Rajesh Rao
Education
Karnatak University
B.E., Comp Sc. 1989-01-01 - 1994-01-01
St. Aloysius School and College, Mangalore
high school, 1976-01-01 - 1988-01-01Work Experience
St Joseph's University
Current
St Joseph's University
My family and me time!!
Current
My family and me time!!
India Game Developer Conference
2008-10-01 - 2023-11-01
India Game Developer Conference
Dhruva Interactive
1997-03-01 - 2019-05-01
Dhruva Interactive
Nasscom Gaming Forum
2008-01-01 - 2018-10-01
Nasscom Gaming Forum
FICCI Media and Entertainment Committee
2010-05-01 - 2016-11-01
FICCI Media and Entertainment Committee
GameTantra Incubator
2014-01-01 - 2016-10-01
GameTantra Incubator
Expert Committee on Anim, Games & VFX, Min. of I&B, Govt of India
2010-12-01 - 2011-12-01
Expert Committee on Anim, Games & VFX, Min. of I&B, Govt of India
Srishti Interactive
1995-03-01 - 1997-03-01
Srishti Interactive
Skills
Summary
Rajesh founded India's first games company, Dhruva Interactive, in 1997 and is acknowledged as a pioneer of the Games Industry in India. Over 22 years, Rajesh built Dhruva to become a leading provider of external development services to the global games industry, with an impeccable reputation for high quality and reliability. Tom Friedman in his bestselling book " The World is Flat" has described Rajesh as one of the most dynamic entrepreneurs he met in India, and has written about how Rajesh started from scratch and successfully 'plugged' into the global games industry, despite India having no background in games. In 2017, Dhruva was acquired by Starbreeze Studios, a Stockholm NASDAQ listed games company. In May 2019, Dhruva was acquired by Rockstar Games, makers of Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, a validation of the quality and expertise of team Dhruva. Rajesh is active in promoting and growing the gaming industry in India, by working closely with the startups, trade bodies, educational institutes and government. He was Chair, NASSCOM Gaming Forum for 11 years during which time the industry came together to start a number of initiatives to promote game development in India, notable among them was the annual game developer conference, NGDC, which is now re-branded as IGDC (www.indiagdc.com). He is now taking a well deserved break until the next adventure!
