Rosalind began her career with Ernst & Young and qualified as a chartered accountant. Post qualification she moved into the international investigations department and corporate finance. This led to a period of investment banking with J Henry Schroder Wagg (now Citigroup), where she concentrated on LSE-listed IPO’s and M&A transactions in the UK and USA.
A period of industry experience followed where, as Corporate Finance Director for listed technology group P&P plc, she reviewed hundreds of technology businesses and negotiated acquisitions in seven European countries. Prior to joining BCL, other experience included acting as MBO finance director for the London Electricity plc retailing business and working with Alliant Partners, a US based M&A advisory business focused on international technology companies.
Rosalind is based in the City of London, UK.
Arun Muthirulan
Arun Muthirulan’s core expertise is focused on the commercial development of innovative technology-enabled businesses. Over the past 15 years, he has worked across a number of industries with an information technology focus in Europe, North America and Asia. He has deep hands-on experience in a range of functional areas of business ranging from marketing and business development to product design and development. Arun’s key strengths include: the ability to develop a clear understanding of complex industry ecosystems and value chains, evaluate new business models and refine and adapt them to new contexts, package and create new business ventures, including the building of detailed commercial and operational models.
Arun is a founder Director and COO of AcceleratorIndia, where his primary role is the execution and delivery of customer projects and building new relationships with key customers and partners, in both Europe and India. Arun’s experience spans the following markets in which AcceleratorIndia operates: engineering, cleantech and media & telecoms. His current focus is on Smart Grids and Renewables sector in India. He manages the operational aspects of the business and divides his time between India and the UK.
Arun’s early career was in the IT services industry, moving on from software development/team management roles to managing complex, business critical, IT development and implementation projects across Europe, North America and India. A computer engineer by background, most of Arun’s IT career was with Cognizant Technology Solutions, working with blue chip clients such as Ford Motor Co, Dun & Bradstreet Corporation and Aetna Life Insurance Company.
Arun is active in the Cambridge entrepreneurial ecosystem where he works with start-ups and early stage companies in a range of advisory and operational roles. He ran a series of commercial due diligence projects on novel technologies from the University of Cambridge. Arun also develops and conducts programmes for international audiences on entrepreneurship, business planning and innovation across technology, products and services and business models.
Arun was educated at Madurai Kamaraj University in India, where he read Computer Science and Engineering, followed by a MBA at the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, specialising in Strategy and Entrepreneurship. He regularly mentors and advises students and aspiring entrepreneurs from the Judge Business School and the University of Cambridge.
Kaushik Gala
Kaushik Gala’s professional experience and expertise is focused on the assessment, funding and growth of technology and knowledge intensive businesses. Over the past 13 years, he has worked across a range of technologies and markets in the US and India, with emphasis on semiconductors, advanced engineering and biotech. Besides core R&D, Kaushik has considerable experience in IP valuation/licensing, technology commercialisation and venture funding - increasingly complemented by experience in cross-border business development. His key strengths include: the ability to evaluate innovative technologies and business models, help establish relationships with relevant partners / investors / customers / regulators and provide insights and operational support for growing technology businesses in India.
Kaushik is India Principal at AcceleratorIndia, where he provides on-the-ground expertise for AcceleratorIndia's European clients, from a base in Pune, India. Kaushik has actively supported their growth in the Indian market, specifically in cleantech, energy efficiency and advanced engineering. He has developed broad professional networks in, and a deep understanding of, these industries and their value chains– including relevant government agencies at the state and national levels. Kaushik helps AcceleratorIndia's clients design relevant pilots/trials for Indian markets, tailor their product/service offerings to the Indian context and navigate the business development challenges unique to India. Kaushik’s experience in intellectual property matters has helped AcceleratorIndia clients to design robust IP-protection strategies for India.
Kaushik’s entrepreneurial venture, Moneyoga, sought to develop capital market analytics and algorithmic trading strategies for India. Kaushik's career also included a stint in IP evaluation and management at Freescale Semiconductor in Austin, Texas, between 1999 and 2005, leading up to primary responsibility for mining of Freescale's patent portfolio. Kaushik then moved on to IPVALUE Management - a provider of strategic IP advisory and transaction services, as Manager of IP Operations, responsible for mining, evaluation and commercialisation of patent portfolios of clients such as Xerox, Palo Alto labs and British Telecom.
Kaushik is active in the Pune high-tech eco-system: he mentors technology innovators / entrepreneurs and oversees early-stage funding activities at the Entrepreneurship Development Center, NCL Innovation Park. Kaushik has also been instrumental in laying the groundwork for creating spin-offs via the commercialisation of technology from R&D labs in India, primarily CSIR/NCL.
Kaushik holds a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering (Instrumentation) from the Government College of Engineering - Pune, a Master's Degree in Science (Electrical Engineering) from the University of Minnesota - Minneapolis and a Master's Degree in Business Administration from the University of Texas - Austin.