Management Team

Lokesh V, Managing Director, brings 17 years of professional experience in intellectual property management, innovation and new product development. Prior to Innomantra, he managed innovation and intellectual property activities at Larsen & Toubro.  He began his career with the Medical Equipment and Systems Group at L&T where he spent 12 years in mechanical design and development. Lokesh, a Mechanical Engineer, has an MBA from Symbiosis, Pune and PG Diploma in IP Law Rights from National Law School of India University (NLSIU).

Deepu Chandran,Director, brings experience in business strategy, marketing and new product management. Prior to Innomantra, he was working with the Indian multinational firm, the Adani Group. He has worked on  strategic consulting assignments along with several leading consulting firms including PRTM and Arthur D. Little. He began his career at Larsen & Toubro, where he worked in the areas of strategic planning and new product management. He has handled various projects and devised strategies for diversification, new product development and supply chain efficiency. Deepu is an MBA (PGDM) from Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB) and a Bachelor of Technology in Electronics and Communication Engineering from National Institute of Technology, Calicut.

Rakesh Babu K L, Director, brings experience in innovation, marketing and entrepreneurship. Prior to innomantra, he managed a consumer packaged goods business. and served as the director of  Marquess Financial Services. Rakesh heads the training division of Innomantra and specializes in training corporate executives in the areas of innovation tools, collaborative innovation and innovation leadership. He has a degree in Computer Science from Mysore University and Post Graduate Diplomas in Marketing Management and in Advertising. 

Tojin Eapen, Director, brings experience in technology innovation, new product management and marketing. Prior to joining Innomantra, he was General Manager at a technology company which provided Auto-ID products and solutions for a range of industries. He began his career at Larsen & Toubro where he worked in product development and marketing. Tojin has an MBA (PGPM) from the Indian School of Business (ISB) and a degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from National Institute of Technology, Calicut.

Dr Shantha Shankar, Head - Research,  brings experience in patent analytics, patent research and strategic IP management. Previously she worked at the General Electric Global Research Organization where she enabled strategic IP creation in the domains of Nanotechnology, Advanced Materials and Energy. Prior to that, she was the Principal Investigator for governement funded Nanotechnology projects at the Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Dr Shantha Shankar has a PhD from the Indian Institute of Science.

Sanjay Nagarajan, Sr. Manager - Systematic & Collaborative Innovation, brings experience in innovation management and market research. Prior to joining Innomantra, he was engaged with a startup in the innovation management field. He has worked in Europe and was associated with CEMEX Global Center for Technology and Innovation in Switzerland where he was responsible for a project on Open Innovation strategy. He started his career with Tata Elxsi Ltd. He has a rich educational background with an MS in Management of Technology and Entrepreneurship, from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne (EPFL), an MS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California, United States, and a BE in Electronics & Communication from Visveswariah Technological University, India.

Prabu Kesavan, Associate, brings experience in the fields of Accountancy, Audit & Taxation and Valuation. He is also a qualified Information Systems Auditor. He is in the panel of audit of many companies in India like Insurance, Banks, Textile Corporations, Industries and other Business entities. He has travelled widely. He has also got hands on experience in working on accounting projects in US and Dubai. He is well versed in Accounting Standards both Indian and International. He has also worked with Bennet & Coleman, India's largest media company. He is also Director of operations at K7 associates. Prabhu is a Chartered Accountant, and has a degree in Commerce.

Advisory Board - Innovation Management 

Waltraut Ritter, Sr. Adviser - Innovation, is research director of Knowledge Enterprises, which she founded in Hong Kong in 1997, specializing in research and advisory services relating to innovation, knowledge, intellectual capital. Her special interest is the development of R&D and Innovation clusters in the Asia Pacific region, and assessment of emerging center of excellence in India and China. She holds teaching and research assignments at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Singapore Management University (SMU), and advises universities across Asia on curriculum development in the field of knowledge management. She holds an M.A. in information science and sociology from the Free University of Berlin (Germany), and an M.B.A. from Anglia University,Cambridge,UK.

Dr Pradeep V Desai, Sr. Adviser - Innovation, has over two decades of experience in managing innovation, research and development in the business of Information Technology. He has worked in number of reputed Information Technology Companies. He is the founder of Innovation for Value Creation (I4VC) an innovation intermediary. Dr. Pradeep specializes in setting up Global R&D and Innovation Centers. He provides thought leadership and pursues strategic engagements with the senior executives on Innovation in Business and Technology for Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India. Prior to joining TCS he worked for Royal Philips Electronics as Director for Philips Research and subsequently Director for Technology and Innovation Management. He started Philips Research and Technology and Innovation Management for Philips in India. He has a Doctorate in Computer Science and a MBA with specialization in Information Technology. He did his Post-Doctoral at University of Dauphine, France,in the area of Symbolic Data Analysis.

Advisory Board - Intellectual Property

T C James, Sr. Adviser - Intellectual Property, is currently Director of National Intellectual Property Organization (NIPO). He is a former Director, Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) Division,Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, India. He has handled law and policy relating to patents, geographical indications of goods, designs, and trademarks and matters connected with WIPO, besides general policy and strategies in the area of IPRs, in addition to the administrative matters of the intellectual property offices (IPOs) of India. Earlier he had worked in the Copyright Office of India and in the Copyright Division of the Ministry of Human Resource Development. He has also published papers and articles on intellectual property and education in various journals.

Dr.Shashidhara, Sr. Adviser - Intellectual Property,  has been working in the area of Technology Innovation and Intellectual Property Generation for more than 8 years. He also served as technologist at Philips Innovation Labs, Bangalore in its Intellectual Property and Standards for more than 5 years.  He is being serving as an IP consultant for L&T and many other technology firms and Key resource person as researcher and coordinator at IPR Cell at PES Institute of Technology.  He had led several conferences and seminars in India and abroad on Innovation and IPR.  He has a degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Bangalore University, Post Graduation Degree from Mysore University in Industrial Electronics and PhD from IIT Bombay. He also obtained his Post Graduation Diploma in Intellectual Property Rights Law from Denn Hague.

Rakesh Prabhu, Sr. Adviser - Intellectual Property, is an Intellectual Property (IP) Counsel and a Registered Patent Agent. Rakesh heads the IP group at the law firm ALMT Legal and functions out of their Bangalore office. His areas of expertise include Patent laws, cyber laws, licensing and negotiation, IP enforcement and IP litigation. Rakesh also advises on various other aspects of IPR including copyrights, design registrations, trademarks and protection of trade secrets in India. Rakesh has authored several articles and papers on IPR, which are published in periodicals and journals of CII. He has also been invited as a panelist by various forums to share his views on the subject. Rakesh is graduated in law from University Law College, Bangalore.

Dr N. Subramanya, Sr. Adviser, brings experience in IP Contracts and enforcement laws.  has After PhD he did research under UNHCR Chair on refugee law at National Law School, Bangalore and subsequently taught at JSS Law college. He has two published books and many journal articles to his credit in his areas of interest viz; refugee studies and human rights. He has presented many papers at conferences in India and Europe. He has served as the Head of Mysore zone of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). He has a been working on IP contracts, Intellectual property and related fields. He has B.Sc, LLB degrees and a PhD in Political Science from Mysore University.

Advisory Board - New Product Development

Kunal Katdare, Sr. Adviser - New Product Development, is currently part of the Management Team at Stellaris Technologies Private Limited. Kunal has successfully led several projects for customers from different parts of the world - USA, Australia, China, Hong Kong and India. As a provider of software services in the niche area of Document Capture solutions, Kunal and his team continually innovate on their operations. Earlier, as Project Lead at Larsen & Toubro's Medical Equipment & Systems unit, Kunal led the development of a new series of products. His role covered all steps of the product development cycle. He helped establish new processes to rationalize the Accelerated design process. Kunal has an M.S. degree from the University of Minnesota and a B.E. degree from the University of Mumbai.