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IIT Kharagpur Foundation (USA) NEWSLETTER

Volume: 6.15.2024

Dear Reader,

Welcome to our latest newsletter, where we celebrate remarkable achievements by distinguished IIT Kharagpur alumni. This edition highlights the inspiring journey of Bipul Sinha, who rose from humble beginnings in Bihar to establish Rubrik, a cybersecurity unicorn recently listed on the NYSE. We also applaud Prof. Rintu Banerjee, who has made history as the first female Deputy Director of IIT Kharagpur. Join us in honoring these exemplary IITKGPians who continue to inspire and lead in their respective fields.

Invest in Education, Invest in the Future

From Bihar to California: IITKGPian Bipul Sinha’s American Dream

Born into poverty, Bipul Binit Sinha fought formidable odds to pass the admissions tests for IIT Kharagpur. The electrical engineering graduate from Bihar discerned that his salvation lay in pursuing the American Dream, and started Rubrik, a cybersecurity company in 2014. A decade later in April 2024, the Microsoft-backed unicorn was listed on the NYSE (Symbol: RBRK). Bipul (EE/1996/RP) was bestowed the IITKGP Distinguished Alumni Award in 2019 for his successes as an entrepreneur and venture capitalist. He also earned the MBA degree in Finance from the Wharton School where he was a Palmer Scholar. 

Prior to becoming the CEO, Chairman and Co-founder of Rubrik, Inc., Bipul was a Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners where he focused on software, mobile, and Internet sectors. His investments included Nutanix, Pulse News, Bromium, and PernixData. Before Lightspeed, Bipul worked at Blumberg Capital, where he was the founding investor/board member of Nutanix and Hootsuite. Bipul also held engineering positions at Oracle Corporation, American Megatrends and IBM. Bipul holds several patents in distributed computing.

Reflecting on his time at IIT Kharagpur, Bipul shared, "The world-class engineering education I received has been foundational to my success in technology. And, I’m fortunate to count many fellow IIT alumni as colleagues and business partners.”

For aspiring entrepreneurs, Sinha encourages them to ask themselves, “Am I doing everything possible to succeed?” He went on to share that “I repeat this advice all the time. If you don’t maximize every opportunity that comes your way, you could be leaving money on the table.”

Bipul ​​believes in “maximal thinking -  constantly imagining a limitless, extraordinary future, while accepting contradictions and maximizing present opportunities. By accepting contradictions, we accept reality — that is the starting point for progress.” Bipul has said that maximal thinking is how he lifted himself from poverty, built a life in America, and created Rubrik with his co-founders. “I am very lucky to have amazing parents who taught me to think this way,” he says. From a ramshackle one-room shanty in Bihar to building a tech unicorn which has debut on the NYSE, Sinha for sure is living his dream.

EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

IITKGPian Prof. Rintu Banerjee Appointed as the First Female Deputy Director for the First IIT of the Nation

Prof. Rintu Banerjee has been appointed the new Deputy Director of IIT Kharagpur, making her the first woman to hold this post at the first IIT in the country and the world. She earned the PhD in Microbial Biotechnology from the Chemical Engineering Department at IIT Kharagpur. Prof. Banerjee is the Founder Head and is presently the Chairperson of the P K Sinha Centre for Bioenergy and Renewables. She has also served as the Head of the Centre for Rural Development, Innovative and Sustainable Technology and Head of the Department of Agricultural & Food Engineering at IITKGP for 3 years. She has held many important portfolios at IITKGP including Chairperson of Centre of Excellence in Precision Agriculture & Food Nutrition; Nodal Coordinator for Australia and New Zealand for SPARC & Coordinator for RuTAG. From the beginning of her career she was engaged in industry-academy collaborative research activities. As an outcome of her research, she has transferred several technologies to different industries and has many national/international patents to her credit. Recently, she has successfully transferred her 1G & 2G Ethanol technology to the industry for commercialization.