# Upen Varanasi

> Upen Varanasi is the Houston-based co-founder and former CEO of Riversand, the enterprise data software company acquired by Syndigo in May 2021. His tenure included the shift toward a cloud-native platform and growth funding from Crestline Investors. He is now listed as Group Chairman at GrowthAXL and a board member at TADA, and joined Moonpreneur as an investor and advisor in 2021.

- **Role:** Group Chairman at GrowthAXL
- **Organizations:** Riversand Technologies (co-founder and former CEO), GrowthAXL (Group Chairman), TADA Cognitive Solutions (board of directors), Moonpreneur (announced as investor and advisor in January 2021)
- **Education:** B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, University of Missouri-Rolla (now Missouri University of Science and Technology)
- **Known for:** Co-founded Riversand in 2001 and led it as CEO through its acquisition by Syndigo in May 2021., Led Riversand during its transition to a cloud-native data platform., Riversand secured a $35 million Series A in 2017 and an additional $10 million from Crestline in 2019.

## Career timeline

- **2001** — Co-founded Riversand with Anil Kini.
- **2015-2016** — Riversand began developing the roadmap that became its MDM 2.0 and PIM 2.0 vision, according to Varanasi’s 2017 interview.
- **2017** — Riversand announced a $35 million Series A led by Crestline Investors on June 5.
- **2018** — Riversand announced its integrated data platform and new application suite in July.
- **2019** — Crestline provided a further $10 million investment in December.
- **2021** — Joined Moonpreneur as investor and advisor in January; Riversand announced Gartner MDM Leaders placement in February; Syndigo announced its acquisition on May 27.
- **2022** — TiE Silicon Valley advertised a My Story event with Varanasi for June 14.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Riversand in 2001 and led it as CEO through its acquisition by Syndigo in May 2021.
- Led Riversand during its transition to a cloud-native data platform.
- Riversand secured a $35 million Series A in 2017 and an additional $10 million from Crestline in 2019.
- Riversand was positioned as a Leader in Gartner’s January 2021 Magic Quadrant for Master Data Management Solutions.

## Latest updates

- **2024-12** — GrowthAXL’s Christmas 2024 post recorded Upen and Mythily joining its celebrations.
- **2022-06** — TiE Silicon Valley promoted a June 14 My Story event about his entrepreneurial journey.
- **2021-05** — Syndigo announced its acquisition of Riversand on May 27.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/upenvaranasi

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/upen-varanasi
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-26