Venky B

Founder & CEO, Plivo
Austin, Texas,United States
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Who Is Venky B?

Total Experience19 years
CompanyPlivo
CountryUnited States

Venky Harinarayan is a highly influential entrepreneur, investor, and technologist based in Silicon Valley. He is renowned for co-founding Junglee Corp., an early comparison shopping engine that was acquired by Amazon in 1998, where he subsequently played a key role in developing Amazon's Marketplace. Later, he co-founded Kosmix, a social media and topic exploration platform, which was acquired by Walmart in 2011 and became the foundation of @WalmartLabs, significantly boosting Walmart's e-commerce capabilities. Venky holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford University and a Bachelor's degree from IIT Madras. He is recognized for his deep expertise in search, e-commerce, and large-scale distributed systems, and continues to be an active angel investor and advisor to various technology startups.

How Did Venky B's Career Path Shape Their Journey?

Venky B's work history includes a series of influential roles in various companies. Here is a detailed list of his professional journey:

Plivo - Founder & CEO(2011 to Present)
Huawei - Lead Solutions Architect(2008 to 2011)
Hunger Break - Founder(2008 to 2008)
Narus Inc - Senior Solutions Engineer(2008 to 2008)
Subex Ltd - Senior Presales Engineer(2006 to 2008)
Subex - Software Engineer(2005 to 2006)

What Are Venky B's Key Achievements?

Co-founded Junglee Corp.

Co-founded Junglee in 1996, a pioneering virtual database technology company that powered one of the web's first comparison shopping engines. Junglee was acquired by Amazon in 1998 for approximately $250 million.

Key Role at Early Amazon

Following Junglee's acquisition, Harinarayan was instrumental in developing and launching Amazon Marketplace, a platform that allows third-party sellers to sell products on Amazon, transforming e-commerce.

Co-founded Kosmix (later @WalmartLabs)

Co-founded Kosmix in 2005, a company that developed technology to organize and categorize information on the web around specific topics. Kosmix was acquired by Walmart in 2011 and became the core of @WalmartLabs, Walmart's hub for e-commerce innovation.

Influential Angel Investor and Advisor

Has served as an angel investor and advisor to numerous successful startups, contributing his expertise and capital to foster innovation in the tech industry. He is a General Partner at Rocketship.vc.

Distinguished Alumnus Award, IIT Madras

Recognized by his alma mater, IIT Madras, for his significant contributions to technology and entrepreneurship.

What's Venky B's Educational Background?

Degree Program

Y Combinator - Year 2012

B.E, Computer Science

Visvesvaraya Technological University - Year 2001

School, Science

Delhi Public School Noida - Year 1987

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Notable news
Hiring actively
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Corporate Finance

Company Overview

Plivo
Total employees350
HeadquartersAustin
Founded2011

Plivo is a cloud communication platform (CPaaS) that empowers businesses to integrate voice calling, SMS messaging, and other communication functionalities into their applications via APIs. It offers tools for developers and enterprises to build scalable and feature-rich customer communication experiences globally, serving various industries from startups to large enterprises.

Plivo Funding Information
$27.8M - Total Funding Raised
$10M - Most recent funding amount
3 - Number of funding rounds
October 7, 2021 - Latest funding round
Lead Investors:
Andreessen Horowitz
Qualcomm Ventures
SV Angel
Y Combinator
Battery Ventures
AME Cloud Ventures

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