EXECUTIVE PROFILES
Team ConnectM
Members of the Board
Advisory Board
Prior to joining ConnectM, Rajeev was with Siemens Ltd. since 1992. It was at Siemens that Rajeev began his industrious career and was directly responsible for the controls business and sales in the northern region, when he joined. In the year 1997 he was appointed as the All India Business Development Manager and was primarily responsible for business development, product lifecycle management and channel management. In Feb 2005 he took over responsibilities as the Head of Southern Region for the Automation & Drives Division of Siemens. Rajeev brings with him a rich experience in diverse Industrial Sectors and has the experience in leading high growth organizations in demanding and complex situations. Rajeev is a graduate from BIT Ranchi in Electronics and Communication.
Prior to joining ConnectM, he was with Sasken Communication Technologies Ltd. He joined Sasken in the year 2001 as a business analyst for strategy. He moved into corporate financial planning in the year 2003. He was a key member of the team responsible for the successful Sasken IPO. From here he moved into the corporate development team where he was responsible for Strategy, Mergers & Acquisitions. This saw him excelling yet again with him being chiefly instrumental for acquiring the largest deal of 2007 for Sasken.
Prior to Sasken, he was with Chrysalis Capital (now ChrysCap), Venture Capital Firm. He was part of the first associate team at the firm and significantly contributed to internal activities for the development of the young firm.
He brings with him cross-functional management experience and the experience in making VC investments amongst other things.
Vivek has done his MBA from IIM Bangalore and is a Chartered Accountant by qualification.
He was part of the team who zeroed in on M2M as a technology to focus on and hence conceptualised ConnectM and took it to formation.
Prior to joining ConnectM he was with Sasken Communication Technologies Limited. He joined Sasken in October of 2000. At Sasken, he handled New Business Incubation. He was also part of the Strategy group, Corporate Development, Services division & Semiconductor business unit. Prior to Sasken he was the Co-Founder & Head of R&D of Trojan Technologies Limited. Trojan Technologies Limited was formed in 1995. It was Achutha who conceptualised, developed and took 29 products to Consumer and Enterprise market during the course of 5 years.
Achutha has his Post Graduation from one of the premier business schools - Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kozhikode. He is a Gold medallist in MS in Engineering from Coventry University. He also has his Bachelors in Engineering from Bangalore University.
Achutha brings with him 12 years of experience in the Technology & Communications space.
While at Core Objects, he has lead teams in delivering a variety of software products ranging from, hosting an online platform for selling high value Indian artworks to global customers, to working on a highly scalable web based auction platform built for a US client to sell various items sourced from US police department and retailers.
Prior to CoreObjects he was with Integral Software India Pvt. Ltd., where again he worked on a number of projects. One of the most challenging and fulfilling one included developing software development kit for FOREX application. He has also worked on building frameworks using object oriented Java scripts for rich UI based web applications. He has also worked at i2 technologies where he was involved in SRM and Content Management Solutions development.
Girish brings with him 12+ years of overall experience in software industry including 8 years of focused experience in software product development. He has extensive exposure to Microsoft, Java and open source technologies.
He holds a Master of Computer Applications from DOEACC, New Delhi.
Rajiv holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from MS University, Baroda, India and a Masters Degree in Computer Science from New York.
His role at Sasken has spanned from Technology, Engineering, Telecom and as head of the Product Division of Sasken.
Sudhir holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering and an MBA Degree.
TCM has served on the Boards of Jobstreet India, Webvision India and Vle Trans and is a Chartered Accountant by qualification.
Mel is an International Senior Engineering Executive with over 40 years in the Transportation Industry. He started his career with the British Railways in the UK.
In the year 1992, he joined Bombardier as Engineering Director of Bombardier Prorail Ltd. UK.
As Vice President Engineering and R&D Europe Atlantique, France in 1998, Mel Thomas was part of an important milestone for Bombardier when they won the design, supply and maintain contract for the new Virgin Rail Tilting and Non-Tilting fleet for the UK. This was significant because of the technology incorporated into the design, the scale of the project, and the very short project timescale.
Before taking on responsibilities as the Senior Vice President Operations, Services Division, Belgium in the year 2005, Mel saw the acquisition of Adtranz from Daimler Chrysler in May 2001, thus creating the World’s number one railway company, Bombardier Transportation.
Until recently Mel Thomas was the Chairman of InteGRail (Intelligent Integration of Railway Systems) a four year integrated E.U. funded research project grouping 39 international partners with a budget of about €20 million coordinated by UNIFE, launched in 2005. This project aims to develop a coherent information system integrating all major rail sub-systems. He has also been a member of the Railway Forum (UK)/Modern Railways, Railway Industry Innovation Awards judging panel since 2005.
Mel Thomas is a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (formally the Institution of Electrical Engineers), and has a Masters Degree in Industrial Management.
Team ConnectM
Members of the Board
Advisory Board
Team ConnectM
Rajeev Sharma
Head of Sales & Operations
Prior to joining ConnectM, Rajeev was with Siemens Ltd. since 1992. It was at Siemens that Rajeev began his industrious career and was directly responsible for the controls business and sales in the northern region, when he joined. In the year 1997 he was appointed as the All India Business Development Manager and was primarily responsible for business development, product lifecycle management and channel management. In Feb 2005 he took over responsibilities as the Head of Southern Region for the Automation & Drives Division of Siemens. Rajeev brings with him a rich experience in diverse Industrial Sectors and has the experience in leading high growth organizations in demanding and complex situations. Rajeev is a graduate from BIT Ranchi in Electronics and Communication.
Vivek Khemani
Head of Strategy & Finance
Prior to joining ConnectM, he was with Sasken Communication Technologies Ltd. He joined Sasken in the year 2001 as a business analyst for strategy. He moved into corporate financial planning in the year 2003. He was a key member of the team responsible for the successful Sasken IPO. From here he moved into the corporate development team where he was responsible for Strategy, Mergers & Acquisitions. This saw him excelling yet again with him being chiefly instrumental for acquiring the largest deal of 2007 for Sasken.
Prior to Sasken, he was with Chrysalis Capital (now ChrysCap), Venture Capital Firm. He was part of the first associate team at the firm and significantly contributed to internal activities for the development of the young firm.
He brings with him cross-functional management experience and the experience in making VC investments amongst other things.
Vivek has done his MBA from IIM Bangalore and is a Chartered Accountant by qualification.
Achutha Jois
Head of Technology and Enterprise Vertical
He was part of the team who zeroed in on M2M as a technology to focus on and hence conceptualised ConnectM and took it to formation.
Prior to joining ConnectM he was with Sasken Communication Technologies Limited. He joined Sasken in October of 2000. At Sasken, he handled New Business Incubation. He was also part of the Strategy group, Corporate Development, Services division & Semiconductor business unit. Prior to Sasken he was the Co-Founder & Head of R&D of Trojan Technologies Limited. Trojan Technologies Limited was formed in 1995. It was Achutha who conceptualised, developed and took 29 products to Consumer and Enterprise market during the course of 5 years.
Achutha has his Post Graduation from one of the premier business schools - Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kozhikode. He is a Gold medallist in MS in Engineering from Coventry University. He also has his Bachelors in Engineering from Bangalore University.
Achutha brings with him 12 years of experience in the Technology & Communications space.
Girish Subramanya
Head of Project Delivery and Resource Management
While at Core Objects, he has lead teams in delivering a variety of software products ranging from, hosting an online platform for selling high value Indian artworks to global customers, to working on a highly scalable web based auction platform built for a US client to sell various items sourced from US police department and retailers.
Prior to CoreObjects he was with Integral Software India Pvt. Ltd., where again he worked on a number of projects. One of the most challenging and fulfilling one included developing software development kit for FOREX application. He has also worked on building frameworks using object oriented Java scripts for rich UI based web applications. He has also worked at i2 technologies where he was involved in SRM and Content Management Solutions development.
Girish brings with him 12+ years of overall experience in software industry including 8 years of focused experience in software product development. He has extensive exposure to Microsoft, Java and open source technologies.
He holds a Master of Computer Applications from DOEACC, New Delhi.
Members of the Board
Rajiv C Mody
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Sasken Communication Technologies Ltd.
Rajiv holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from MS University, Baroda, India and a Masters Degree in Computer Science from New York.
Dr G Venkatesh
Executive Director & CTO/CSO
Sasken Communication Technologies Ltd.
His role at Sasken has spanned from Technology, Engineering, Telecom and as head of the Product Division of Sasken.
Sudhir Sethi
Vice Chairman & Managing Director
IDG Ventures India
Sudhir holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering and an MBA Degree.
T. C. Meenakshisundaram (TCM)
Chief Financial Officer & Executive Director
IDG Ventures India
TCM has served on the Boards of Jobstreet India, Webvision India and Vle Trans and is a Chartered Accountant by qualification.
Advisory Board
Mel Thomas
Advisory Board of ConnectM
Mel is an International Senior Engineering Executive with over 40 years in the Transportation Industry. He started his career with the British Railways in the UK.
In the year 1992, he joined Bombardier as Engineering Director of Bombardier Prorail Ltd. UK.
As Vice President Engineering and R&D Europe Atlantique, France in 1998, Mel Thomas was part of an important milestone for Bombardier when they won the design, supply and maintain contract for the new Virgin Rail Tilting and Non-Tilting fleet for the UK. This was significant because of the technology incorporated into the design, the scale of the project, and the very short project timescale.
Before taking on responsibilities as the Senior Vice President Operations, Services Division, Belgium in the year 2005, Mel saw the acquisition of Adtranz from Daimler Chrysler in May 2001, thus creating the World’s number one railway company, Bombardier Transportation.
Until recently Mel Thomas was the Chairman of InteGRail (Intelligent Integration of Railway Systems) a four year integrated E.U. funded research project grouping 39 international partners with a budget of about €20 million coordinated by UNIFE, launched in 2005. This project aims to develop a coherent information system integrating all major rail sub-systems. He has also been a member of the Railway Forum (UK)/Modern Railways, Railway Industry Innovation Awards judging panel since 2005.
Mel Thomas is a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (formally the Institution of Electrical Engineers), and has a Masters Degree in Industrial Management.
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