Times of India Directory - 2003
1976 - 1990
HCL
After passing out of College of Engineering Trivandrum with a degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering, I got an opportunity to visit Delhi for an interview with the Union Public Service Commission. Though I didn’t get selected for that job, I was fortunate to get a breakthrough in Hindustan Computers limited in 1976 as a Customer Engineer. The job involved installing and maintaining newly launched Minicomputers - HCL 8C - at various locations in North India. After having served in the north region for 2 years, I was transferred to Coimbatore and became responsible for installing the first set of computers sold by HCL in the Coimbatore region. I continued with HCL till 1990, becoming a national manager responsible for customer support. I did take an overseas break in-between, from 1982 to 1984, when I worked for a Nigerian company based in Calabar. After coming back and continuing with HCL, the entrepreneurship bug bit me and I decided to plunge into entrepreneurship – a move which would make me my own boss – and also get me into a bigger league. I had realized that after-sales support was not having many opportunities for growth and my sight was always on creating my own enterprise. I learned the basics of Entrepreneurship while working for HCL.
1991 - 2000
Accel Limited
Accel Limited was a dream come true for me. It was my brainchild. I never had the financial backing necessary to set up a venture. It was Rs. 50,000 mobilized between 5 of the promoters and with Rs. 40,000 borrowed from a friend, that I went on to set up a company, to offer multivendor support services for computers. It is a matter of immense satisfaction to me that the company grew from humble beginnings and went on to become a recognized IT services company with a turnover of Rs. 100 Crore by 1999. I used inorganic growth opportunities and acquired a few small-sized companies during our growth phase. I was also able to secure the first venture capital funding for the company from ICICI Venture in 1999 and later from Intel Capital. During 1999, we got the opportunity to acquire the systems and services business of Fujitsu ICIM Limited, based in Pune, which took our turnover to Rs. 119 crore during the year 1999-2000. The IT services business was consolidated as Accel ICIM Systems and Services Limited and set its sights on growing to Rs. 500 Crores by 2006.
2000 - 2004
Accel ICIM
Accel ICIM was a Pan India IT services company with a focus on enterprise customers in select vertical industry segments. The business started growing. However, the shortage of working capital started hampering the progress of the company. The company was exploring the possibility of an IPO, but the downtrend after the dot-com bust scuttled that plan. The company started borrowing from the banking system to execute some of the system integration orders during this period. The company became one of the premium partners for SUN Microsystems in India. It also tied up with JD Edwards to promote ERP projects. To grow the business beyond traditional IT infrastructure services, the company invested in its software division and acquired a few small companies, including Transmatic Systems and Ushus Technologies based in Thiruvananthapuram. It had set up global offices in Dubai, Singapore, and Atlanta in the USA. In 2004, Frontline Technologies Corporation, a Singapore main-board listed company, invested in Accel ICIM, and the company’s name got changed to Accel Frontline Limited.
2005 - 2015
Accel Frontline Limited
The company, as a Joint venture with Frontline Technologies, was known as Accel Frontline Limited. It charted out plans for accelerated growth as an Enterprise IT Solutions Company. Soon it became a requirement to give exit to early investors, ICICI Venture and Intel Capital. In 2006 November, the company went for its IPO and got listed on NSE and BSE. Accel Limited became a minority shareholder in the company and retained its identity as the promoter of Accel Frontline Limited. In 2008, Frontline Technologies corporation was acquired by British Telecom PLC and thereby Accel Frontline became a subsidiary of BT Frontline PLC. The director board of Accel Frontline limited was expanded with representatives from BT and the company adopted BT processes for customer services. During 2010, as part of a global strategy, BT decided to exit the IT services business and focus on their core telecom services, thereby allowing us to buy back BT’s stake in Accel Frontline. Accel Limited, through a leveraged buyout, acquired the stake of BT in Accel Frontline and consolidated its IT services business. However, the leveraged buyout put a liquidity crunch on the company and the holding company and Accel Limited decided to find a new strategic investor in Accel Frontline. Then in 2013, a Tokyo headquartered IT services company, CAC holding corporation, approached Accel Limited, to acquire a majority stake in Accel Frontline Limited. Eventually, the majority stake in Accel Frontline Limited was sold to CAC and Accel Limited became a minority shareholder once again. The JV with the Japanese corporation didn’t work out well for Accel due to various reasons. I had to leave the company as Chairman on a sour note in March 2016. Accel Limited fully exited the flagship company in March 2017, thus ending one saga in my entrepreneurial journey. It was a big learning for me from 1991 to 2016 as an entrepreneur. I decided to fully exit the core IT industry for I had also signed a non-compete agreement as part of my exit from Accel Frontline.
2016 - 2019
Accel Media
Having exited Accel Frontline and have been busy with my professional journey for over 42 years, it was indeed difficult to slow down suddenly. I was looking to get involved in some creative activities which will keep my mind occupied. Accel invested in a Visual Effects studio doing computer graphics and special effects for feature films. I decided to focus on this activity from 2016. This initiative though creatively stimulating was not a financial success. I had to relook into other avenues. That resulted in exploring my foray into IT space development. We were in possession of a tract of land in the KINFRA IT SEZ in Thiruvananthapuram. So we decided to enter the fully integrated IT infrastructure space and created a business division in Accel Limited, named Accel Realty. We started working on the plans in 2018 – to build a complex in 3 Phases. Though there was no money with the company, KSIDC came forward to fund the first phase with a term loan. It was also decided to get back into IT infrastructure services, on completion of the Non-Compete period with CAC holding corporation. So in October 2019 we hired a management team and started putting together a new IT services business initiative. By the time initiatives got to see results, the COVID 19 inflicted lockdown hit us. Perseverance is the name of the game - so both the initiatives, Accel Realty and Accel IT services, though delayed due to the pandemic, started moving forward.
2020 - Accel 2.0
Accel 2.0
Having re-started Accel IT Services from scratch in 2019, I found it tough for me to run a startup company, as I was looking for avenues to expand the business faster. Suddenly an opportunity came my way to acquire an IT infrastructure services company with about 1500 employees and an all-India presence, headquartered in Chennai.- A good opportunity if I had the money to invest. But with whatever finance available, used in the building project, the banks could not give acquisition financing, as per RBI guidelines. But I needed to do this transaction. Suddenly an idea occurred. Approach a non-banking finance company and secure a loan after pledging whatever real estate we have in the company. It worked out; and in July 2020, we acquired Ensure Support Services Limited, a subsidiary of Redington India Limited, in an all-cash deal. This resulted in my restarting my IT entrepreneurship journey again, in earnest. The First Phase of the IT SEZ project got inaugurated in April 2021, giving me satisfaction that age is no criterion for embarking on new ventures. Having completed 67 years in August 2021, my entrepreneurial journey is becoming more and more exciting. I call it Accel 2.0, the initiative to build a new Accel Limited that can boldly venture into the vast new seas of emerging opportunities.
Professional Timeline
Highlights
Formation of Accel Transmatic - 2004
Launching Accel Frontline IPO - 2006
Acquisition of Ensure Support Services - 2020
Inauguration of Accel Infinium - 2021