Sijo Kuruvilla George

Professional Summary

Leader, operator, and organisation builder with nearly two decades of experience building startups and enterprises. Founded and led Startup Village, India's first PPP technology business incubator (TBI). Led ADIF, India's digital startup industry body. Has designed and run structured innovation and partnership programs connecting enterprise SaaS startups with Fortune 500 corporations, while simultaneously operating inside startups as a hands-on fractional CXO and delivering exits for founders. Brings along operating experience across enterprise SaaS, mobile commerce, AI/ML, computer vision, B2B analytics, and autonomous AI agents.

Career Highlights
  • Founded and led Startup Village, India's first PPP technology incubator, co-built with the Government of India and Government of Kerala. Incubated 500+ startups, created 2,889 jobs, earning the National Award for Best Technology Business Incubator, DST GoI (2015). Chief Mentor: Kris Gopalakrishnan, co-founder of Infosys. Media coverage in Reuters, BBC, Business Standard, Hindu, YourStory, and Indian Express.
  • Served as Executive Director of ADIF, India's leading digital startup industry body, building marquee membership including PayTM, Bharatmatrimony, MapMyIndia, and ShareChat. Represented the organisation at the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance and led the organisation's public narrative across media, government, and industry.
  • Delivered three startup exits through hands-on fractional CXO engagements: Agrima Infotech acquired by BigBasket, iTraveller acquired by lastminute.com at $3M revenue, and UnityLiving acquired by MyGate. Currently taking Appmaker toward strategic acquisition having scaled it to approximately $1M in revenue and profitability.
Relevant Experience
  • At UST Global's Garage Ventures, assessed the innovation program and recommended a full strategic pivot from an internal entrepreneurship initiative to a B2B strategic partnership program. Made portfolio decisions on three incubator startups: one spun off, one pivoted B2C to B2B, one shut down. Facilitated co-sell partnerships with an HR Tech startup (RippleHire) and a robotics startup (Sastra Robotics).
  • Designed and ran Startup Bridge (2018 edition), a cross-border program connecting Indian enterprise SaaS startups with Fortune 500 corporations in the United States. Alumni include Whatfix, MoEngage, Cloudcherry (acquired by Cisco), and Unbxd (acquired by Netcore Cloud for $100M).
Professional Experience
2023
present
Fractional CBO
Appmaker
Enterprise SaaS platform enabling retail brands to deploy native mobile commerce apps on Shopify. 100+ enterprise retail clients including Jockey, Levis, Westside, and Rare Rabbit. Scaled to ~$1M annual revenue, profitable. Strategic acquisition in progress.
2020
2023
Executive Director
ADIF
Led strategy and growth of India's leading digital startup industry body. Built marquee membership; represented ADIF at the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance; owned the public narrative for India's digital startup ecosystem.
2015
2020
Fractional Partner | Innovation Programs
ZG
Designed and managed innovation and co-sell programs for corporations and governments. Key engagements: UST Global Garage Ventures, Startup Bridge Silicon Valley, Upekkha Venture Catalyst, WEQ / AnitaB.org, and SSEP Rajasthan.
2015
2020
Fractional CXO | Tech Startups
ZG
Hands-on operator across growth, product, and strategy. Three exits: Agrima Infotech (BigBasket), iTraveller (lastminute.com, $3M revenue), UnityLiving (MyGate). Currently advising Meetily (AI meeting assistant, 10K+ GitHub stars) and Leadmetrics (autonomous AI marketing agents for enterprise).
2011
2015
Founding CEO & Board Member
Startup Village
Founded India's first PPP Technology Business Incubator with GoI (DST) and Government of Kerala. 500+ startups, 2,889 jobs, ₹30Cr+ deployed across 21 portfolio companies. National Award, DST GoI. Led SVSquare, first Kerala startup delegation to Silicon Valley.
2009
2011
Consultant
PwC & Deloitte
Strategy and operations consulting. Infrastructure, PPP, and market-entry mandates.
2005
2008
Co-Founder
MobME Wireless Solutions
Campus startup that grew into one of India's recognised early mobile VAS players. Commercial partnerships with Airtel, Vodafone, BSNL, and Idea. 100+ team. NASSCOM Top 50 Emerging Companies; NASSCOM IT Innovator 2008.
Contact
  • +91 980 903 1383
  • skg@sijokuruvilla.in
Key Competencies
Leadership Founded and led Startup Village as CEO; led ADIF as Executive Director. IVLP Fellow. GoI Expert Committee on S&T and Innovation Policy.
Enterprise SaaS & Tech Operating experience across mobile commerce, AI/ML, computer vision, B2B analytics, and autonomous AI agents.
Startup Advisory Three exits as Fractional CXO (BigBasket, MyGate, lastminute.com). Fourth in progress. Advisor to Clootrack (150+ enterprise clients).
Corporate–Startup Partnerships Facilitated co-sell partnerships between enterprise SaaS startups and Fortune 500 corporations across India and the United States.
Stakeholder Management Operated across GoI ministries, state governments, Fortune 500 leadership, VCs, founders, Parliamentary committees, and media.
Innovation Programs Designed and led structured innovation programs spanning strategy, startup selection, program management, and results delivery.
Recognition
Expert Committee Member, STIP 2020 — Eight-member GoI panel for India's 5th Science, Technology and Innovation Policy.
IVLP Fellow (US Dept. of State) — Only Indian among eight global participants, Influential Voices program.
Rajeev Circle Fellow (Motwani Jadeja Foundation) — Silicon Valley immersion for emerging Indian startup leaders.
Columnist, Mathrubhumi — Regular column on entrepreneurship and the startup ecosystem.
Education
PGPM
Great Lakes Institute of Management
2009 · Dean's List
B.Tech
College of Engineering Trivandrum (CET)
2005
Interests
University basketball player. Current pursuits include badminton, board games, and getting things done with AI tools (Claude Code power user).