Mr Rakesh Verma, Co-Founder & CMD, MapmyIndia will be the Chief Guest at the Convocation Ceremony.

Profile of Mr Rakesh Verma

Mr Rakesh Verma is a first-generation entrepreneur, innovator, visionary and philanthropist, who co-founded MapmyIndia in 1995 with the vision that “more than 80% all data will have a location component to it”. To realize this vision, he set to work to map out India in all her vastness and variety, in fine details. Building a team of dedicated professionals, he went on to create India’s first and most comprehensive digital map product and platform, indigenously developed to serve the infinite use cases of companies and consumers across India. This also led to MapmyIndia winning the Aatmanirbhar App Innovation Challenge of 2020, and being honoured by Hon’ble Prime Minister Modi in his Mann Ki Baat Address. Mr. Verma holds experience of over 50 years both in business and technical, out of which 28 years has been in the Geo-Spatial Industry in India and 12 years in the U.S.A. Mr Verma holds a Bachelors of Engineering from BITS Pilani, India, and an MBA from Eastern Washington University, USA.

Mr Verma’s business philosophy of innovation and profitability has guided MapmyIndia to become India’s most successful technology company in the geospatial industry. MapmyIndia was recognized as a ‘Unicorn’ in 2021, post-company’s blockbuster IPO that was oversubscribed by more than 154 times, and the company’s market capitalization has since more than doubled, with its current market capitalization at USD 1.4 Bn.

Mr. Rakesh Verma has played a key role in working closely with the Government of India in its policy-making for the Geospatial Industry. As part of this, he has been a member of the Government of India’s Planning Commission’s National GIS Committee. He has also served as a member of the Department of Science and Technology’s Legal-sub Committee for the National Geospatial Policy. He has served as Chair of the FICCI Committee on Geospatial Technologies for 3 years and currently as the Mentor for the FICCI Committee on Geospatial Technologies. He is also a member of the General Body of BITS Pilani.

In 2023, BITS Pilani, his Alma Mater and an Institute of eminence conferred on him the BITS Pilani RATNA AWARD - 2023 with the citation of “India’s original Digital Map Maker”. Mr Verma was also recently featured on the “Naya Bharat Sunehra Amrit Kaal Show” on Zee TV, wherein he candidly discussed the journey of his life – from founding MapmyIndia to its successful IPO. It was truly a feature worth watching!

His key achievements in academia, industry, and Government can be summarized below:

1. Currently serving on the General Body of BITS Pilani University.
2. Conferred with the prestigious BITS Ratna Award in 2023, with the citation of "India’s original Digital Map Maker."
3. Awarded the BITS Pilani Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2020.
4. Honored by his Alma Mater, featuring in the top 50 BITsian achievers in the last 50 years in 2015.