"Digital maps are scarce assets and Mr. Verma has developed one of these assets for a country that has the second biggest population in the world.” – www.GPSBusinessNews.com

Rakesh Verma

Rakesh is the Managing Director and Co-Founder of CE Info Systems. In 1994, Rakesh pioneered the digital maps and GIS (geographic information systems) industry in India by setting out on the unprecedented task of digitally mapping out the entire country. And since 2004, he has revolutionized the consumer navigation market in India by releasing products and services under the brand of MapmyIndia, starting with the internet portal MapmyIndia.com, and most recently launching in-car and mobile phone GPS navigation.

In 1990, Rakesh relinquished a successful 12-year career in the US to come back to India, unheard of then at the height of the brain drain, and set up his own shop with his wife, Rashmi from scratch. A chance meeting with a US software company in 1993 exposed Rakesh to the world of GIS (geographic information systems) and digital maps, at a time when no digital maps were available in India. Rakesh was able to envision that maps would empower enterprises with improved decision making, saving them substantial time and money, and would empower consumers with the ability to navigate – find where a place is, what is around that place, and how to reach there. Armed with this conviction in the benefit of maps, Rakesh took up the unprecedented challenge of digitally mapping out all of India and due to his efforts he has been recently declared as 'World's GPS Businessman of Year 2007'  by GPSBusinessNews, a leading GPS publication. MapmyIndia was the only Indian company nominated among ten world leaders like Nokia, TomTom, SiRF, Tele Atlas.

Today, his organization stands as the true leader in the mapping and navigation space, possessing the most comprehensive, accurate and unparalleled repository of digital map data for India. And his vision of enterprises and consumers benefitting from his maps have come true as well – with over 500 leading enterprises to name as customers, and millions of consumers benefitting from MapmyIndia navigation products – be it over the internet, on the mobile, or in-car. Rakesh’s entrepreneurial success can be measured by 2 major milestones: the first was to successfully map out all of India, an unprecedented and still unparalleled feat, and the second was to defy conventional wisdom and move his organization up the value chain from creating digital maps to offering navigation products and services directly to consumers.

Rakesh obtained a Bachelors of Engineering (Mechanical) from BITS Pilani, India in 1972, and an MBA from Washington State, USA in 1979. He has over 35 years of wide operations and management experience in industry, 12 of which have been spent with leading companies such as General Motors.

Rakesh and his wife Rashmi have two children, Rakhi and Rohan. Rakesh loves spending time with people close to him, be it family or friends. But these days Rakesh is nowhere to be found! He is busy with the latest entrants to his family, Rakhi’s beautiful young toddlers - Veer and Lyla, and his enthusiastic and loyal pet golden retriever, Oscar.