IITian left India with $8, built $75 billion business empire: How Kanwal Rekhi went from 3 layoffs to…

The latest market report highlights that Kanwal Rekhi left India in 1967 with an engineering degree from IIT Bombay and just $8 in his pocket. Almost six decades later, his career spans entrepreneurship, venture capital and mentoring, with his journey taking him from early professional setbacks to becoming the founder of a networking technology firm that went public in the US.

But his story is not only around building a career in Silicon Valley. After establishing himself in the US, he turned his attention back to India, contributing capital, experience and entrepreneurial networks to the ecosystem that had shaped him.

Rekhi graduated from IIT Bombay with a B.Tech in Electrical Engineering in 1967 and went on to pursue an MS in Electrical Engineering from Michigan Technological University, which he completed in 1969.

In 1982, Rekhi founded Excelan, a network technology firm that developed networking products during the early years of the industry. According to IIT Bombay, Excelan went public in 1987 and merged with Novell in 1989. Rekhi subsequently joined Novell's board and became its executive vice-president and chief technology officer.

Rekhi describes the transformation on his LinkedIn profile: “I went from being laid off from my first 3 jobs to the first Indian-American founder to take a VC-backed firm public.”

That transition from employee to founder became the defining first chapter of his entrepreneurial career.

The scale of Rekhi's career subsequently expanded beyond Excelan, into investing, mentoring and backing technology firms.

Earlier this year, Financial Express, citing an interview with Rekhi, noted that businesses associated with his entrepreneurial and investment journey are now worth more than $75 billion. The report additionally described him as an investor with $9.9 billion in assets.

His track record includes firms such as Exodus Communications and Poshmark, which went public, as well as redBus, Sierra Atlantic and NetMagic, which were acquired, according to Rekhi's LinkedIn profile.

His focus eventually shifted from building a technology firm himself to helping other founders do the same.

That shift additionally brought Rekhi closer to India.

In 1993, Rekhi returned to Mumbai for the first time since graduating from IIT Bombay. During the visit, he went back to the Powai campus and was struck by the deterioration of infrastructure compared with what he remembered as a student. IIT Bombay records that the visit became an important point in his decision to backing his alma mater.

Rekhi became a major donor to IIT Bombay and an active participant in the IIT Bombay Heritage Fund in the US. He additionally founded the Kanwal Rekhi School of Information Technology at the institute.

His contribution was not limited to financial backing. Rekhi became closely associated with promoting entrepreneurship and helped build links between India's emerging startup ecosystem and entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley.

He was additionally a co-founder of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE). Under his leadership, the organisation expanded its presence, including in Indian cities such as Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi.

Rekhi's second career increasingly centred on backing founders. He later became co-founder and managing director of Inventus Capital Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm.

On his LinkedIn profile, Rekhi says he has mentored more than 10,000 entrepreneurs and invested in more than 200 early-stage teams.

His approach to investing is rooted in the founder rather than simply the idea.

"You cannot bet on technology and you cannot bet on market, but you can bet on a person," he stated in an interview.

That belief additionally reflects his own experience. Rekhi's career moved through several stages from engineer, employee, entrepreneur, public-firm executive, investor and mentor.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Rekhi additionally spoke around overcoming the speech impediment that had affected him since childhood and eventually becoming a public speaker.

He has additionally spoken around the importance of aiming beyond what appears immediately achievable. "Aim for the stars. Shoot elevated than you think you can," he stated.

For Rekhi, the journey that began with an IIT Bombay degree and $8 in 1967 ultimately moved beyond personal success in America. His later work in India has focused on creating opportunities for entrepreneurs, supporting his alma mater and connecting Indian founders with the broader global technology ecosystem.