Subodh Narain Agrawal is a thought-provoking visionary serial entrepreneur who has made relentless pursuits across multiple business domains in the last 40 years. Although he could easily make a footprint through his ongoing family business, he endeavored to make his path by tapping into unexplored domains.
As an entrepreneur mind, Subodh has always been an inquisitive mind - he has always tried to find the challenges that can bring a much greater solution for the world and to choose a new path to create his own signature & societal impact.
Global warming, a crucial concern for humanity, has also been a focus for Subodh for a long. He always believed that it is our duty to improve the planet for the benefit of the next generation. In 1995, Subodh pioneered Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) in India, which could decrease CO2 emissions by 40% and lead to a direct environmental impact.
Soon after his LNG pursuit, he entered other domains like cross-border trading, mining, etc., eventually developing an interest in Investment Banking. In 2002, Subodh moved to the United Kingdom, founded Euromax Capital, an investment banking firm, and acted as its Executive Chairman. With his leadership, passion, pathbreaking thinking approach & persuasion to get undone done, in a very short stint, Euromax Capital participated in Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions for companies in the telecom, steel, oil, gas, and mining sectors with a maximum valuation exceeding $30 billion. Subodh’s unparalleled leadership took Euromax to new heights - it became one of the most trusted niche investment banking firms with an unmatched success rate of deal closing. Subodh is an expert in deal advisory on mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, debt capital raising, recapitalization, and leveraged buyout transactions through his venture.
Subodh Agrawal’s relentless attitude & passion towards work has been a constant driving force for not settling into one comfort zone & taking up new challenges. In 2016, Subodh co-founded Sunways Global Group, which developed the concept of distributed and decentralized renewable energy for emerging markets. Sunways currently has a pipeline of 1000 MW projects, with a concentration on the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and India.
Subodh also pursued varied business experience across Asia, Africa, Europe, the US & the Far East in Emerging Technologies, Commodities Trading, Natural Resources, Solar Energy, IT, and other domains. According to Subodh, his life has been paved by seven mantras, namely, self-belief, curiosity, a risk-taking mindset, the capacity to turn obstacles into opportunities, perseverance, willpower, and luck. To him, an entrepreneur's success is linked to these aspects.
In an interview with us, he also stated that developing solid relationships is the foundation of every business endeavor.
Subodh’s never-ending curiosity & dynamic mind, has resulted in the formation of his latest venture - Biocube, which is a globally unique artificial intelligence-powered biometric identity & analytics platform. While going through the visa application process for international travel, he found the process a lot of hassle - where applicants are required to go to physical visa centers, submit paper documents & biometrics & lots of logistical activities with high visa processing fees. Subodh started thinking about bringing a unique solution to solve this. During almost the same time, Subodh became a victim of identity theft and incurred a major financial loss in his multiple bank accounts.
Mr. Agrawal realized that solving identity fraud & hacking is a critical need in today’s digital world. But there is no comprehensive solution where people can prove their identity accurately while maintaining convenience. To overcome both issues, Mr. Agrawal devised a solution for revamping digital identity using multifactor contactless biometrics. In 2017, he founded Biocube, and worked relentlessly to create this next-gen biometric identity solution ahead of any other competing product in the market.
Over the last couple of years, Biocube has had a robust & unparalleled biometric authentication platform with multifactor, multimodal, contactless functionalities, integrable with any modern-day edge devices, and lots of data analytics capabilities. Biocube offers various industry focussed products and services that focus on fraud proofing, user convenience & data security. Subodh’s unique invention, Biocube, has also been granted a patent in the USA.
Subodh, though coming from a business family, started his own unexplored journey in entrepreneurship. Subodh has also made major contributions by participating in various notable forums, pursuing partnerships, and taking advisory roles in eminent organizations/committees. He played an instrumental role in developing a strategic partnership with the China Centre for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE). He has been a part of many public and private advisory boards of companies in infrastructure, IT, fashion, media & entertainment, and other sectors.
Mr. Agrawal is also a goodwill ambassador and spokesperson for the Secretary General of IIMSAM, an autonomous IGO to the United Nations that manages multilateral diplomatic arrangements between several sovereign states. He supported the IIMSAM and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals by applying his vast knowledge & experience in international business.
He was a board member of the ‘Rajasthan Foundation’ and ‘India-Japan Global Partnership’ (IJGP), ‘Indo-European Business forum’. He has also been a patron of the ‘Loomba Foundation’ and a trustee of Pratham UK. The Pratham UK is a premier charity literacy movement focused on educating 100 million children. On the other hand, the Loomba Foundation takes care of children and women.
Mr. Agrawal believes in cross-border relationships and became a special advisor to the ‘Olusegun Obasanjo foundation, which caters to human security advancements across Africa.
Achievements of Subodh Narain Agrawal
In 2016, Subodh was conferred the ‘Leader of the decade’ award at the Women Economic Forum for creating bonds beyond boundaries. A year later, in 2017, he was recognized for his business excellence & acumen and awarded the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year award at the Asian Business Awards. In 2018, he was honored with the ‘Global Indian Icon award.
His latest achievement includes the 'Pride of India – Innovation & Sustainability' Society Achievers Award 2022 from the Honorable Chief Minister Shri Eknath Shinde and the Deputy Chief Minister Shri Devendra Fadnavis of Maharashtra, India. The award recognized his outstanding contribution to innovative technology through his two ventures, Biocube & Sunways Global Group, and driving Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India.
Subodh recently spoke about the need for “Industrial Collaboration in the Digital Decade” at the 46th Joint Meeting of the India-Japan Business Cooperation Committee held at FICCI, New Delhi, which was attended by H.E. Hiroshi Suzuki, Ambassador of Japan to India, Mr. Tatsuo Yasunaga, Chairman of JIBCC, and other notable dignitaries.
Subodh’s undauntable motivation & enthusiasm to see dreams every day and to pursue those dreams into reality with unequaled willpower set him apart and created him a role model for today’s young generation.
OpinionExpress.In
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