The incumbent Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Visakhapatnam-based Andhra University Incubation Hub (ā hub), entrepreneur Ravi Eswarapu has quite justifiably been recognised by Inc42 as ‘one of the top angel investors in Andhra Pradesh’.

He has many aces up his sleeve and his credentials are enough to propel him to the top echelons. The CXO-turned-entrepreneur is a business consultant, proven strategist, investor and a speaker, who draws the attention of everyone in the audience with his pearls of wisdom.

These are no mean achievements for one whose entrepreneurial journey began just a decade back, 2012 to be more precise. Of course, the Harvard Manage Mentor has 23 years of exceptional experience in heading diverse wings, including business, strategy, sales, operations and top grade corporate quality across the globe for both large corporate houses and start-ups.

Each is a success story in itself as they stem from his adeptness in devising result-oriented strategies with a remarkable consistency. Eswarapu’s digitization and cost optimization initiatives have been to the fore, and widely acknowledged, during association with Fortune 500 entities like Caterpillar, General Electric, General Motors, Mitsubishi HM India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Dunlop and Castrol.

It is this very zeal with which his entrepreneurial juggernaut is driving the Indian start-up ecosystem with investments. Many of those who have benefitted from his purposeful approach are thankful for his sense of anticipation and the impetus with which he is propelling their business progress. He has wide knowledge about business process re-engineering, bringing about a turnaround, manufacturing and supply chain optimization, and six sigma consulting. His last assignment before turning an entrepreneur was as head of Corporate Quality (CQO) at Mahindra Satyam (now Tech Mahindra). His record in various roles stands as an inspiration for many of his colleagues and those with whom he has worked over the years.

Eswarapu did wonderfully well as the business leader and managed a large client with interests in India, China, Hungary, Mexico and Malaysia. His business has been duly rewarded and recognised. Among the several honours that he has been conferred with included coveted ones like the NASSCOM Innovation Award, ‘Best of the Best’ Chairman’s Honour Award of General Motors USA, “CIO award” for exceptional performance at OnStar Corp. USA, Best Strategy amongst the 80+ Mahindra & Mahindra group companies. Eswarapu was on the Board of Directors of Mahindra Satyam and played a key role in the revival and merger of Mahindra Satyam with Tech Mahindra.

In his present assignment as the CEO of Andhra University Incubation Hub, Eswarapu is mentoring start-ups and helping them grow, bringing a turnaround in the fortunes of ailing and near-defunct companies, investing in early stage start-ups, besides actively conducting awareness sessions on entrepreneurship and start-up pitching across India.

BOX:

• Director – Schemax Tech (IT Product Development & Services Startup)

• Director – ANTAR IOT (Home and Industrial Automation Product Startup)

• Director – InterviewBuddy (HR Tech Startup)

• Director – Alcove Partners (Startup mentoring and Angel Investment firm)

• Director – Pena4 Tech (US based BPM company in Healthcare)

• Board Member – TiE AP (largest Non-Profit organization connecting entrepreneurship ecosystem)

• Chairman, Advisory Board – iTAAP (IT & ITeS Association of Andhra Pradesh)