Rajan Anandan quits Google India to focus full-time on investing in young technology startups

Rajan Anandan is leaving Google India. Anandan, who has been the face of Google in India spearheading the global search engine giant’s highly ambitious project of connecting the next billion users, resigned from his post of vice president and managing director on Tuesday. Anandan will continue to be in Google till the end of this month - with country director for sales, Vikas Agnihotri, taking on the responsibility in the interim thereafter. 

Anandan has been working with Google for the past eight years and is now moving on to focus full-time on investing in young technology startups as managing director, Sequoia Capital India. 

"I’ve always believed that to grow as an individual and a business leader, one needs to challenge themselves in new ways. There are two things that excite me more than anything else: the power of technology, and the power of ambitious entrepreneurs, to solve for humanity’s big problems. Google has given me the opportunity to be at the centre of both of these. In this next phase of my life I want to focus full-time on the latter - investing in promising early-stage technology startups across India and Southeast Asia," Anandan said in a letter addressed to employees. 

Rajan Anandan holds a Master’s degree in Manufacturing Systems Engineering from the Stanford University – Anandan also holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior to joining Google in 2011, Anandan served as managing director of Microsoft India from September 2008 to August 2010. He was also appointed as the chairman of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) in 2017. 

"We are grateful to Rajan for his huge contribution to Google over the past eight years. His entrepreneurial zeal and leadership has helped grow the overall internet ecosystem in India and Southeast Asia, and we wish him all the best in his new adventures,” Scott Beaumont, president, Google Asia Pacific said in a statement. 

Also Read:  Google Is Celebrating 30 Years Of The World Wide Web And The Doodle Will Set You On A Nostalgia Overdrive

Also Read:  ‘Inbox By Gmail’ Is Officially Shutting Down Today But Here's How To Continue Using It