Prasad Akella

Recipient of Nexus of Good award for outstanding work done by Janyaa. Janyaa, a tax exempt organization focuses on developing creative problem solving skills in rural kids in India by applying math and science to their daily lives, through experiential learning. The name, Janyaa, which translates to “life” appropriately fits in with the vision of this organization. As envisioned by founder, Ms. Venu Nadella, the students educated from the principles of Janyaa are empowered to make progressive changes to their immediate communities to help advance the socio-economic state of the country. Janyaa was started in 2009 with 4 schools in Andhra Pradesh, India. We are currently working with nearly 800 schools and 400,000 students in India, Nigeria and Jamaica. Our goal is to implement our pilot program for USA this year. Janyaa, in collaboration with CSR and government partners, donates Science & Math experiment kit, for kids to explore and play under guidance of respective teachers, who are trained on how to use the kit while explaining concepts and to conduct group sessions for students. Realizing that this learning needs to be holistic and to achieve the aim of enabling the creation of entrepreneurs and innovative problem solvers amongst them, Janyaa, through its Social Innovation Challenge (JSIC), provides kids a platform and encourages them to come up with creative ideas and local solutions to be applied to issues and problems they identify with in their day-to-day lives. And through Janyaa Labs we productize these ideas and implement them back in their community. Janyaa provides an end to end solution by helping children understand science and math concepts through our experiments and providing a platform to apply these concepts to their daily life.

Optessa provides manufacturers with the only planning, sequencing, and scheduling software that mathematically guarantees results. Thanks to its patented algorithms, Optessa’s advanced planning and scheduling (APS) platform adapts to all manufacturing and logistics challenges with no extra coding required. With a full range of configurations for all its clients’ unique needs, Optessa’s platform is ready to go right out of the box. With its ability to model most real-world problems, it can define – and solve – those challenges without needing custom code. Across the supply chain, Optessa’s platform solutions can adapt to any problem its clients face giving them an edge over their competitors. Optessa’s platform integrates seamlessly with any MES, ERP, SCM, or S&OP solution its clients currently use. Since it’s a bolted-on solution, it can augment the capabilities of such systems while transferring data easily in both directions. The web-based offering allows clients to access Optessa’s platform from any device with an internet connection, both in the cloud or on its clients’ premises. With Optessa’s agile implementation process and ability to deliver complete solutions from the start, its clients enjoy faster deployment and greater ROI. Founded in 2001 with its first implementation in 2003, Optessa has captured the loyalty of manufacturers across the globe. Headquartered in Alberta, Canada, its leadership team continues to leverage its expertise in software, manufacturing, mathematics, and optimization technologies to deliver the optimum in customer satisfaction. With branches in Hazlet, New Jersey, in the United States, and Goa, India, Optessa has a growing team of more than 50 employees delivering real-world results for more than 100 manufacturing facilities worldwide.

Drishti’s mission is to extend human capabilities in an increasingly automated world. Our AI-powered video analytics and video traceability provides visibility and insights that transform the pace and impact of manual assembly line improvement. Manufacturers use Drishti to anchor true digital transformation, driving sweeping improvements in quality costs, efficiency gains and time-to-proficiency for line associate training. And line associates rely on Drishti to be more consistent and efficient, becoming even more valuable on the factory floor. We work with the best global manufacturers like DENSO, Flex and many others — including 3 of the top 6 global auto OEMs and 2 of the top 3 electronics contract manufacturers. You can read about us in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Industry Week and in reports by Gartner and 451 Research. Drishti was named by the World Economic Forum as a Technology Pioneer. For more information, visit Drishti.com.

Recipient of Nexus of Good award for outstanding work done by Janyaa. Janyaa, a tax exempt organization focuses on developing creative problem solving skills in rural kids in India by applying math and science to their daily lives, through experiential learning. The name, Janyaa, which translates to “life” appropriately fits in with the vision of this organization. As envisioned by founder, Ms. Venu Nadella, the students educated from the principles of Janyaa are empowered to make progressive changes to their immediate communities to help advance the socio-economic state of the country. Janyaa was started in 2009 with 4 schools in Andhra Pradesh, India. We are currently working with nearly 800 schools and 400,000 students in India, Nigeria and Jamaica. Our goal is to implement our pilot program for USA this year. Janyaa, in collaboration with CSR and government partners, donates Science & Math experiment kit, for kids to explore and play under guidance of respective teachers, who are trained on how to use the kit while explaining concepts and to conduct group sessions for students. Realizing that this learning needs to be holistic and to achieve the aim of enabling the creation of entrepreneurs and innovative problem solvers amongst them, Janyaa, through its Social Innovation Challenge (JSIC), provides kids a platform and encourages them to come up with creative ideas and local solutions to be applied to issues and problems they identify with in their day-to-day lives. And through Janyaa Labs we productize these ideas and implement them back in their community. Janyaa provides an end to end solution by helping children understand science and math concepts through our experiments and providing a platform to apply these concepts to their daily life.

Optessa provides manufacturers with the only planning, sequencing, and scheduling software that mathematically guarantees results. Thanks to its patented algorithms, Optessa’s advanced planning and scheduling (APS) platform adapts to all manufacturing and logistics challenges with no extra coding required. With a full range of configurations for all its clients’ unique needs, Optessa’s platform is ready to go right out of the box. With its ability to model most real-world problems, it can define – and solve – those challenges without needing custom code. Across the supply chain, Optessa’s platform solutions can adapt to any problem its clients face giving them an edge over their competitors. Optessa’s platform integrates seamlessly with any MES, ERP, SCM, or S&OP solution its clients currently use. Since it’s a bolted-on solution, it can augment the capabilities of such systems while transferring data easily in both directions. The web-based offering allows clients to access Optessa’s platform from any device with an internet connection, both in the cloud or on its clients’ premises. With Optessa’s agile implementation process and ability to deliver complete solutions from the start, its clients enjoy faster deployment and greater ROI. Founded in 2001 with its first implementation in 2003, Optessa has captured the loyalty of manufacturers across the globe. Headquartered in Alberta, Canada, its leadership team continues to leverage its expertise in software, manufacturing, mathematics, and optimization technologies to deliver the optimum in customer satisfaction. With branches in Hazlet, New Jersey, in the United States, and Goa, India, Optessa has a growing team of more than 50 employees delivering real-world results for more than 100 manufacturing facilities worldwide.

Spoke Software, powering VBProfiles and SpokeIntel, is a market intelligence platform that help its users to make sense of their markets. Our 2,000 daily users visit the platform to: - Track their markets: get daily memos and ebooks to know everything that's shaking their industry - Access Insights: The companies to focus on, the VCs you should talk to & the people you should target for recruiting. - Create their own industry landscapes: build their own micro-segmentations with the companies & topics they want to follow. We also offer viral industry ebooks on the Billion Dollar Startups with exclusive insights that have not been published elsewhere: - geographical distribution of these companies - number of employees, funding, and valuation to funding per sub vertical - a Maturity index - Company Status (Public vs private) - Top Angels and VCs Our last 2 published ebooks: - The Marketing Technology's 29 Billion Dollar Companies (co-authored with Scott Brinker) - The Collaborative Economy's 17 Billion Dollar Companies (co-authored with Jeremiah Owyang)