Ramaraj has been a Senior Advisor to Elevar since 2014.
Ramaraj is a serial entrepreneur who has been involved in ventures in IT, cellular technology and the Internet. His last venture was Sify, where he was the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer. Sify was the first Indian Internet Company to list on NASDAQ National Market in the US (NASDAQ –SIFY). He was recognized as the ‘Evangelist of the Year’ at the India Internet World Convention in September 2000 and was also voted the IT Person of the year (2000 and 2001), in a CNET.com poll in India. In 2010, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) recognized him with a Lifetime Achievement Award for nurturing the Spirit of Entrepreneurship and inspiring and mentoring numerous entrepreneurs. Prior to Elevar, he was the Senior Advisor at Sequoia Capital. He is a Member of the Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta.
Ramaraj is on the board of Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ), a Not-for-Profit organization. OGQ is committed to bridging the gap between the best athletes in India and the best athletes in the world thus helping Indian athletes to win Olympic Gold medals. He is the first Indian to be invited to the Board of Directors of ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) where he served for six years as an Independent Director. He was a member of the Global Board of Trustees of TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs).
R. Ramaraj holds a B.Tech in Chemical Engineering from the University of Madras and an M.B.A. from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. He enjoys spending time studying the Vedanta philosophy with a desire to apply this ancient but time transcending philosophy in daily life.
