Kanwal Singh Rekhi (born August 29, 1945) (

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...

: ਕੰਵਲ ਰੇਖੀ) is an Indian-American businessperson. He was the first Indian-American founder and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

to take a venture-backed company public on the

Nasdaq The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...

stock exchange.

Career

Rekhi had worked as an engineer, systems analyst, and manager before venturing into entrepreneurship. At the age of 36, he moved to San Jose, California and co-founded Excelan in 1982, a manufacturer of smart Ethernet components, and was named president and CEO in 1985. The company went public on the

in 1987, and merged with

Novell Novell, Inc. was an American software and services company headquartered in Provo, Utah, that existed from 1980 until 2014. Its most significant product was the multi-platform network operating system known as Novell NetWare. Under the lead ...

in 1989. He remained at Novell as an executive vice-president and the - chief technology officer of the company, later joining the board of directors. Rekhi retired from Novell in 1995. After leaving Novell, he was the CEO at CyberMedia from January 1998 until its merger with Network Associates (now McAfee) in September 1998. In 1994, Rekhi became a full-time

angel investor An angel investor (also known as a business angel, informal investor, angel funder, private investor, or seed investor) is an individual who provides capital for a business or businesses start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or owners ...

, investing in more than 50 startups, of which he led the initial financing and was a member of the board of directors for 23 companies. His venture financings have resulted in 21 exits including six

IPOs In demonology, Ipos is an Earl and powerful Prince of Hell (a Duke to some authors) who has thirty-six legions of demons under his command. He knows and can reveal all things, past, present and future (only the future to some authors, and past ...

to date. Also active in Indian public policy related to venture, Rekhi advised India government policy makers in reforming venture regulations. This encouraged fund formation in India, and Rekhi was the founding limited partner behind Infinity Capital-India a successful early-stage India venture fund. In 2007, Rekhi co-founded Inventus Capital Partners, and currently serves as managing director. During his time at Inventus, he has invested in companies including GENWI, Salorix, Poshmark, and Sierra Atlantic (acquired by Hitachi Consulting). In 1995, he co-founded TiE, The Indus Entrepreneurs, a nonprofit support network to provide advice, contacts, and funding to Indian Americans hoping to start businesses. He also acted as an expert in advising the

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the ...

and his government for laying the foundation for the country's Information technology expansion. Rekhi has served as a trustee on the global board of TiE. He is also a former chairman of the Centre for Civil Society.

Philanthropy

Rekhi contributed $5 million to Michigan Tech in 2000. To help set up a new school of Information Technology, he donated $3 million to IIT Bombay which named one of its schools after him as the "Kanwal Rekhi School of Information Technology (KReSIT)"(which was merged in 2006 with the department of computer science and engineering).

Awards and recognition

In 2003 Rekhi was awarded the Bina Chaudhuri Award for Distinguished Service from the California Institute of Integral Studies. He was also awarded "Entrepreneur of the Year" in 1987 by Arthur Young and ''Venture'' magazine.

References

External links

Kanwal Rekhi School of Information Technology, IIT-B
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rekhi, Kanwal Indian emigrants to the United States American telecommunications industry businesspeople American people of Indian descent Living people American people of Punjabi descent 1945 births Indian venture capitalists Novell people Ahluwalia