2017 Distinguished Alumni Award
College of Science
Venkat “Puru” Purushotham
BS '81, MS '82
Venkat “Puru” Purushotham BS ’81, MS ‘82 is an international entrepreneur promoting positive change through innovation and creativity. His professional career has been defined by commercializing technological breakthroughs that have a positive impact on society. Puru believes in accelerating progress through strategic partnerships and active collaboration among people and businesses with shared vision, spanning geographic and cultural boundaries.
Puru has over three decades of professional experience in international entrepreneurship, including executive leadership positions at a Fortune 500 Company. He has led multiple business initiatives, creating international strategic alliances and partnerships for commercialization of several innovative technologies, resulting in revenue of several billion dollars.
In 1998, Puru founded NexPress Solutions, a joint venture between Eastman Kodak Company and Heidelberg Druckmaschinen, a German-based company. Puru established the business from the ground up, with operations in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan. He grew revenue from zero to over $300 million within six years and employed over 1,500 employees. He then led the effort to integrate NexPress business back into Kodak in 2006, becoming part of a new commercial business unit with revenues exceeding $2.5 billion.
Since 1998, Puru has been supporting young entrepreneurs in the United States, Singapore, and India to transform their innovation into new businesses. As an angel investor, coach, and mentor, he enables start-ups to build fundable business plans and pave the way for successful commercialization of new products and services.
2017 Distinguished Alumni Award
College of Science
Venkat “Puru” Purushotham
BS '81, MS '82
Venkat “Puru” Purushotham BS ’81, MS ‘82 is an international entrepreneur promoting positive change through innovation and creativity. His professional career has been defined by commercializing technological breakthroughs that have a positive impact on society. Puru believes in accelerating progress through strategic partnerships and active collaboration among people and businesses with shared vision, spanning geographic and cultural boundaries.
Puru has over three decades of professional experience in international entrepreneurship, including executive leadership positions at a Fortune 500 Company. He has led multiple business initiatives, creating international strategic alliances and partnerships for commercialization of several innovative technologies, resulting in revenue of several billion dollars.
In 1998, Puru founded NexPress Solutions, a joint venture between Eastman Kodak Company and Heidelberg Druckmaschinen, a German-based company. Puru established the business from the ground up, with operations in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan. He grew revenue from zero to over $300 million within six years and employed over 1,500 employees. He then led the effort to integrate NexPress business back into Kodak in 2006, becoming part of a new commercial business unit with revenues exceeding $2.5 billion.
Since 1998, Puru has been supporting young entrepreneurs in the United States, Singapore, and India to transform their innovation into new businesses. As an angel investor, coach, and mentor, he enables start-ups to build fundable business plans and pave the way for successful commercialization of new products and services.