Founders of Avasant Global, TiE India Angels, Startup Iceland and Sungistix share their journeys on The INDUStry Show

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, February 27: The INDUStry Show, the widely distributed entrepreneurial talk show, announced the release of its February ‘22 episodes. This cohort features entrepreneurs from the golden coasts of California to the volcanic island of Iceland. The INDUStry Show's alum controls global annual revenues upwards of $10B and employs more than 50,000 people. Kevin S. Parikh is the bestselling author of Digital Singularity - A Case for Humanity. Parikh is also the CEO & Chairman of Avasant, a global management consulting firm that negotiates over $20 billion in tech deals annually. “Leaders are propped up by the support of those that believe in us”, said Parikh on the show. “We are a fortuitous company, and our focus has been on understanding the nexus between technology and business. We're not an IT consultancy but a data-driven, business transformation company”, continues Parikh. Addressing the challenges and opportunities during the pandemic and beyond, Parikh added, “the omniverse is way beyond what Facebook is doing.” Most of Avasant’s customers tend to be Fortune 1000 companies, located in more than 50 countries around the world. Parikh and the Avasant Fellows are committed to fostering global change. Through the Avasant Foundation, Parikh is supporting women and youth empowerment, and sustainable development. “Our alum is a really diverse group of entrepreneurs with a truly global footprint and holistic perspective. I am constantly amazed at the massive impact our network has created across all sections of the society”, said Mohini Todkari of The INDUStry Show. Bala Kamallakharan is the founder of Startup Iceland - a grassroots initiative to build sustainable startup ecosystems in Iceland. Over the past decade, Bala has collaboratively and patiently created awareness around angel investing, startups as a career choice, and educating the community on the risks and rewards of startup incubation and investing. Investments into startups in Iceland and investments from Iceland into global startups have more than quadrupled thanks mainly to the efforts of pioneers such as Kamallakharan. “We are halfway there, another decade to go”, says Kamallakharan. Everyone from the cab driver at the airport to the President of Iceland fondly calls him ‘Startup Bala’. Kamallakharan has also co-founded Dattaca Labs and Iceland Venture Studio. He previously held various leadership positions at Capgemini and Glitnir Bank and is an alum of BITS, Pilani India, and Louisiana State University in the United States. “The entrepreneurial journey is fun, albeit challenging and even lonely, more so for immigrants, minorities, and women. The pandemic closed several doors while it opened several new ones. Previously, funding and collaboration were somewhat geographically restricted. Now the world is literally our oyster. Cross-border angel investments and talent hiring, and partnerships are at an all-time high.”, said Dr. Nitin Bajaj, host of The INDUStry Show. TiE, a nonprofit with a global presence, is devoted to fostering entrepreneurship. Over the years, TiE launched a series of angel funds at the global and local levels to help companies through five foundational programs including mentoring, networking, education, funding, and incubation. Mahavir Pratap Sharma is the co-founder and Chair of TiE India Angels and the co-founder, Chairman of Rajasthan Angel Innovator Network. Sharma has invested in more than 20 companies with a global footprint. He is also a regular on Horses Stable, the popular business funding reality TV show in India that is currently airing Season 3. “India, as a startup ecosystem is the world’s third-largest but, is deeply undervalued. I see significant innovation coming soon that is not just restricted to back office and services and will expand to manufacturing, enabling agriculture, ESG, and digital economy across rural India” Sharma said. “The unique combination of wisdom and hustle that entrepreneurs thrive on, is captured in our one line life lessons. These lessons are simple yet profound, and often life-changing. We have captured several hundred of these actionables on our website and other social channels to inspire, motivate, and most importantly, drive meaningful action”, said Nimisha Lotia of The INDUStry Show. Ravi Patel, co-founder, CEO of Sungistix, a leading third-party logistics (3PL), warehousing and fulfillment provider that works with several leading brands across various industries, emphasized “With the rapidly changing consumer behaviors, economy and disruptions in supply chains, the 3PL warehousing and fulfillment companies are increasingly becoming more critical for businesses looking to have their products delivered in the consumer's hands.” Veena Jetti of Vive Funds, and an alum of The INDUStry Show, recently acquired a Class B, 296-unit multifamily property in Buford, GA, “and several from our network invested”, Dr. Bajaj added. Ash Patel, CEO of Commercial Bank of California, an alum of the show, announced the bank became one of the few in the country to accept real-time payments (RTP). Several alum of The INDUStry Show bank with Commercial Bank of California. Fylamynt, led by Pradeep Padala, another alum of the show, was acquired by NetApp. “We are proud of the accomplishments of our network and our ability to come together when a need or stellar opportunity arises. I believe we have reached an inflection point as a community”, said Bajaj. Hasan Minhaj of the Patriot Act and Payal Kadakia of ClassPass, now a unicorn that has raised more than $500M, appeared on Season 1 of the show. “We had Hasan and Payal on the show before they were household names. We obviously don’t take any credit for their success, but we do take all the pride” said Bajaj.