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The advent of Data Science and AI has brought about a transformative impact on the operations of individuals and organizations today. Nevertheless, fully harnessing the benefits presented by these technologies is a task that eludes many. Each day witnesses the emergence of countless startups bringing excellent ideas to the market, which, given the appropriate support, extend beyond mere conceptualization to actualize their operational goals. As a result, there is a growing need for more AI and technological leadership experts like Rathnakumar, who are changing the world.
Rathnakumar Udayakumar is an accomplished entrepreneur, author, blogger, data and product visionary with a track record of success in various roles he has taken up in his career. Rathnakumar started his entrepreneurial journey at 19 as a blogger and digital consultant, and his passion for innovation and entrepreneurship led him to create and co-found several successful startups.
At the age of 21, Rathnakumar founded one of India’s earliest Crowdfunding Platforms, successfully executing over 60 crowdfunding projects nationwide. He then founded Shout Paper, an NGO providing underprivileged kids with notebooks through brand marketing collaborations. Next, he led the development, implementation, and support of internal data automation at Social Blood, a non-profit organization building the largest network of blood donors, hospitals, and blood banks on the web. He also worked with Facebook and Twitter product teams to launch blood donation tools across the APAC region.
In 2012, Rathnakumar kickstarted his corporate career as a Program Manager at Amazon, where he was responsible for developing, implementing, and supporting internal data automation. Through his work, he improved price prediction accuracy by 20% in Q3 & Q4 of 2014 and reduced the prediction error rate by over 5% for the US market. He also led the automation team on data scraping for competitor analysis and automation, leading key projects such as price prediction modeling, building internal interactive dashboards, competitor analysis, and automation.
In 2018, Rathnakumar’s entrepreneurial spirit was revived when he co-founded Pawsh, a pet care marketplace connecting pet owners with top on-demand pet grooming professionals. Under his leadership, Pawsh went from a bootstrapped (self-funded) startup to a leading accelerator-backed startup with $2,000,000 (16 crores INR) in valuation. Today, the company has served over 15,000 pet owners with over 100,000+ appointments booked. Rathnakumar’s crucial role as a co-founder in the early growth phase brought the startup to its current position. The mission behind Pawsh is to disrupt the pet care delivery system and deliver a very friendly, transparent, and high-quality service to your doorstep. The company raised funds with Village Global, 500 Startups, and Twin Ventures and achieved several million dollars in valuation since.
After working at Fortune 100 companies and startups across Software and AI in Insurance industries, in the year 2022, he joined Netradyne, one of Forbes AI 50 companies, as a Product lead, leading Product Positioning, Roadmaps, Partnerships, Engagements, and Launch strategies across Product Lines. He executes data pipelines there and defines product KPI, customer lifecycle, and product life cycle, thereby increasing customer retention, product efficiency, and lifetime by more than 80%. In addition, his work has improved customer retention by as much as 60%, significantly reducing user acquisition costs by 40% through automation and analytics. He also leads the go-to-market team on all new user persona features, cloud, and AI initiatives across multiple geographies while leading key product lines initiatives such as Green Zone Score, Driver Experience, Drowsy Driving and Coaching Experience.
“My vision is to make this world a better place using Data and AI and to empower and inspire fellow startups on their journey to success. Even with over a decade of experiences and lessons, I seek knowledge to grow further to drive innovation and make a meaningful impact on the startup ecosystem.” Quote by Rathnakumar
