Google India and South East Asia head Rajan Anandan has quit the company after eight years. Anandan was instrumental in expanding Google's presence in the region, with the tech giant commanding an unassailable lead in Android and Search.
Google's Asia Pacific president Scott Beaumont will take over the role going forward, with current country director Vikas Agnihotri filling in as interim chief. From Google India:
We are grateful to Rajan for his huge contribution to Google over the past 8 years. His entrepreneurial zeal & leadership has helped grow the overall internet ecosystem in India & SE Asia. We wish him all the best in his new adventures.
Anandan held leadership roles in McKinsey & Company, Dell, and Microsoft prior to joining Google. Anandan was the country manager for Dell India back from 2006 to 2008, where he was able to grow Dell's business from $250 million to $800 million. He moved to Microsoft for a two-year stint where he served as managing director, overseeing Microsoft's software and services business in the country.
Anandan was also a prolific angel investor during his time at Google, and he'll be taking on a more active role in funding tech startups in India and SE Asia going forward as managing director for Sequoia India (opens in new tab):
We are thrilled to welcome Rajan Anandan to Sequoia Capital India as a Managing Director. He will join the leadership team at the firm, in addition to the six current Managing Directors, where he will focus on developing Surge into the world's top scale-up program for startups by acting as an investment advisor and mentor to the program's founders.
There are few people that understand the startup ecosystem in this region like Anandan, and we wish him the best in his future endeavors.
Harish Jonnalagadda is a Senior Editor overseeing Asia at Android Central. He leads the site's coverage of Chinese phone brands, contributing to reviews, features, and buying guides. He also writes about storage servers, audio products, and the semiconductor industry. Contact him on Twitter at @chunkynerd.
