# Krishna Kumar

> Krishna Kumar is the founder and CEO of Simplilearn, the professional-skills company that grew from his project-management blog. An electronics and communication engineering graduate of NIT Surathkal, he began at Infosys, co-founded the banking-software business TechUnified, and sold it before starting his second venture. Simplilearn survived a 2015 retreat from physical classrooms, later expanded through university and industry partnerships, and is now concentrating heavily on applied AI and digital skills.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at Simplilearn
- **Organizations:** Simplilearn, TechUnified, Infosys
- **Nationality:** Indian
- **Education:** B.E. in Electronics and Communication Engineering, National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal
- **Known for:** Built Simplilearn from a project-management blog into a global professional-skills company., Co-founded and served as COO of TechUnified before its 2007 acquisition by ORG Informatics., Named to Fortune India's 40 Under 40 selections in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

## Career timeline

- **1999** — Graduated from NIT Surathkal and joined Infosys as a software engineer.
- **2000** — Left Infosys and co-founded TechUnified, serving as chief operating officer.
- **2007** — TechUnified was acquired by the publicly listed ORG Informatics.
- **2009-2010** — Started a project-management blog that developed into Simplilearn's professional certification business.
- **2015** — Closed classroom programs across 100 cities, losing 75% of revenue while refocusing the company on online classes; the business reached break-even in the same fiscal year.
- **2015-2017** — Appeared in Fortune India's 40 Under 40 selections three years in succession.
- **2020** — Simplilearn launched SkillUp, a free learning platform.
- **2021** — Blackstone agreed to acquire a controlling stake in Simplilearn.
- **2022** — Simplilearn announced a $45 million funding round led by GSV Ventures and acquired Fullstack Academy.
- **2024-2026** — Continued shifting Simplilearn's course portfolio and public commentary toward applied AI, generative AI and workforce reskilling.

## Achievements

- Built Simplilearn from a project-management blog into a global professional-skills company.
- Co-founded and served as COO of TechUnified before its 2007 acquisition by ORG Informatics.
- Named to Fortune India's 40 Under 40 selections in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
- Received the Economic Times 40 Under 40 Business Leaders recognition in 2017.
- Led Simplilearn through a 2015 online-first restructuring and a return to break-even in the same fiscal year.
- Secured a controlling investment from Blackstone in 2021 and a $45 million round led by GSV Ventures in 2022.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — Highlighted Simplilearn's partnership with Karmayogi Bharat to support AI and digital-skills learning for India's government workforce.
- **2026-07** — Said Simplilearn served more than 15 million learners across 50 countries and that AI-related courses generated 65% of revenue.
- **2025-05** — Commented on Simplilearn's professional sentiment survey, emphasizing continued demand for AI, data science and machine-learning skills.
- **2024-11** — Simplilearn reported ₹773 crore in FY24 revenue after closing its fresher-upskilling and study-abroad units and reducing EBITDA losses by 75%.

## Links

- Website: https://www.simplilearn.com/authors/krishna-kumar
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tukrishna

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/krishna-kumar
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-26