# Suryanarayanan Paneerselvam

> Suryanarayanan Paneerselvam is the co-founder and CEO of Skill-Lync, an engineering education business based in Chennai. A mechanical engineering graduate of St Joseph’s College of Engineering with a master’s from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he worked at Cummins before returning to India to build a venture focused on practical engineering skills. Skill-Lync joined Y Combinator’s Winter 2019 batch and raised a $17.5 million Series A in 2021; its later expansion was followed by layoffs and student complaints in 2023.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Skill-Lync
- **Organizations:** Skill-Lync, Cummins Inc., University of Wisconsin-Madison, EdXengine
- **Education:** Undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering, St Joseph’s College of Engineering, Chennai, MS in Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- **Known for:** Co-founded Skill-Lync, an engineering education venture accepted into Y Combinator’s Winter 2019 batch., Co-led Skill-Lync through its $17.5 million Series A in 2021., Worked on crankcase ventilation and filtration development at Cummins.

## Career timeline

- **2012** — Was a teaching assistant at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; the founders’ early teaching idea developed during postgraduate study.
- **Before 2016** — Worked as a product engineer at Cummins on crankcase ventilation and filtration while teaching students after work.
- **2015** — Early teaching venture reached about 300 students at 12 institutions, according to retrospective interviews; operated under the EdXengine name.
- **2016** — Returned to India to focus on the education venture.
- **2018** — Formal launch of Skill-Lync with Sarangarajan V Iyengar.
- **2019** — Skill-Lync participated in Y Combinator’s Winter batch.
- **2021** — Skill-Lync announced a $17.5 million Series A led by Iron Pillar in August.
- **2022** — Skill-Lync announced its acquisition of Crio.Do in November.
- **2023** — Confirmed restructuring and layoffs; student complaints about employment promises and financing were reported.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Skill-Lync, an engineering education venture accepted into Y Combinator’s Winter 2019 batch.
- Co-led Skill-Lync through its $17.5 million Series A in 2021.
- Worked on crankcase ventilation and filtration development at Cummins.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — At the research date, Skill-Lync’s website promotes courses in engineering simulation, EVs, embedded systems and design, with projects and placement support. This is a company offering update.
- **2023-08** — Students publicly alleged unmet job and internship commitments and questioned loan application information. Paneerselvam responded that the lending agreement was between student and lender and Skill-Lync was not a party to it. Allegations are not presented as adjudicated findings.
- **2023-07** — Confirmed another round of workforce reductions, described as a measure to streamline operations and limit future content and production investment.

## Links

- Website: https://skill-lync.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suryanarayanan-paneerselvam-05b65732/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/suryanarayanan-paneerselvam
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-22