Santosh pathak at 09:01, 15 April 2026

2026-04-15T09:01:10Z

New page

{{Short description|Indian Venture Capitalist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2013}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Krishnakumar Natarajan
| image = Krishnakumar Natarajan.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Photo of Krishnakumar Natarajan
| birth_name =
| birth_date = 
| birth_place =
| other_names = KK
| occupation = Managing Partner, Mela Ventures<br />Ex-CEO & Executive Chairman, [[Mindtree]] <br />Ex-Chairman, [[NASSCOM]]
| alma_mater = [[XLRI]], Jamshedpur, India, [[College of Engineering, Guindy]]
| spouse = Akila Krishnakumar <ref name=Spouse>{{cite news|title=Morning Raga |url=http://business.outlookindia.com/article_v3.aspx?artid=266752 |work=Outlook Business |date=21 Aug 2010 |accessdate=25 June 2013}}</ref>
| children =
| website = https://melaventures.in/team/krishnakumar-natarajan-kk/
}}

'''Krishnakumar Natarajan''' (KK) is a co-founder and former CEO and Executive Chairperson of Indian IT company [[Mindtree]].<ref name=CEO>{{cite news|title=Krishnakumar Natarajan became CEO of Mindtree|url=http://www.mindtree.com/company/management-team/krishnakumar-natarajan|accessdate=10 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703205220/http://www.mindtree.com/company/management-team/krishnakumar-natarajan|archive-date=3 July 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> He is currently a Managing Partner at Mela Ventures,<ref>{{cite web |title=Team |url=https://melaventures.in/team/ |website=Mela Ventures |accessdate=12 November 2020}}</ref> an early stage [[venture capital]] fund in India. He was appointed as the Chairman of [[NASSCOM]] for the year 2013–2014.<ref name=Nasscom>{{cite news|title=Krishnakumar Natarajan is new Chairman of Nasscom |url=http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/krishnakumar-natarajan-is-new-chairman-of-nasscom/article4595272.ece|accessdate=10 June 2013|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|date=9 April 2013}}</ref> He was earlier a senior executive with [[Wipro]] and is an alumnus of [[XLRI]].

==Early life and education==
KK graduated in 1979 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the [[College of Engineering, Guindy]], [[Chennai]], India.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://chennai.citizenmatters.in/ceg-alumni-guindy-anna-university-association-petition-6224|title=Why alumni of Chennai's College of Engineering, Guindy are a worried lot today |publisher=Citizen Matters|date=30 August 2018|author=Aruna Natarajan}}</ref> In 1981, he completed his Master's in Business Administration (MBA) majoring in marketing and systems from [[XLRI]], Jamshedpur, India.<ref name=Alumni>{{cite news |title=Krishnakumar Natarajan PGDM |url=http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=23612393&ticker=30900595 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130628035945/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=23612393&ticker=30900595 |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 June 2013 |accessdate=25 June 2013}}</ref>

==Career==
KK started his career in Wipro and held various key positions there from 1982 to 1999. During this time, he started and grew the Ecommerce division as the Chief Executive of the Ecommerce and Financial Solutions Division from 1996 to 1999. He served as Group Vice President of Human Resources and also as [[Chief marketing officer|Chief Marketing Officer]] for Wipro's IT business.<ref name=Wipro>{{cite news |title=Krishnakumar Natarajan PGDM |url=http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=23612393&ticker=MTCL:IN |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130628035945/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=23612393&ticker=MTCL:IN |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 June 2013 |accessdate=26 June 2013}}</ref>

In August 1999, KK along with nine other businessmen in IT, co-founded Mindtree.<ref name=Co-founder>{{cite news |title=Mindtree debates insider vs outsider CEO issue |url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-04-04/job-trends/38276964_1_rostow-ravanan-krishnakumar-natarajan-scott-staples |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130409190825/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-04-04/job-trends/38276964_1_rostow-ravanan-krishnakumar-natarajan-scott-staples |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 April 2013 |work=[[The Times of India]] |accessdate=26 June 2013}}</ref> In the early years of Mindtree, KK was instrumental in setting up the U.S. operations and played a key role in building the organization. He then drove Mindtree's expansion into Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East, transforming Mindtree's IT services business. He served as the CEO from August 1999 until April 2016 and as the Executive Chairman from April 2016 until Mindtree was acquired by LTI in a hostile takeover in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Laskar |first=Anirudh |date=2019-06-26 |title=With 60% stake, L&T completes its hostile takeover of Mindtree |url=https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/l-t-acquires-52-of-mindtree-in-indian-it-industry-s-first-hostile-takeover-1561536743325.html |access-date=2025-08-28 |website=mint |language=en}}</ref> Subsequently KK, along several others, resigned from the company.

In August 2019, Krishnakumar along with his Mindtree Colleague N.S. Parthasarathy founded Mela Ventures, an early stage Venture Capital firm focused on investing in DeepTech, ClimateTech, and enterprise SaaS.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mela Ventures – Empathy • Experience • Expertise |url=https://melaventures.in/ |access-date=2025-08-28 |language=en-US}}</ref>

KK is an Ex-Chairman of NASSCOM and chaired the ‘emerging companies’ forum. In this capacity, he worked towards bringing together large and emerging companies to make the Indian IT industry a globally competitive ecosystem.<ref name=Nasscom_1>{{cite news |title=Nasscom appoints SMB advocate as chairman |url=http://www.zdnet.com/in/nasscom-appoints-smb-advocate-as-chairman-7000013719/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130413041528/http://www.zdnet.com/in/nasscom-appoints-smb-advocate-as-chairman-7000013719/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 April 2013 |accessdate=26 June 2013}}</ref><ref name=Nasscom_3>{{cite news |title=Nasscom appoints SMB advocate as chairman |url=http://www.informationweek.in/software/13-04-08/mindtree_s_krishnakumar_natarajan_takes_over_as_chairman_of_nasscom_for_2013-14.aspx |accessdate=26 June 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130628040007/http://www.informationweek.in/software/13-04-08/mindtree_s_krishnakumar_natarajan_takes_over_as_chairman_of_nasscom_for_2013-14.aspx |archive-date=28 June 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

KK is an active member of several professional industry organizations, such as the Manufacturer's Association for Information Technology (MAIT) and the [[Confederation of Indian Industry]] (CII).<ref name=Nasscom_2>{{cite news |title=Krishnakumar Natarajan, Co-founder, CEO & Managing Director, Mindtree Ltd |url=http://www.indiainfoline.com/Research/LeaderSpeak/Krishnakumar-Natarajan-Co-founder-CEO-and-Managing-Director-MindTree-Ltd/42827939 |accessdate=26 June 2013}}</ref>

==Awards and recognition==
KK was ranked number 28 on the 50 highest rated CEOs list published by [[Glassdoor]], 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.glassdoor.com/50-Highest-Rated-CEOs.htm|title=Top 50 CEOs – KK ranked at number 28}}</ref>

==Personal life and family==
KK is married to Akila Krishnakumar. He has two sons.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Natarajan, Krishnakumar}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Indian chief executives]]
[[Category:XLRI – Xavier School of Management alumni]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]

Krishnakumar Natarajan - Revision history

Santosh pathak at 09:01, 15 April 2026