Raj Kulkarni

Raj has 25+ years of global experience in the software industry, working with early and growth stage companies as an operating executive, investor, strategic advisor and mentor. His passion and proven track record are in converting ideas into businesses, opening new markets and creating focus on execution towards successful exits.

Prior to Inovez, Raj founded and led GemStone Systems, an enterprise infrastructure software company that pioneered the management of fast data in memory through virtualized, real-time data grids. GemStone was acquired by VMware in 2010.

Raj is a founding charter member of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Portland chapter, a limited partner in Bridge City Ventures (Portland Seed Fund) and Founders' Co-op, a seed stage investment fund in Seattle, WA as well as an active member of the Indian Angel Network. He has a proven track record of multiple successful exits and serves on the board of directors of several fast growing start ups in diverse verticals across the globe.

Raj started his career at Servio Logic, a pioneer in object databases and played a key role in its acquisition in August 2000 for $250M+.

Raj is a highly committed leader with a can-do attitude, equal parts technical and business strategy, open to change, able to enthuse, influence, mentor and empower colleagues and customers alike to grow, take risks and succeed.

Born in Pune, India, Raj has a BE from Pune University and an MS in Manufacturing Engineering from the University of Florida. Raj splits his time between Portland (Oregon) and Boca Raton (Florida) with his wife and their aspiring tennis player daughter.