Saravana Mani — CEO
Saravana Mani is a Retail industry thought leader - donning the hat of Retail innovation specialist, Retail GCC Strategist, Retail Startup advisor & Retail industry investor. He is actively involved in educating, mentoring, consulting various Academia, Associations and Retail Startups from across the world. A University rank holder during his undergraduate program (Engineering) he is also a proud Alumnus of IIM Bangalore in General Management and an Alumnus of MIT Sloan, Cambridge, US with specialization in Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Technology. Prior to his current stint, he was heading Innovation for Kmart Group Australia & Future Group. He played the role of head of South India Region, NASSCOM Product Council leading three key pillars – NASSCOM Deep Tech Club, Skill Enablement and Product connect. He spent his first professional experience for a decade with career in Infosys, followed by stint in Cognizant Technology encompassing Software Development, Business Analysis, Consulting, presales, solutioning and Program Management. After his corporate world journey he has been involved in ideating and growing multiple startups in the space of retail loyalty, Web development, Online recruitment, skill development, Wi-fi hotspot etc. Some of the companies have generated significant shareholder value, customer delight and exit. Some of the companies have created Impact on SWACHH BHARAT and DIGITAL INDIA initiatives. He has been instrumental in creating a consortium of group companies, which also played the role of incubator & accelerator.
Stackforce AI infers this person is a Retail Innovation Specialist with extensive experience in startup advisory and strategic growth.
Location: Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Experience: 23 yrs 11 mos
Skills
- Start-up Ventures
- Start-up Leadership
Career Highlights
- Expert in Retail innovation and strategy.
- Mentored over 3000 entrepreneurs and professionals.
- Led innovation initiatives for major retail brands.
Work Experience
Lakewalk Ventures
General Partner, CEO (6 mos)
Retailinnovation.ai
Chief Evangelist (1 yr 5 mos)
Forever New Clothing
GCC Strategy (1 yr 11 mos)
RDEP
Strategic Advisor - Product, Growth, Funding (2 yrs 1 mo)
Noah Mobility
Strategic Advisor - India Entry (1 yr 4 mos)
Open Innovation playbook - The Art of Impactful Enterprise-Startup Collaboration
Author - Open Innovation Playbook (5 yrs 8 mos)
Kmart Group Australia (Kmart, Target, Catch)
Global Head - Innovation/Accelerator (3 yrs 4 mos)
Nivasoft
Board Director (6 yrs 8 mos)
Future Group India, an Amazon Invested Retail Conglomerate
Head - Open Innovation (2 yrs)
NASSCOM
Product Council (1 yr 3 mos)
Remote Incubator
Mentor (9 yrs 7 mos)
Various Startups/Associations/Academia
Serial Entrepreneur, Adviser/Mentor/Board Member/Trainer (9 yrs 9 mos)
BIGZING Capital Private Limited
Serial entrepreneur, Investor, Mentor, Advisor (4 yrs 11 mos)
Businers Infra solutions India Pvt Ltd
Executive Director (4 mos)
Cognizant Technology Solutions (CIGNA USA)
Assistant Project Manager (Program Test Lead/Manager) (1 yr 3 mos)
Asst. Project manager (QA and Automation Lead) (7 mos)
Infosys Technologies Ltd (Allstate Insurance, USA)
Project leader (6 mos)
Project Leader (11 mos)
Infosys Technologies Ltd (Aetna Inc., USA)
Delivery lead - Quality Engineering Services (1 yr)
Associate Project Manager (6 mos)
Technical Leader (1 yr 6 mos)
Infosys Technologies Ltd (Aetna Inc, US)
Software engineer/Module leader/Project leader (1 yr 11 mos)
VISU consulting
Trainer - GRE, GMAT, TOEFL (Part time) (9 mos)
Mahalakshmi enterprises
Production Manager (11 mos)
Education
Executive Program in General Management at MIT Sloan School of Management
Business Administration and Management at Indian Institute of Management Bangalore
Bachelor of Engineering - BE at National Institute of Engineering, MYSORE
