akraya value proposition- success factors

August 2009, IEEW’s Peace Through Business Program, Joy Kabera from

Rwanda visits Akraya

May, 2009 Akraya brings together job seekers and managers at the

Pay It Forward Networking Event

Akraya named 24th Fastest-Growing Private Company in Silicon Valley!

A Story of Success

May, 2009 Akraya becomes a returning Gold Sponsor of the Race for Literacy

May 2009, Akraya President and CEO both make the

40 under 40 List!

August 2009, Akraya CEO, Amar Panchal named one of the

10 Most Intriguing People in Staffing!

November, 2009 Akraya named Women-Owned Business of the Year In Silicon Valley by Women’s Initiative

March, 2009 Akraya Presi-dent, Sonu Ratra wins the prestigious Enterprising

Women of the Year Award!

November, 2009 We are one of the Top 10 Places to Work

for in the Staffing Industry!

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AKRAYA VALUE PROPOSITION

Presented to

SUCCESS FACTORS, INC.

SuccessFactors: SuccessFactorsone is one of the fastest growing public software companies in the world providing state-of-the-art Business Execution Software solutions that help organizations of every size and category realize maximal business results. SuccessFactors serves 3,000+ customers with over 8 million+ users in 185 countries and 32 languages. Akraya: Akraya is a multiple award-winning leading provider of Information Technology, Engineering, Creative and Marketing talent. Akraya has been serving leading Technology Enterprises for the last 7 years thus gaining an in-depth understanding of the specific IT needs of the nation’s leading IT providers. Working with Akraya consultants has helped clients:

- Increase revenue

- Shorten product launch time

- Decrease costs

- Streamline processes

Industry Awards/Recent Achievements 2010- Finalist for National Stevie Award 2010- #10 Best Place to Work in the Bay Area- San Francisco Business Times 2010- #35 Fastest-Growing Women-led Business- Wall Street Journal 2010 – NCMSDC Supplier of the Year Award 2010 – 50 Fastest-Growing Women-Owned Business in US 2010 - Finalist - 50 Best Places to Work For – Small/Medium Businesses in US 2009 - 24th Fastest-growing Privately-owned Business in Silicon Valley 2009- Best of Business Award- Small Business Association 2009 - Winner of 40 under 40 in Silicon Valley Business Journal 2009 - # 6 on Best Places to Work For by SI Analysts 2009 - 26th Fastest Growing Staffing Firm in US 2009 – Inc 5000 Honoree 2009 - Winner of 2009 Enterprising Woman of the Year Award 2008 - Pro Unlimited Supplier Excellence Award at Genentech 2009 - Winner of 10 Most Intriguing People in Staffing 2007 - Ranked in top 3 Suppliers at eBay 2006 - Cisco Growing With Technology Award

- Improve operational efficiency

- Increase market share

- Decrease employee turnover

- Raise client retention levels

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Certifications Certified WMBE (WBENC) Certified MBE (NMSDC) Certified Green Business Clients: Akraya is a preferred partner to several Fortune 500 companies and is well-versed in supporting Enterprise clients. Our Clients Include:

Services Provided Project Management Office Staff Augmentation Fixed Cost Project Services IT Staffing Key Technical Skills Focus IT/ Engineering: Functional – Project/Program Managers, Business Analysts, Systems Analysts, Engineers Architects, Technical Writer, Trainer Tools – Siebel, SAP, Peoplesoft, Oracle, JD Edwards Databases – Data Warehouse, Database Administration, Database Architecture Infrastructure – Sys Admin, Network Admin, SAN Admin, Network Tester Application development – C++, Java, J2EE, PHP, Ajax, Flash, Flex, .Net Creative/Marketing: Creative/Interactive – Web Designers, User Experience Designers, Information Architects, Project Managers, User Interface Designers, Visual Designers, Web Analytics, User Research, SEO Creative/Graphic Design – Graphic Design, Copywriting, Content Development, Print Production, Traffic Management, Creative Direction Marketing – Product Management, Marketing Project Management, Channel Marketing, Program Management, Event Management, Account Management, Brand Management Why Akraya? Engineers Recruiting Engineers: Our unique approach to recruiting gives us a distinct edge over competitors. Akraya has reverse engineered our recruiting team. We hire engineers and IT professionals, who have graduated from top schools and have experience in environments like our clients, and then we train them on the art and science of recruiting. With this model our recruiters are better able to understand the needs of our clients and the skills of our applicants. Akraya is not a reactive staffing partner; we build strategic relationships with our clients through superior account management and customer service. Local Presence: Akraya’s headquarters are located in the heart of the Silicon Valley. Our local presence enables us to participate in onsite meetings, better understand the client’s culture and requirements, and provide superior customer

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service. Akraya is Onsite at Cisco, Ebay, Paypal and we have built close business relationships with our business partners enabling them to put a face to our services. Large Network of Candidates: The best candidates are not looking for positions on job boards - they work through their network! Throughout the years, we have immersed ourselves in the IT job market to cultivate a large pool of best-of-breed functional and technical talent, which we’re constantly expanding through our grassroots relationship building, industry partnerships & attendance at local and national networking events. We are armed with a large network of passive candidates and “in demand” talent who use their personal networks to find gratifying careers. Measurable Cost Advantages: At several clients, we compete (and win) against some of the large Systems Integrators like Accenture, Deloitte and PWC. In fact, these SIS use our candidates for their engagements. Hence, clients can avail of the same quality of candidates at significantly lower rates. Akraya Key Contacts Rishabh Dwivedi [email protected] 408.907.3212 Client Testimonials

“Akraya has played a key role in PrO Unlimited’s onsite program at Genentech. We want to take this opportunity to recognize the high standard of excellence in everything you do for our client.”- Genentech “Alan mentioned that you were looking for qualified contractors (developers) in the Mobile Banking team. I am copying a vendor group (Akraya) that we worked with recently and we were definitely impressed with the quality of contractors provided by them. Myself, Alan and Tony all have contractors from this group working as developers, analysts and project managers in APS. Something for you to consider:)” - Wells Fargo "Of all the firms you recommended to me for the JAVA contractors I need, Akraya was the most reactive and responsive, and as a result they now will have 2 contractors working for us. A third one may also be in the picture this PM. In a market place where we all need talent ASAP- it's good to know that there are companies out there that are willing to bend over backwards to get the job done. AKRAYA is one of those firms" - Comcast “I wanted to bring to your attention that Akraya consultant, Praveen has been recognized for doing a very good job. In particular, he worked closely with Colleen on a crucial initiative (Next-Gen View Item, or NGVI), and the results were very well received by the Business Partners. The Feb 2009 issue of Harvard Business Review (HBR) had a positive piece on eBay’s Testing Program. And this project (NGVI) was called out.” eBay "Working with Akraya was very efficient. After discussing the requirements over the phone with the recruiter and account manager, I was reviewing the résumé of a qualified candidate within a few hours, met with the candidate the next day, and hired that candidate. It was only a few days between the first phone call and the completed contract, which saved a lot of time and effort. I will work with Akraya again." - Kodak Gallery “Akraya delivered results from the first engagement through the 50th!” - Cisco

Recommendation Letters

To Whom It May Concern: Akraya has assisted Amyris Biotechnologies with IT consulting demands for almost 2 years. During this time, Akraya has earned the position as one of our primary suppliers for IT staffing needs. Being in the fast-paced biotechnology industry, we often need highly skilled technical staff with specific skills for key projects. Akraya has been an excellent collaborator in providing a cost-effective means of finding a talent pool of people. Akraya excels in bringing candidates who fit with our team and culture. They excel in this area because they understand our business, and our Account Manager takes the time to understand our needs. The Akraya team is honest, straight-forward and accurate. I consider Akraya to be a true partner in filling our technical staffing needs. Sincerely, John Inson Vice President, Information Technology Amyris Biotechnologies

Certificates

Akraya Inc.

12/31/2010

2005111901

7371

541511, 561320

Akraya History

COMPANY HISTORY

In 2001, the dotcom bust hit rock bottom. Several start-ups that initiated the Internet revolution were going bankrupt or closing shop. Companies were downsizing and the last thing they needed was human talent. In short, it was the worst time possible to set up any company in Silicon Val-ley, and even more so, a staffing company. Indian immi-grant husband and wife, Sonu Ratra and Amar Panchal thought it differently. Despite the discouragement of sensi-ble friends and their families, the Panchals decided to take a jump into the unknown and set up their own business. The Founders Taking risks and starting anew has been a recurring theme in Akraya CEO, Amar Panchal and President, Sonu Ratra’s lives. Nothing shows this better than the decision they made 14 years ago; when the Indian natives left their hometown Pune in India and arrived in the US with only $50 in their pockets and a dream to build a better future and serve their community. Within 4 years of arriving in the US and having worked in the corporate world, the cou-ple was ready to take the plunge into entrepreneurship. They both persevered with their vision by founding Akraya in 2001 during the dotcom crash. Sonu owes her success to her mother who inspite of being paralyzed with spinal cord tumor raised her to face adversi-ties and hardships with a smile. Sonu got her first taste of being an entrepreneur at the age of 16 when she became a substitute CEO for her father’s trucking company manag-ing day-to-day operations, finances and the contract work-ers. Amar’s entrepreneurial passion also developed early; it was no later, than in 11th grade that the talented young boy registered his first company to develop software for a Credit Union. The Credit Union still uses some of the programs the 16 year old Amar wrote in the late 80s.

COMPANY HISTORY

Today, Amar’s career spans over a decade of management, international business development, technology consulting, product management and software engineering. Both Sonu and Amar’s key strength is their ability to grasp and overcome complex business challenges and make high-stake decisions within fast-paced, high-pressure environ-ments by relying on experience-based judgment, strong work ethic, humor and personal integrity. Akraya became the reflection of Amar and Sonu’s outstanding strategic skills and their passion for defying odds and becoming the best in the game. Amar and Sonu have both consistently stepped out of their comfort zones and made short term sac-rifices for long term success. Success Strategy In 2001 when first founding Akraya, Amar was managing Internet-based campaign management software solutions for Cisco’s Japanese wing. The project was growing bigger, so he hired 5 additional consultants. From here, business took off and revenues rocketed to $700,000 in 2002 and a whopping $3MM in the next year. Besides Cisco, Akraya also added Genentech among its first clients. In the years that followed, Akraya’s revenues continued to soar adding a couple millions each year. Akraya’s success is a result of hard work, perseverance and a smart business strategy. From the very beginning, Ak-raya’s plan was to become a top service provider to large businesses. It is a wise lesson learned in the dotcom bubble burst when many start-ups have to suddenly close busi-ness. Besides the stability, large clients also operate on a larger scale, thus they need more temporary IT help. An-other important factor of Akraya’s success is hiring and re-taining top talent. Indeed, the Akraya team consists of su-per-achievers who love what they do. Sonu and Amar make it a priority to keep their team happy thus it’s no wonder that Akraya was named the 6th Best Staffing Firms to Work for in the US in 2009 and one of the Top 25 Best Places to Work For in the Bay Area in 2010.

COMPANY HISTORY

Akraya Today Today, Akraya is a preferred staffing company to many For-tune 500 companies. Akraya’s client list consists of the “who is who” in Silicon Valley including IT Giants like eBay, Ya-hoo, Paypal, Facebook, Oracle and Cisco, financial compa-nies like Wells Fargo and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and health care enterprises like Genentech, Life Science Technologies McKesson and Abbott Labs. In 2009, annual revenue reached $32MM and despite being a challenging year for everyone, this revenue represented a 25% Y-O-Y growth. In 2009, the company added its new creative and marketing services to their IT service line, and also intro-duced their payroll services. Averaging 95% Y-O-Y annual growth, today Akraya is the 9th Largest Women-owned business in Silicon Valley, the 24th Fastest-Growing Private Company in the Bay Area (source: Silicon Valley Business Journal), the 26th Fastest-Growing Staffing Firm in the US (source: Staffing Industry Review Magazine, and one of the top 50 women-led company in the US (source: Women’s President Organization). Akraya was also named Women-owned Business of the Year by Women’s Initiative & Google in 2009 and won the NCMSDC Supplier of the Year Award, Class 3. Genentech also awarded Akraya with their Supplier Excellence Award and Cisco honored Ak-raya with their Growing with Technology Award. Besides propelling Akraya’s growth forward, the Akraya team is also deeply committed to supporting and guiding other MBE certified minority businesses, giving back to the com-munity and supporting local charities.

Case Studies

840 W. California Ave. #220 | Sunnyvale, CA 94086 | p: 408.907.6400 | f: 408.904.6610 | www.akraya.com

This e-commerce giant relied on its trusted managed services partner to deliver customized project management, planning and technical documentation services, which helped the client to achieve its business goals on time. Background eBay is a global online marketplace where practically anybody can trade anything. eBay’s marketplaces have about 84.5 million active members worldwide, a global presence in 39 marketswith approximately 125 million listings worldwide at any given time.

Challenge eBay’s Program Management Office (PMO)’s challenges were: - It was taking too long to find qualified Project / Program

Managers and was impacting eBay’s fast-paced weekly release cycles.

- Often, selected PMs took up other engagements during the eBay background check process.

- Once PMs came onboard, it took almost 2-3 months for them to come up to speed on

- eBay’s project management and release methodology. - eBay managers were spending way too much time addressing

personnel issues of the Consulting Project Managers. - How to incorporate best practices and external industry

experiences into eBay?

Solution Recruiting: Akaraya first set up a recruiting team that thoroughly understands the PMO needs. These recruiters proactively build a pipeline of qualified candidates (combining PMI chapter sponsorships, networking, referrals and job boards).

Onboarding: - Streamlined background process – Akraya proactively works

with consultants and the background check agency to speed up background checks.

- Train the trainer – Akraya’s in-house trainer went through eBay’s PM training program and now conducts training for the new PMs, while they are awaiting background checks to complete.

- Group specific training – Akraya’s in-house trainer provides group / assignment specific training for the PMs going to various streams like Infrastructure, Product Development,

- InfoSec, Release Management, Resource Management etc. -

Company

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Industry E-Commerce Service Offering PMO


Ongoing management: - Akraya’s PMO practice manager regularly meets eBay

managers to understand their challenges with current resources as well as future resource requirements for pipeline building.

- Akraya’s PMO practice manager meets Akraya Project Management Consultants at eBay every week. The Practice Manager understands the project progress, bandwidth issues, addresses personnel issues, and proposes coverage plans to eBay while a team member is on vacation.

Reporting: Akraya and eBay have quarterly review meetings to evaluate project progress. Our Selection, Onboarding and Management processes are reviewed during this meeting.

Results This program has added strategic value to eBay’s PMO efforts. Some benefits include: - Akraya’s customized screening processes got the best-qualified

project managers for the job. - With our training process, selected candidates are trained on

eBay’s methods, which ensure - a faster ramp up time. The candidates fit into their roles

immediately and start delivering. - eBay Managers are freed from addressing personnel issues of

consultants and can focus on - delivering value to their internal clients. - Akraya continues to provide cost-effective high-quality solutions

customized for eBay.

Company

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Industry Business Software Service Offering Customized Talent Solutions


A global leader in networking technologies relied on Akraya’s BI services to grow revenues from Service Contracts. Background The client is a Fortune 100 company and a global leader in the networking space with a presence all over the world. It is a leading manufacturer of internetworking products like routers, bridges and switches.

The client has implemented Oracle Applications in addition to a host of homegrown applications to support its worldwide operations – including finance, manufacturing, sales, service and support.

Challenge As with any global organization, the sales, customer and finance data is spread across multiple applications and dispersed locations. In order to be effective, operations managers require consolidated, current and accurate reports from diverse sources. The sources include Oracle Applications, Excel sheets, Access Databases and other RDBMS data sources.

Solution The Akraya Business Intelligence practice team leveraged our Oracle Applications and BI expertise to study the client’s needs and identify the potential solutions. We utilized a combination of SQL Scripts, Shell Scripting and Business Objects to build a solution that provides the Service Sales and Marketing operations team with a Managed Service that provides them consolidated, current and accurate Business Intelligence to run effective marketing campaigns.

Results The Worldwide Service Sales and Marketing operations team now has actionable intelligence from the data that was dispersed across multiple systems. They are now able to drive the growth of strategic marketing programs and campaigns aimed at increasing revenues from Service contracts. Some of the key benefits resulting from this BI solution are: - Improved Service contract accuracy - Increase in Service Contract renewal rates - Reduced Booking to Invoice Cycle times - Ability to upsell/cross sell service levels

Company

Industry Network Systems

Service Offering Managed Solutions


A global leader in networking technologies relied on Akraya’s BI services to grow revenues from Service Contracts. Background The client is the leading supplier of networking equipment and network management for the Internet with a global presence. Cisco has more than 66,000 employees and annual revenue of $39 billion as of 2008.

Challenge Cisco’s DBA organization was looking for a trusted partner to manage contingent staffing so Cisco managers can spend less time on personnel management. Cisco also sought to mitigate any co-employment risks.

Solution By leveraging its Oracle Database Administration and Oracle Applications Administration, the Akraya team supported Cisco’s production environment for almost 3 years. The onsite Akraya Program manager (PGM) was responsible for reviewing project plans from various departments along with Cisco project managers and assessing overall resource needs. Akraya was responsible for work allocation, delivery, tracking resource utilization levels, providing contingency planning while meeting Cisco’s agreed SLAs. Akraya also provided Cisco with weekly, monthly and quarterly updates on resource utilization levels, forecasted needs, SLA achievement and other metrics. The PGM was also part of the risk assessment and change control teams at Cisco.

Results Akraya’s managed solutions enabled Cisco to highlight risks earlier and plan mission critical rollouts effectively. In addition, Cisco managers were able to dedicate less time and resources to contingent staff management thus increasing efficiency and productivity. In addition, Akraya’s complete customized solution also helped Cisco mitigate co-employment risks.

Company

Industry Network Systems

Service Offering Managed Solutions


A leading operating systems provider partnered with Akraya to leverage its sourcing expertise to deliver a customized talent solutions on time within budget. Background The client is a global software corporation specializing in enterprise operating systems and delivering the best engineered, most interoperable Linux platform and a portfolio of integrated IT management software that helps customers around the world reduce cost, complexity and risk

Challenge As one of the leading enterprise operating systems providers, Novell has a constant need for top-notch technical talent. To launch projects in a timely manner, Novell needs an technology partner that can continuously support them with professional IT talent with specific skill sets working with a short fulfillment time.

Solution By leveraging its proprietary staffing software, extensive active and passive candidate database as well as the expertise of its technical recruiting team, Akraya delivers customized talent solutions for Novell. Being an implementation partner, Akraya assists Novell with technical resources to support scoping, project implementation and burst capacity needs. Akraya constantly maintains a pipeline of candidates based on Novell’s requirements thus significantly shortening delivery time while ensuring that the position is filled with candidates possessing relevant expertise.

Results With Akraya’s talent pool being readily available, Novell can take on projects at short notice and Novell can better schedule and budget any upcoming projects. By leveraging Akraya’s custom talent solutions, Novell can invest less time and resources in recruiting or managing several other talent solutions companies and instead work directly with a trusted partner. Having several matching candidates in the pipeline, Novell can launch projects without delay. Akraya is able to centrally manage Novell IT talent needs, ensuring that Novell can continuously rely on top-notch professionally skilled talent.

Company

Industry Business Software Service Offering Customized Talent Solutions


The world’s largest business software company relied on its trusted talent solutions partner to find professionally skilled top talent globally. Background The client is the world’s largest business software company, with more than 320,000 customers—including 100 of the Fortune 100—representing a variety of sizes and industries in more than145 countries around the globe.

Challenge As the world’s #1 business software company, Oracle has constant need to integrate their software with other Financial and Operational systems. This includes the global implementation of their ERP suite, CRM, BRM and Metasolv products. Their challenge lies in finding suitable partners for implementation and integration within North America, India, Puerto Rico and other Latin American countries with reliable terms and conditions, high quality service, competitive pricing and a short fulfillment time.

Solution The Akraya team supports Oracle globally, enabling them to find talent with matching skill sets based on project projections thus facilitating the launch and implementation of the project. Akraya finds and trains matching talent within the US and then oversees the relocation of the consultant and manages any issues with him/her throughout the project. Through Akraya, Oracle found a one-stop global sourcing solution.

Results With Akraya’s help of finding talent based on project projections, Oracle is able to better schedule and manage the launch and delivery of projects within the estimated timeline. Akraya’s support also enables Oracle to significantly cut back on the hours HR would dedicate to finding and coordinating with local sourcing agencies in the countries where the project takes place. By centralizing its international staffing through Akraya, Oracle can continuously count on Akraya’s expertise to deliver professionally skilled talent at competitive pricing with a short

Company

Industry Business Software Service Offering International Staffing and Talent Sourcing


Akraya designed and implemented a custom talent solution to meet the unique needs of this global leader in financial services. As a result, the QA team is able to consistently release high quality products on time. Background Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) is the largest financial derivatives exchange in the United States and most diversified in the world. Over three quarters of its trading volume comes from trades made electronically on the CME Globex electronic trading platform. CME’s order entry, trade matching and clearing systems are implemented across a distributed platform comprising of Tandem, Linux and Unix hardware. CME processes over 14 million trades in a day! Challenge In order to release trading platform products on time, the Quality Engineering organization at CME has a demanding set of criteria for its people. The CME QE organization looks for people with software engineering degrees, experience with highly available, highly scalable architectures and financial industry experience—people who understand futures and options trading. This skill set is difficult to come by since most technically savvy testers do not have the right functional, in this case financial, background. Solution Akraya delivered a customized talent solution for CME’s needs — we teamed up with CME to understand the variety of projects coming down the pipe and built a resource and skills requirement matrix. Akraya zeroed down the technical and testing skills needed for the job— the technical expertise skills included Unix, Linux, C++, Java, JSP, PHP, AJAX, and SQL. The testing skills included a combination of black box, white box, automated, functional, performance and reliability testing. Akraya put together a sourcing and screening method to identify and qualify people with these backgrounds. Once selected, Akraya put together a training program to train the qualifie dresources in trading basics, futures and options and FIX protocol, thus giving the consultants a solid financial foundation. Leveraging this financial training and their technical expertise, Akraya’s team ramped up and produced high quality deliverables quickly. This level of committed and customized service delivery made Akraya a preferred vendor to CME. Results Akraya’s customized solution enabled CME’s QE organization to meet and exceed commitments for rapid, high quality product releases. As a result, CME releases frequent updates to their electronic trading platform and continues to lead the world in providing cutting edge solutions for Risk Management for its worldwide client base.

Company

Industry Financial Exchanges Service Offering QA

Client Success Stories

Client: Consultant: Lohit Giri Position: Software Engineer Client Feedback on Akraya consultant:

“Lohit joined our team 2 months back. He ramped up sur-

prisingly fast. He is very methodical, testing each piece in great detail producing excellent quality. He is eager to help his teammates and even solve their issues! He has already made his place as an invaluable contributor to the project. I am very happy with his performance and I am generally very picky.”

Client: Consultant: Boinapelli Praveen Position: Software Engineer Client Feedback on Akraya consultant:

“Praveen continuously provides quality results and goes be-

yond to proactively initiate discussions when he sees ‘interesting’/’strange’ results. Most recently, he identified data issue where data team had an error and later on suggested ways to improve the data process. I am very satisfied with the work he does and would love to continue employing him.

Client: Consultant: Deepak K. Position: Marketing Platform Developer Client Feedback on Akraya consultant:

“Deepak is a key team player in number of marketing platform pro-jects and is always involved in multiple projects. He is one of the few hardest working, most intelligent people I have ever met. He is always willing to help our business teams and is a key player in number of successful projects. His vast experience in Enterprise Marketing CRMs is a great help to PayPal. Many times Deepak has helped on critical issues even when he is on vacation and late at night.”

Client: Consultant: Raghavendra G. Position: Java Performance Analyst Client Feedback on Akraya consultant:

“Thank you for finding Raghu for my project! He is technically very

strong, hard-working, sincere, dedicated, pro-active and depend-able. He always exceeds the expectations of the team and suc-cessfully delivers the assigned tasks with complete precision. Raghu always goes above and beyond his responsibilities to achieve success with exceptional performance.”

Client: Consultant: Ashwin R. Position: Web Developer Client Feedback on Akraya consultant:

“Ashwin has played a key role in the success of many of our

projects. His perseverance and dedication has brought many of our projects from vision to reality even with the tight dead-lines. He is very sincere at his work and goes above and be-yond his call of duty to get things done. He is our "go-to" guy in the team. He is a great team player and always willing to help others even if it wasn’t his assigned project. He has shown excellent performance in the last couple of years. “

Client: Consultant: Shreya S. Position: Solution Architect on ICW Program Client Feedback on Akraya consultant:

“Shreya joined ICW project in October of 2008. She took on the challenging role of Solution Architect which required her to interact with all the tracks on the project, and understand and give guidance for the E2E solution for several scope items. She has done an out-standing job in this role. She also took on the critical task of helping out together the perform-ance strategy for the program. Her energy and passion for doing things right is highly infectious. She is a great resource and a delight to work with.“

Client: Consultant: Dinesh G. Position: Data Warehousing Support Client Feedback on Akraya consultant:

“Dinesh has developed expertise in the project protocol and proc-esses within our group and has established great rapport with the EBS resources he needs to work with. He has been very consci-entious in addressing the concerns of project partners outside our group, while at the same time safeguarding our interests and our resources. Dinesh has applied himself thoroughly, identifying pro-ject issues and the proper resources for follow up, he has estab-lished great rapport with our client partners, being recognized by them for his contributions to projects. Our team members feel comfortable working with him, feeling reassured that he will lead them through project issues to achieve successful results. We are fortunate to have him with us!”

Client: Consultant: Dinesh G. Position: Data Warehousing Support Client Feedback on Akraya consultant:

“Dinesh is helping VeriSign’s Enterprise IT network worldwide since he started. The network consists of 5 major datacenter sides & 10 offices in EMEA & APAC. Dinesh is part of Operations team providing support for projects, 24x7 Incident Management & supporting business unit needs. He has learned technologies (routing, switching, FW, VPN, Load Balancers) very quickly & started supporting business. He has been helping with data center migration from Mountain View to Delaware. I have received very positive feedback from teams he works with.”

Akraya in the Media

4040UNDERSPECIAL SUPPLEMENT | MAY 22, 2009

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4040UNDER

Today’s recession might look familiar to Sonu Ratra and Amar Panchal. They started their IT consulting and staffing business during the dot-com bust in 2002.

“We had the urge to start something of our own,” Ratra said. “We are both risk-takers.” Risk-taking paid off. Now the company employs 250 people and has offices in Sunnyvale, New Jersey and Pune, India. Last year, it made $28 million in rev-

enue.Part of the struggle when starting was to maintain credibility in the tech staffing world. “We didn’t want it to come across as a mom-and-pop shop just because

a husband and wife are co-owners and running it together,” Panchal explained. They try to find balance as well: “We both tend to know our responsibilities and don’t step on each other’s toes,” Panchal said. “At least, as far as I know.”

And who wins in a fight?“We never fight,” Ratra quipped.The idea behind Akraya was to bridge Panchal’s experience as a software engineer with Ratra’s experience in human relations, international recruiting and staffing. “Having been on the other side of the table where I was responsible for hiring software engineers, I could see that there is a gap between what the buyer as a hiring

manager wants and what agencies are able to deliver,” Panchal said. Hiring managers want to talk to someone who understands

their needs, he said.Akraya’s clients include Cisco Systems Inc., eBay Inc., Genentech Inc., Yahoo Inc., EMC Corp., Amazon.com Inc. and several startups. In a normal year, the company

places between 30 and 40 people each month, although the couple said that the recession has affected their numbers.Still, Ratra and Panchal each independently offered the same five-year goal: to build Akraya into a

$100 million company. For the past two years, the company has grown revenue by 40 per-cent, Panchal said. If the trend continues, they could be at $100 million in five years. To reach that goal, the company has invested in its management team and technology.

“We’re fairly optimistic that we’re going to get there,” Panchal said. “This year is definitely a speed bump. At the same time, it’s a doable goal in my mind.”

Outside work, the couple spends time outdoors hiking, biking and skiing, and spends time with their daughter, Ananya.

Amar Panchal CEO, Akraya Inc. Education: MBA, B.S. in computer science, University of Pune

Sonu Ratra President, Akraya Inc. Education: Master’s in medical and psychiatric social work, Tata Institute of Social Studies

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PHOTO BY DINO VOURNAS

sponsored by Acterra & Bay Area Green

Amar Panchal, CEO of Akraya, Inc., a small IT business in Sunnyvale, is recognized by Acterra as a climate hero for his extraordinary leadership in turning his company green.

While waiting to pick up his car at an auto body shop last summer, Amar came upon a brochure that started him on his climate hero journey. The auto body shop, The Driving Machine, in Cupertino, CA., had recently become a certified green business and the brochure was an invitation to other small businesses to follow their green path.

Inspired by this call to action, Amar decided that his firm, Akraya, Inc. would also join the fight to combat climate change. Amar states, “I have always been environmenally aware, and I saw becoming a green certified business as an op-porunity to take it to the next level.”

When he returned to Akraya, Amar shared his vision with his leadership team and they quickly started the “greening” process.

Amar, appointed Rituparna Chatterjee, Akraya’s marketing communications manager as Akraya’s new in-house green consultant. He asked her to spear-head the program but to keep him involved. He states, “To effectively make this cultural change it is very impor-tant to have the support of the leadership team; I don’t just want to delegate, I want to be a part of the process.” Rituparna developed a new green campaign for Akraya called “Green Earth, Green Akraya.” To green their office environment, she used the checklist developed by the Bay Area Green Business Program as a guide.

It’s been a little over six months since Akraya first decided to green its business practices and they have a lot to show for it. They recently gained Bay Area Green Business certification and have effectively inte-grated green thinking and behavior into their compa-ny culture. Akraya now publishes a quarterly “green” e-newsletter called The Green Vibe that highlights employee actions to green not only their professional but also their personal lives. Amar states, “The Green Vibe is another way for us to learn from each other and to reinforce the value of the program”.

Akraya has also built green expectations into their HR department by having all current and incoming employees follow their new Green Employee Policy. The following are some of the 11 Green measures that each employee should follow:

Employees are encouraged to carpool or take public transportation to work. (Occasional telecommuting is • also an option.)Computers, printers and other electronic devices must automatically switch to standby mode, when idle for • more than 15 minutes.Employees are encouraged to plan efficient delivery/pick up routes and eliminate unnecessary trips in order • to reduce air pollution and carbon emissions.Outgoing emails of all employees must have Akraya’s green signature: “Green Earth, Green Akraya. Please • print this email only if necessary.”

Amar admits that the greening process hasn’t been easy but he thinks it’s been worth every minute spent on it. He says it has really unified his team, “It’s like a religion, it becomes a part of who you are.”

Amar has plans to expand Akraya’s green program. Not only that he and his team are now also able to pass along their new knowledge and enthusiasm to other businesses not yet green-certified. Amar states, “Just the other day my new green email signature line caught the attention of a Wells Fargo executive. He was curious about the program and I was able to share with him our success with it.”

Amar Panchal is a climate hero because as a business leader he has taken action to commit to greener business practices, and has created a work force that is more environmentally aware and responsible. Amar and his team are now environmental advocates and encourage other small businesses to join them in becoming green.

To find out more about the Bay Area Green Business Certification process please visit www.greenbiz.ca.gov

Acterra is a non-profit organi-zation with a 39-year history of bringing people together to create local solutions for a healthy planet.

For more information about Acterra go to www.acterra.org.

Do you know someone who is taking action to fight climate change?

Acterra is looking for Climate Heroes; individuals or groups who have gone to great lengths to reduce the carbon emissions within their community. People who have taken action and have inspired others to join them.

If you, or someone you know, is a Climate Hero tell us about it so others can learn from your accomplishments.

Send us your heroic stories!

Email a paragraph describing what you have done and its impact to [email protected]. Please include your name, phone number and a photo of the activity.

Go to acterra.org for more information.

CLIMATE HEROES

“I don’t just want to delegate, I want to be a part of the process.”

Amar Panchal, CEO of Akraya, Inc.

“Just the other day my new green email signature line caught the attention of a Wells Fargo excecutive. He was curious about the program and I was able to share with him our success with it.”

Amar Panchal

Small Business Owner is a Climate Hero

Issue Date: Staffing Industry Review MagazineNovember 2008 Issue, Posted On: 10/28/2008

Case Study: Akraya, SI Review November 2008

By Julie McCoy

In 2001, when the dot.com crash hit, the technology company for which Amar Panchal was working waslaying off people. He suddenly found himself with two choices: He could either switch roles at the company orstart his own. Not normally one to take risks, the Indian native decided to take a chance. In 2002 he openedAkraya, an information technology staffing company that today has offices in Sunnyvale CA and Pune India.

A Growing CompanyOpening a technology staffing company at the same time the tech bubble burst wasn't easy, but Panchal wasup for the challenge. "Everyone else had given up," he explains. "I was one of the few people actually callingon customers." And his efforts ended up paying off. Akraya, which means "commerce" in Sanskrit, generated$20 million in 2007. The goal is to hit $30 million this year, according to Panchal.

In fact, the company is doing so well that it continues to add internal staff at both its Sunnyvale office and itsoffice in Pune. As of this summer, Akraya's Sunnyavle office had a staff of 22 people. Its office in Pune, ametropolitan city near Bombay, had a staff of 20 people. The majority of staff is from India, but a fewnon-Indians work for the company as well.

Staff Know the IndustryAkraya only hires recruiters who have a computer science background since the company is IT-focused. Thismakes the company better equipped to understand its clients' technical challenges as well as gaugecandidates' technical skill sets.

A Passionate Group of PeopleStaff love what they do so much that they don't even consider it work, comments Sonu Ratra, companypresident and Panchal's wife. "You're coming to something you want to do, something you love," she says.

It's All About Having Fun, Celebrating SuccessAkrayan culture emphasizes having fun at work -- there's a pool table in the office -- and celebrating success,says Ratra. Akraya makes a point to celebrate success at both the individual and corporate level. Forexample, if a recruiter makes six or seven placements a month, he or she gets an iPhone. And "if they do 10then of course there's something else," Ratra points out.

Clients Large and Small Akraya's clients include giants such as Sun Microsystems, Cisco, eBay, Yahoo,Facebook, Amazon, Genentech, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Standard and Poor's, Hitachi Data Systems,and Comcast, as well as smaller companies such as Jasper Wireless and Reardon Commerce.

Ravi Narayanaswamy, senior program manager at Sun Microsystems, says he likes that Akraya alwayskeeps him informed. "Even if they aren't able to find the right candidate, they keep me updated," he says."They keep me in the loop." He thinks Akraya does a good job of "filtering," or going through all thecandidates for a particular position and choosing the best ones. He appreciates that Akraya tries toaccommodate his budget and never tries to sell to him, he says. He points out that Akraya has given payrates to his workers without passing on the cost to him as a client. On a scale of 1 to 10, he'd give Akraya a 9.

Many of Akraya's customers said they love the company, but were unfortunately unable to go on the recorddue to corporate media policies.

Says one client, "We've been very impressed with the quality of candidates we've gotten through them.Anytime we have a need, I call Sonu. Several candidates we've gotten through Akraya have worked out sowell that we've hired them full-time. They're the best we've run across so far. They really know what we'redoing and not only the skill sets we need but also the type of person that would fit in the group culture-wise.

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We've been working with Sonu directly for so long that we get excellent service. We've been very pleased.We know that they screen candidates. When they present someone to us, we know they're going to be good.It's hard to describe exactly what we're looking for. The real value is establishing a long-term relationship witha staffing company. The candidates seem to enjoy working for Akraya as well."

Adds another client: "They have exceeded and met my expectations. It's nice because they understand thejob market. They have full knowledge of the caliber of candidates we need. They have consistently beenproviding me with excellent candidates that match the job requirements. They get it. It's nice to work withsomeone who understands."

"My experience has been nothing but positive results from them. What I do appreciate is their managementstyle, the way they build results with us as well as their employees. It seems they truly value the professionalservices they provide as well as their internal team and contingent workers. Some provide the service andjust leave. They're a little more personable yet professional at the same time, which makes them stand outfrom other populations."

Workers Are Happy, TooDanelle Oravetz, who was in the construction industry for 10 years and ready for a change, says Ratrahelped her re-work her resume to make it more generic so that the skills she had acquired in the constructionindustry could be applied to IT work. And now Oravetz is working at Genentech.

"I would recommend Akraya any day of the week," she says. "I absolutely love working with them. They'regood with attention to detail. I'm very happy. I would recommend them. I'd give them a 10 (on a scale of 1 to10). I've had an enjoyable experience. I don't have any problems with them. They're a good company."

Laurie Huth, who also has been working at Genentech through Akraya, says she likes not only the freedomand flexibility of being a contract worker but the benefits Akraya provides. Akraya offers its workershealthcare and 401(k) benefits, for example.

Huth says she can't think of anything she wants that she's not getting through Akraya or anything thecompany has done wrong that she wishes it would change. "It's a great company to work for and work with,"she says.

Utpala Sharma, who has been placed at a job at Cisco through Akraya, says she appreciates that Akrayaalways pays her on time. Other staffing companies she's worked with weren't so great on that front. "I'm veryhappy," she says. "I like the fact that they are very professional. I think I would give them a 10 (on a 10-pointscale)."

Altaf Hakim has been working at Toyota Financial Services through Akraya since 2005. "I'm getting the salaryI want and all the benefits," he says. "They've been very good. I have no issues to date. When you call andleave a message, you get a call back in a few minutes. ... They've been good on what I've wanted."

Different StrengthsPachal's strengths include the operational, technical and sales side of the business, while Ratra's strength isbusiness development. She promotes Akraya at diversity forums and meets with procurement and diversitysuppliers to sell Akraya as a diverse company.

Panchal and Ratra, who work together on a daily basis, say they don't have any difficulty separating thehusband-wife relationship and the business relationship. "At the end of the day, we're professionals. If you'reprofessional, you know what you're doing. It's easy to sort it out."

Their Backgrounds Are in TechnologyPrior to launching Akraya, Panchal worked at a company called TekEdge, which is no longer in existence.Panchal -- who studied software engineering in his native India and also earned an MBA there -- found hewas using his software experience at TekEdge but not his MBA, so he decided to open Akraya to make themost of that degree.

Ratra, on the other hand, worked at Genentech as a resource manager before joining Akraya. She managedstaffing issues and worked with vendors at Genentech, so she knows and understands the company's needs,she explains. Ratra, who holds an HR degree from her native India, also earned an HR certificate at theUniversity of California, Berkeley.

Combating Illiteracy in IndiaAkraya contributes to several nonprofit organizations whose focus is on helping India. For example, this yearAkraya was a gold sponsor of the 10th annual Race for Literacy, which is held in an effort to combat illiteracy

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in India. Just how bad is the problem? Almost 40% of the population in India remains illiterate. Despite India'srecent economic boom, the country's literacy rate is growing just 1.5% a year.

Additionally, Akraya supports orphanages in India through an organization called Faith Ministries.

Finding Time to Enjoy the Great OutdoorsRunning Akraya is a more-than-full-time job for Panchal and Ratra, who also have a young daughter, Ananya.Nevertheless, they still find some time to enjoy life. Panchal, for example, enjoys a number of outdooractivities including tennis, hiking, windsurfing, rollerblading and skiing.

Akraya is the story of two immigrants who have come to the United States, become entrepreneurs and madesuccessful lives for themselves. They have truly lived the American Dream and are proof that you canachieve what you want as long as you work hard and don't give up.

Company: AkrayaFounded: 2002Headquarters: Sunnyvale CA and Pune IndiaRevenue: $20 million in 2007Web site: www.akraya.com

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Vicki Thompson

CEO Amar Panchalhas set a goal ofquintupling his privatelyheld company’srevenue to $100 millionby 2012.

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Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal - December 15, 2008http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/othercities/sanjose/stories/2008/12/15/smallb4.html?b=1229317200^1747785

Friday, December 12, 2008

Akraya provides IT service for Fortune 100 customersSilicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal

WHAT IT DOES: A privately held information technology service company providing program management,business intelligence, database administration, qualitative analysis and custom applications development services toFortune 100 enterprises.

CUSTOMERS: Internet companies such as eBay Inc., Yahoo Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Facebook Inc.;high-tech companies including Cisco Systems Inc., EMC Corp. and Hitachi Data Systems; biotech firmsincluding Genentech Inc., Novartis AG, Applied Biosciences Corp. and Bio Marin Pharmaceutical Inc.;and financial services companies including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Wells Fargo N.A.

LOCATIONS: Sunnyvale; Jersey City, N.J.; and Pune, India

EMPLOYEES: 80

SHORT-TERM GOAL: To emerge stronger from the current economic downturn. Akraya started in the dot-com bustand said it has always focused on efficient operations. Akraya is looking to make some opportunistic hires from competitors that haveshed talent. It also said that slower times will allow it to focus on improving customer service and team training.

LONG-TERM GOAL: Aggressive revenue growth. Akraya leaders set a goal of reaching $100 million in revenue by 2012, building on the40 percent growth it projects for 2008. They said they also want to expand the company’s reach into more solution-based services andgrow its footprint nationally and globally. Akraya executives say they plan to enhance its participation in community service andenvironmental programs to help underprivileged people.

BIGGEST COMPETITOR: Infosys Technologies Ltd. and Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. in managed solutions. KforceInc. and TEKsystems Inc. in staffing services.

SOMETHING SURPRISING ABOUT THE BUSINESS: People have a general impression that software engineers won’t take up recruitingand sales careers. Akraya leaders said most its team, however, is comprised of engineers with bachelor’s or master’s degrees in computerscience. Several were software engineers.

HOW BUSINESS WILL CHANGE IN NEXT FIVE YEARS: Companies will become more selective about what work they send offshore andfocus more on high-quality, local services. Akraya said it is already seeing some of this with its clients and is growing its pool ofexceptional local talent while leveraging its offshore infrastructure as needed.

BEST BUSINESS DECISION: Despite several warnings, CEO Amar Panchal quit his job to start Akraya at the lowest point of the dot-combust. He said that in hindsight, that was the best time to start. Among the positive factors of this decision were clients willing to take hiscalls, office space and equipment available for pennies on the dollar, and plenty of willing job candidates.

BIGGEST MISSED OPPORTUNITY: Akraya recently responded to a request for information from a large client compiling a short list ofnational vendors. Because Akraya already had a relationship with the client, company executives assumed they’d make the short list butdidn’t. They said they now treat every opportunity as though the business depends on it.

LIKE LEAST ABOUT THE BUSINESS: The company said it might have 50 Java developers, and it can be hard to predict theirperformance or attitude on a day-to-day basis, which can make the business complicated at times.

At-a-glance

Akraya Inc.SunnyvaleCEO: Amar PanchalFounded: 2002Contact: 408.907.6400URL: www.akraya.com2007 revenue: $20 million2008 projected revenue: $28 million

Akraya provides IT service for Fortune 100 customers - Sacramento Busi... http://sacramento.bizjournals.com/sacramento/othercities/sanjose/stories/...

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Press Releases

Akraya, Inc. 840 W. California Ave., Suite 220 Sunnyvale, CA 94086

Akraya Named #10 Best Place to Work in the Bay Area

by San Francisco Business Times

Akraya, Inc., a leading provider of professional talent solutions today announced that it was named #10 Best Place to Work in the Greater Bay Area by The San Francisco Business Times.

Awarded to the top 100 companies in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area, this recognition is based solely on third party surveys completed by a majority of company employees on topics including workplace satisfaction, compensation, career growth and challenge, and company management. This year, The San Francisco Business Times received close to 400 applications for the Best Places to Work List.

Founded by Sonu Ratra and Amar Panchal in 2001, Akraya is a multiple award winning professional staffing and managed solutions company with an extensive Fortune 500 client base.

"There's no greater reward than having Akraya voted as one of the top 10 'best places to work' by our employees," said Akraya CEO, Amar Panchal. "At Akraya, we find it very important to attract and retain the best and brightest talent. We have built an amazing team of super achievers whose loyalty and hard work has been the backbone of Akraya’s success. Their dedication and expertise shows in our innovative and flexible service line, our strong customer relationships, and the rapid growth we’ve enjoyed as a company. Sonu and I are honored to be part of this amazing group of people and look forward to continuing on our path of success as a team."

In 2009, Staffing Industry Review Magazine also named Akraya #6 Best Staffing Firms to Work in the US. In 2010, Akraya was named #35 on the Fastest-Growing Women-led Businesses List by Women’s President Organization in The Wall Street Journal. Akraya also won the 2010 Supplier of the Year Award by the Northern California Minority Supplier Development’s Council and was named Women-Owned Business of the Year by Women’s Initiative. In 2009, Staffing Industry Review Magazine named Akraya #26 Fastest-Growing Staffing Firms in the US and the Silicon Valley Business Journal listed Akraya at #24 on their Fastest-Growing Private Companies List.

Amar Panchal and the Akraya team accepted the award at the awards ceremony held at the San Francisco Hilton on April 28, 2010.

To find out more about Akraya, Inc., please visit www.akraya.com or call 408.907.6400. About Akraya Akraya, Inc. is a multiple award-winning, fast growing provider of IT, Engineering, Creative & Marketing talent with extensive experience supporting Enterprise clients like eBay, Cisco, Oracle and Roche as well as fast-growth companies like Facebook. Akraya is a woman-owned and minority-owned certified business and also a certified Bay Area Green Business.


Akraya Wins 2009 NCMSDC Supplier of the Year Award Akraya President, Sonu Ratra accepted the Award at the 32nd NCMSDC Award Gala in Westin St. Regis Hotel in San Francisco on March 19th, 2010 (Sunnyvale, CA): Akraya, Inc., multiple award-winning, fast growing provider of IT, Engineering, Creative & Marketing talent is proud to announce that it was named the winner of the Northern California Minority Supplier Development Council’s Supplier of the Year Award in the Class 3 ($10MM to $50MM annual revenue) category. The NCMSDC Supplier of the Year Award recognizes outstanding suppliers that have demonstrated excellence in their services and shown growth in sales and job creation. “The 2009 NCMSDC Supplier of the Year Award, Class 3, distinguishes Akraya, Inc. as a certified MBE that has demonstrated excellence in its services and products and has shown growth in sales and job creation” said Scott A. Vowels, President of NCMSDC. “This year’s Supplier of the Year Awards competition was particularly rigorous and reflected the talent and leadership present within today’s minority businesses. Without a doubt, Akraya, Inc. and our other NCMSDC award winners recognized at the gala represent the best in corporate supplier diversity and supplier excellence in 2009, and it is with great pride that I count these fine individuals and companies as part of the NCMSDC network.” In 2009, Akraya was named 26th Fastest-Growing Staffing Company in the US and 24th Fastest-Growing Private Company in Silicon Valley, and 9th Largest Women-Owned Business in the Bay Area. In addition, Akraya also became an Inc. 5000 honoree and was named one of the Top 10 Staffing Firms to Work For in the US by Staffing Industry Review Magazine. Akraya has received several awards for their community efforts in 2009. Akraya President, Sonu Ratra was chosen as the winner of the “Enterprising Women of the Year Award” as well as the Soroptimist Ruby Award for Women Helping Women, and also received the “Stevie Award in the Women Helping Women category” and Akraya was named “Women-owned Business of the Year in Silicon Valley.” Akraya President, Sonu Ratra received the Supplier of the Year Award on March 19th, 2010 at the 32nd Annual Awards Gala hosted by the Northern California Minority Supplier Development Council (NCMSDC), a non-profit organization with a long history of promoting minority supplier development in the marketplace. “We are very excited about being named Supplier of the Year by NCMSDC” said Sonu Ratra. “This award means a lot to the Akraya team since it recognizes the excellence in our customer service and the strong relationships we built with our clients. At, Akraya, our goal is to become a true partner to serve our clients’ corporate staffing needs and provide a higher level consultant quality while significantly shortening the hiring process. To be recognized for our work by an organization like NCMSDC that has significantly contributed towards the development of minority businesses over the years, is truly rewarding.” About Akraya


Akraya, Inc. is a multiple award-winning, fast growing provider of IT, Engineering, Creative & Marketing talent. We have extensive experience supporting Enterprise clients like eBay, Cisco, Oracle and Roche as well as hot emerging companies like Facebook. Akraya is a woman-owned and minority-owned certified business and also a certified Bay Area Green Business. To find out more about Akraya, please visit www.akraya.com.


Akraya President, Sonu Ratra Named to 2010

Women of Influence List

Sonu Ratra is featured in the March 19th issue of the Silicon Valley Business Journal among the top women leaders of Silicon Valley.

(Sunnyvale, CA): Akraya, Inc., a multiple-award winning supplier of IT, Engineering, Creative & Marketing talent is proud to announce that President, Sonu Ratra was named to the Silicon Valley Business Journal’s 2010 Women of Influence List.

The Women of Influence List celebrates women leaders in the private, public and non-profit sectors who make our local Silicon Valley communities thrive. Sonu Ratra was chosen for the Women of Influence Award based on her extraordinary achievements in leading Akraya’s growth strategies, supporting other minority and women-owned businesses and mentoring women professionals. Sonu’s company, Akraya continued its healthy growth with $32M revenue in 2009. The company added creative and marketing services to its service line and continued to build its illustrious customer list earning rave reviews from Fortune 500 clients for their service excellence. Akraya was also named 24th Fastest-Growing Private Companies in Silicon Valley, 26th Fastest-Growing Staffing Firms in US, 6th Best Staffing Firms to Work for In the US. As a successful woman entrepreneur, Sonu believes that with success comes responsibility. Sonu has been proud to serve on the Board of the Northern California Minority Supplier Diversity Council. Sonu also makes it her priority to mentor women and provide career guidance. She hosted several networking events such as the “Pay It Forward” Matchmaking Event and the “Woman Power Hour Mixer” with the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). Sonu also recently joined The Institute of Economic Empowerment for Women’s Peace Through Business Mentorship Program and became a mentor to Joy Kabera Kansangire, a female business owner from Rwanda and managing her US business training. Sonu has also been recently recognized by Soroptimist International with their Ruby Award for Women Helping for her community initiatives and also received the Stevie Award for Women helping Women. Her company Akraya was named Women-owned Business of the Year in Silicon Valley. Sonu also received the prestigious Enterprising Women of the Year Award in 2009. Sonu will accept her Women of Influence Award at the 2010 Award Gala to be held at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, CA on April 8th. To find out more about Akraya, Inc., please visit www.akraya.com or call 408.907.6400. About Akraya Akraya, Inc. is a multiple award-winning, fast growing provider of IT, Engineering, Creative & Marketing talent. We have extensive experience supporting Enterprise clients like eBay, Cisco, Oracle and Roche as well as hot emerging companies like Facebook. Akraya is a woman-owned and minority-owned certified business and also a certified Bay Area Green Business.


Akraya President, Sonu Ratra Wins the Soroptimist Ruby Award for Women Helping Women Ms. Ratra will be Awarded at the Hilton Santa Clara on March 11th, 2010 (Sunnyvale, CA): Soroptimist International of Silicon Valley and Akraya, Inc. are proud to announce that Akraya President, Sonu Ratra was named a winner of the club-level 2010 Soroptimist Ruby Award for Women Helping Women. The Soroptimist Ruby Award honors women who, through their professional or personal efforts, are making extraordinary differences in the lives of other women. Honorees are female leaders who have worked to improve the lives of others and their efforts have had a significant impact inspiring and encourage other women. Sonu Ratra was chosen for the Ruby Award based on her extraordinary achievements in supporting other minority and women-owned businesses and mentoring women professionals. As a successful woman entrepreneur, Sonu believes that with success comes responsibility. Sonu has been proud to serve on the board of the Northern California Supplier Diversity Council – MBEIC. In this role, Sonu supports MBEIC’s mission to find ways to help women-owned minority businesses reach a larger market. Sonu also makes it her priority to mentor women and provide career guidance. Since the beginning of the economic downturn, Sonu has been active in guiding the careers of her mentees in job transition. She hosted several networking events such as the “Pay It Forward” Matchmaking Event and the “Woman Power Hour Mixer” with the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). Sonu also recently joined The Institute of Economic Empowerment for Women’s Peace Through Business Mentorship Program and became a mentor to Joy Kabera Kansangire, a female business owner from Rwanda hosting Joy in her own home and managing her US business training. “We chose Ms. Ratra for the 2010 club-level Ruby Award for her outstanding achievements guiding the careers of other women” said Jane Brindle Miller, President of Soroptimist International of Silicon Valley. “Ms. Ratra’s dedication to giving back to her mentees and supporting women-owned businesses make her a strong role model in Silicon Valley. She is a highly-focused but compassionate leader and an inspiration to other women everywhere.” Ms. Ratra will receive her Ruby Award on March 11th at Soroptimist International of Silicon Valley’s monthly meeting & dinner reception at the Hilton Santa Clara, Santa Clara, CA. Soroptimist International, of which Soroptimist International of Silicon Valley is part, was founded in 1921 in Oakland, CA. Its members join with 90,000 Soroptimists in more than 120 countries to contribute time and financial support to community-based projects benefiting women and girls. About Akraya Akraya, Inc. is a multiple award-winning, fast growing provider of IT, Engineering, Creative & Marketing talent. We have extensive experience supporting Enterprise clients like eBay, Cisco, Oracle and Roche as well as hot emerging companies like Facebook. Akraya is a woman-owned and minority-owned certified business and also a certified Bay Area Green Business.


About Soroptimist With almost 95,000 members in 123 countries, Soroptimist International is the largest business and professional women’s volunteer organization in the world offering programs that improve the lives of women through three distinct platforms: economic empowerment, elimination of violence, and gender equality. The Soroptimist Women’s Opportunity Award, the major program of our local federation, provides cash grants for women seeking to improve their lives with the help of additional education and training. Each year, more than $1 million is disbursed to deserving women through this award-winning program. Soroptimist International of the Americas, a 501(c)(3) organization that relies on charitable donations to support its programs, also sponsors other awards and projects that improve the lives of women and girls in local communities and throughout the world. For more information on how Soroptimist accomplishes this, visit www.soroptimist.org.

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Akraya Receives 2009 Best of Business Award

Small Business Commerce Association’s Award Honors the Achievement

SAN FRANCISCO, March 13, 2009, Akraya Inc has been selected for the 2009 Best of Business Award in the Duns Support Record, non-classifiable establishment category by the Small Business Commerce Association (SBCA)

The Small Business Commerce Association (SBCA) is pleased to announce that Akraya Inc has been selected for the 2009 Best of Business Award in the Duns Support Record, non-classifiable establishment category.

The SBCA 2009 Award Program recognizes the top 5% of small businesses throughout the country. Using statistical research and consumer feedback, the SBCA identifies companies that we believe have demonstrated what makes small businesses a vital part of the American economy. The selection committee chooses the award winners from nominees based off statistical research and also information taken from monthly surveys administered by the SBCA, a review of consumer rankings, and other consumer reports. Award winners are a valuable asset to their community and exemplify what makes small businesses great.

About Akraya Akraya, Inc. is a multiple award-winning, fast growing provider of IT, Engineering, Creative & Marketing talent. We have extensive experience supporting Enterprise clients like eBay, Cisco, Oracle and Roche as well as hot emerging companies like Facebook. Akraya is a woman-owned and minority-owned certified business and also a certified Bay Area Green Business. To find out more about Akraya, please visit www.akraya.com.

About Small Business Commerce Association (SBCA)

Small Business Commerce Association (SBCA) is a San Francisco based organization. The SBCA is a private sector entity that aims to provide tactical guidance with many day to day issues that small business owners face. In addition to our main goal of providing a central repository of small business operational advice; we use consumer feedback to identify companies that exemplify what makes small business a vital part of the American economy.

SOURCE: Small Business Commerce Association CONTACT: Small Business Commerce Association Email: [email protected] URL: http://www.SBCAAwards.org


Local Businesswoman, Sonu Ratra Wins Women’s Initiative Women-Owned Business of the Year Award Women-Owned Business of the Year Award Winners Were Awarded in Mountain View, CA on November 10, 2009 (Sunnyvale, CA): Akraya, Inc. owned by local businesswoman Sonu Ratra, has been named the Woman-Owned Business of the Year Award in Silicon Valley. The award is given by Women’s Initiative for Self-Employment and recognizes women-owned Bay Area businesses that: • Have been successful despite the barriers that exist for women business owners • Exemplify how business ownership and leadership is beneficial for women • Have a positive impact on the local community or the community at large • Advance their field through innovation. In recognizing these businesses, Women’s Initiative celebrates the power of microenterprise in transforming communities through job creation and economic revitalization. In today’s economic recession the importance of supporting existing micro-businesses and fostering entrepreneurship is paramount. Existing research states that over 70% of all new jobs created during the recession will be through microenterprise. Research at the World Bank and the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor has indicated that investing in women entrepreneurs, in particular, is critical for economic growth. The WOB Award recognizes these women entrepreneurs and their businesses for their leadership and positive contributions to their communities. Ms. Ratra will be recognized at the Woman-Owned Business of the Year Awards Ceremony on November 10th at Google, Inc. For more information about the awards and a complete list of winners, go to www.womensinitiative.org. About Women’s Initiative Women’s Initiative is the nation’s largest microenterprise training and funding organization and is widely regarded as a leader in the field of microenterprise training. For more than 20 years, Women’s Initiative has been providing low-income women throughout the Bay Area with business training and ongoing support in addition to access to capital. Our unique program propels low-income women into business ownership, and more importantly, tackles barriers to self-sufficiency. In English and in Spanish, women conquer their fears of success, complete a business plan, learn technology, access capital, and meet influential and experienced business people who can help them succeed. Average income more than doubles four years after participation in the Women’s Initiative program and 71% of WI business owners are making steady sales five years


down the road. In 2008 Women’s Initiative graduates generated an average of 2.25 new jobs each day. About Akraya Akraya, Inc. is a multiple award-winning, fast growing provider of IT, Engineering, Creative & Marketing talent. We have extensive experience supporting Enterprise clients like eBay, Cisco, Oracle and Roche as well as hot emerging companies like Facebook. Akraya is a woman-owned and minority-owned certified business and also a certified Bay Area Green Business. To find out more about Akraya, please visit www.akraya.com.


Akraya President, Sonu Ratra Wins Stevie Award in 6th Annual Stevie Award For Women In Business Stevie Award Winners Were Awarded in New York on November 13, 2009 (Sunnyvale, CA): Akraya, Inc. is proud to announce that its President, Sonu Ratra won a Stevie Award for the “Women Helping Women” category in the Stevie Awards for Women in Business on November 13th. The 2009 Stevie Awards for Women in Business is an international competition recognizing the accomplishments of outstanding women executives, business owners, and the organizations they run. The awards are produced by the creators of the prestigious American Business AwardsSM. Sonu Ratra was chosen for the Stevie Award based on her extraordinary achievements in supporting other minority and women-owned businesses and mentoring women professionals. As a successful woman entrepreneur, Sonu believes that with success comes responsibility. Sonu has been proud to serve on the board of the Northern California Supplier Diversity Council – MBEIC. In this role, Sonu supports MBEIC’s mission to find ways to help women-owned minority businesses reach a larger market. Sonu also makes it her priority to mentor women and provide career guidance. Since the beginning of the economic downturn, Sonu has been active in guiding the careers of her mentees in job transition. She hosted several networking events such as the “Pay It Forward” Matchmaking Event and the “Woman Power Hour Mixer” with the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). Sonu also recently joined The Institute of Economic Empowerment for Women’s Peace Through Business Mentorship Program and became a mentor to Joy Kabera Kansangire, a female business owner from Rwanda hosting Joy in her own home and managing her US business training. Stevie Awards were handed out in categories including Best Entrepreneur, Best Executive, Lifetime Achievement, and Women Helping Women at the gala event at New York’s Marriott Marquis Hotel on November 13. More than 1,100 entries from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted for consideration. The Stevie Awards for Women in Business are governed by a Board of Distinguished Judges & Advisors that features many leading women entrepreneurs and luminaries in business. Members of the Awards’ Board selected Stevie winners from among the finalists. Finalists were chosen by business professionals worldwide during the preliminary judging period. “It is a great honor to be named a Stevie Award winner” said Sonu Ratra. “This award is special since it recognizes Akraya’s efforts in helping other women professionals and women enterprises. The award is a celebration of women and the power of our influence, our commitment towards success of other women. I have had amazing female mentors and valuable support of friends


throughout the years. I share this award with the network of men, women and corporations that continuously support me and Akraya and with every woman out there making a difference.” Details about the Stevie Awards for Women in Business and the list of honorees are available at www.stevieawards.com/women. About Akraya, Inc. Akraya, Inc. is a multiple award-winning, fast growing provider of IT, Engineering, Creative & Marketing talent. We have extensive experience supporting Enterprise clients like eBay, Cisco, Oracle and Roche as well as hot emerging companies like Facebook. Akraya is a woman-owned and minority-owned certified business and also a certified Bay Area Green Business. About The Stevie Awards Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Honoring companies of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about The Stevie Awards at www.stevieawards.com. Sponsors of the 6th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business include the Business TalkRadio Network, Covario, Inc., and KeyBank. Localization partner of the 2009 Stevie Awards is Lionbridge.

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Akraya Named #24 Fastest-Growing Private Company in Silicon Valley by The Silicon Valley Business Journal

(Sunnyvale, CA): Akraya, Inc., a multiple-award winning supplier of IT, Engineering, Creative & Marketing talent was ranked #24 on The Silicon Valley Business Journal’s 2009 Fastest-Growing Private Companies List. Akraya was among the 70 private companies honored at the Business Journal's "Fastest-Growing Private Companies in Silicon Valley" Award Gala at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA on Thursday, October 8, 2009. Akraya CEO, Amar Panchal and President, Sonu Ratra as well as the Akraya management team were in attendance to accept the award.

The List of The Fastest-Growing Private Companies is compiled annually by The Silicon Valley Business Journal. To be eligible, each company must be privately held as of fiscal year-end 2008, headquartered in Silicon Valley and have at least a three-year sales history. Final selection was based on revenue growth. Akraya reported more than 130% revenue growth over the past 3 years.

Akraya, Inc. was founded by CEO, Amar Panchal and President, Sonu Ratra in 2002 with the desire to fill a gap between what clients needed and what other staffing agencies provided. Akraya has grown in a mere 7 years into a preferred staffing company to several Fortune 500 enterprises with annual revenue of $28MM in 2008. Today, Akraya has offices in Sunnyvale, CA and Pune, India. In June 2009, Akraya was named #26 on the Fastest Growing Staffing Firms in the US list by Staffing Industry Analysts. In August 2009, Akraya was named the 9th Largest Women-Owned Business in Silicon Valley by The Silicon Valley Business Journal. In September, 2009 Akraya was honored with the Woman-Owned Business of the Year Award by Women’s Initiative. Akraya also became an Inc. 5000 honoree in 2009. “It is an honor to be named to the Fastest-Growing Private Companies List” said Panchal. “Despite the economic downturn, Akraya has had a great year. We were able to enhance our IT and Engineering professional services while introducing our new marketing& creative service line. We also managed to expand our client base while simultaneously continued supporting our current clients with best-of-breed professional talent.” Besides Akraya’s highly customizable delivery model, its proprietary recruiting database and unique recruiting model named “Beyond Requirements,” Panchal names the Akraya team’s loyalty and positive morale as the backbone of the company’s healthy growth. “Without the Akraya staff’s dedication and hard work none of this would have been possible. I would like to dedicate this award to them and thank them for their help in making Akraya one of the fastest growing privately held companies in the Silicon Valley.” added Panchal. To find out more about Akraya, Inc. please visit www.akraya.com or call 408.907.6400. About Akraya


Akraya, Inc. is a multiple award-winning, fast growing provider of IT, Engineering, Creative & Marketing talent. We have extensive experience supporting Enterprise clients like eBay, Cisco, Oracle and Roche as well as hot emerging companies like Facebook. Akraya is a woman-owned and minority-owned certified business and also a certified Bay Area Green Business.


Press Release Cisco Diversity Supplier, Akraya Selected to Present at UCLA’s Management Development for Entrepreneurs Graduation

Cisco has been partnering with Akraya for years as part of its Global Supplier Diversity Business Development Program to secure top-tier talent. Cisco chose Akraya as one of the 5 diversity suppliers to attend the Silicon Valley MDE program.

The MDE Program is an intensive learning experiences utilizing lectures, case discussions, and applied workshops to enable entrepreneurs to successfully compete with larger competitors. In fact, the MDE Program’s goal is to help small business leaders develop their management skills to enhance their companies' revenues, profits, and market impact and achieve significant growth. Each participant is required to submit a Business Improvement Project (BIP), a strategic initiative designed to add significant value to the entrepreneur's enterprise. From among all the companies participating in the program, only 2 were chosen based on the excellence of their Business Improvement Plans. As one of these two companies, Akraya was asked to present the details of the BIP plan at the Graduation Ceremony of the MDE Program held on June 5th in San Jose, CA. “We were honored to be chosen to participate in the MDE Program by Cisco” said Milissa Ales- Barnicoat, VP of Sales at Akraya. “Taking part in Cisco’s Diversity Supplier Program, we feel that we can successfully face today’s competitive marketplace. We would like to share the recognition of presenting our work at MDE Graduation Ceremony with them.” “We chose Akraya as one of the vendors to represent Cisco’s Diversity Supplier Program based on the great professional relationship we have established with them throughout the years.” explained Madison Gunter III, Business Development Manager at Cisco’s Global Supplier

June 10th, 2009 SUNNYVALE, CA Akraya Inc., a Silicon-Valley based, multiple-award winning professional staffing company was selected to present at the Graduation Ceremony of the Management Development of Entrepreneurs (MDE) Program of UCLA’s Anderson School of Management.

The Graduation ceremony was held to honor the approximately 40 companies that completed UCLA’s Silicon Valley Academy MDE Program. Akraya, a woman- and minority-owned, WBENC and NCMSDC-MBE certified business was sponsored by long-time Akraya client, Cisco Systems to participate in the MDE program.

Contact: Eszter Szikora Tel: 1-408-907-6424 Email: [email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Diversity Business Development Program. “We share Akraya’s pride in being singled out as a presenter at the Graduation Ceremony and congratulate them on a job well done.”

About Cisco’s Supplier Diversity Business Development (SDBD) Program

The Cisco Supplier Diversity Business Development (SDBD) Program established more than 14 years ago was created to expand Cisco's network of diverse suppliers. The SDBD team identifies potential suppliers and facilitates relationships between them and Cisco representatives who can potentially use their products and services. In addition, Cisco supports a variety of initiatives including financial services, technical assistance, training, technology, and advice on procurement and international trade to help diverse businesses succeed in today’s competitive environment. For more information, please visit http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ac227/ac111/cisco_and_suppliers/supplier_diversity.html


Akraya Named No 9 Largest Women-Owned Business in Silicon Valley Akraya, Inc. is proud to have been recognized as #9 on The Silicon Valley Business Journal’s 2009 “Women-Owned Businesses” List. This list ranks women-owned companies by the annual revenue of their most recently completed fiscal year. With annual revenue of $26.2MM Akraya, Inc joins the top 25 largest women-owned businesses in Silicon Valley. “We are thrilled and honored to receive this recognition” said Akraya President, Sonu Ratra. “As a woman business owner, one has to overcome several challenges to grow the business. Akraya was founded without any VC capital during the 2001 dotcom crash when starting a staffing company didn’t seem like a very good idea. Yet, I believed that we were filling a gap between what clients needed and what other agencies provided. I am very proud that over the years, several client commendations have validated this belief.” Indeed, in the last 7 years Akraya, Inc. grew into a preferred staffing company to several Fortune 500 enterprises including eBay, Cisco, Facebook, Wells Fargo etc. Today, Akraya has offices in Sunnyvale, CA and Pune, India. In June 2009, Akraya was named #26 on the Fastest Growing Staffing Firms in the US list by Staffing Industry Analysts. Akraya also became an Inc. 5000 honoree in 2009. Besides aggressively growing Akraya, Ratra believes that with success comes responsibility. Thus, she makes it a priority to give back to other women- and minority-owned businesses through Akraya’s involvement with the Northern California Minority Supplier Development Council (NCMSDC) and the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) as well as participating in The Institute of Economic Empowerment for Women (IEEW)’s Peace Through Business Program. “Akraya’s success should serve as an encouragement to other women and diversity business owners” adds Ratra. “With determination and hard work it is possible to achieve success as a minority female entrepreneur.” About Akraya Akraya, Inc. is a multiple award-winning, fast growing provider of IT, Engineering, Creative & Marketing talent. We have extensive experience supporting Enterprise clients like eBay, Cisco, Oracle and Roche as well as hot emerging companies like Facebook. Akraya is a woman-owned and minority-owned certified business and also a certified Bay Area Green Business. To find out more about Akraya, please visit www.akraya.com.


Akraya Pays It Forward by Opening Its Network to IT Job Seekers The spring breeze blew cheerful, colored balloons on Sunnyvale’s California Avenue late Wednesday afternoon on April 1st. The balloons dancing in the wind with the company logo “Akraya” were meant to ensure that invited guests arriving to the company’s by invitation-only, Pay It Forward Networking Event would not miss the Akraya headquarters. Soon after 6pm, senior IT professionals in transition, hiring managers and representatives of some of the Valley’s most powerful companies started to arrive crowding the Akraya lobby where the event took place. Akraya CEO, Amar Panchal and President, Sonu Ratra, co-founders of the 7 year old IT services company were excited to watch enthusiastic event attendees chatting and swapping business cards or trading industry contacts, resumes and good advice over the gourmet buffet spread. The event was a clear success. The idea to host a one-of-a-kind networking event leveraging Akraya’s powerful network of connections first occurred to Sonu Ratra in early February after receiving an overwhelming number of referrals from clients and friends that have been hit with a layoff. Ratra decided that her company, Akraya will take action by doing what they do best: matching IT professionals with the hiring managers of leading companies. The event was dubbed “Pay It Forward Networking Event” to symbolize optimism and the spirit of service. The 60 attendees represented the crème of the Silicon Valley, including companies like eBay, Facebook, Paypal, Yahoo, NetApps, Verisign, Genentech, Cisco, Wells Fargo, VM Ware, Sun Microsystems, Blue Coat and Immersion. “We were very pleasantly surprised by the positive response our event received not only from job seekers but also from representatives of large companies” said Akraya President, Sonu Ratra. “Besides hiring managers, many people that currently hold jobs at large companies also showed up just to help. We hope that many of the new connections made at our event will turn into actual job interviews.” Attendees of the event were touched by Akraya’s efforts of organizing the get-together. “I met many interesting people at Akraya’s Pay It Forward Event” said Ravi Narayanaswamy, Senior Program Manager at Sun Microsystems. “I truly appreciate all the hard work and thoughts put in this event by the Akraya team. They should have more of these in the future; I would be glad to be of any help.” “At turbulent times like these, people need all the support they can get” added Jon-Paul Ales-Barnicoat, Director, Talent Acquisition & HR Operations. “It is so nice to see a company like Akraya making an effort to facilitate positive change in their community. I am definitely planning to attend any similar events in the future” Besides the effort to bring people together, job seekers were also surprised by the efficiency of the matchmaking. “I have been to many networking events in the last couple weeks but this has been one of the best” said Dragan Milanovich, former Director, Engineering Services at PayPal. “The market is tougher than ever, so building my network by adding contacts at major companies has never been more important. I am grateful that Akraya brought us all together.”


“The Pay It Forward Event was a great opportunity to come out and mingle with my peers in similar situation” said Uttam Kumar, former Senior Manager, Product Operations at VeriSign. “The fact that I could also collect some important leads and expand my network with many useful contacts was really the icing on the cake.” Akraya plans on hosting a similar larger scale Pay It Forward event in the next upcoming months. Beyond the networking events, Akraya continues to support job seekers of the IT industry by extending an invitation to join AkrayaN, its extensive networking group on LinkedIN. For an invitation to join AkrayaN, please contact Eszter Szikora at [email protected].


NCAABA and Akraya join forces to promote Asian Women in Business Akraya, Inc., a women- and minority-owned, multiple award-winning professional staffing firm is proud to support The National Council of Asian American Business Association (NCAABA)’s quest to advance the cause of the minority business community, specifically Asian female entrepreneurs in these challenging economic times. As a minority women business owner, Akraya President, Sonu Ratra understands the challenges that minority female entrepreneurs face. Ratra, originally from India founded Akraya, an IT, Engineering, Marketing and Creative staffing company in 2002 and overcoming several challenges, grew her company into a preferred staffing company to several Fortune 500 enterprises in a mere 7 years. In 2008, Akraya reported annual revenue of $28MM. In June 2009, Akraya was named #26 on the Fastest Growing Staffing Firms in the US list by Staffing Industry Analysts. In August 2009, Akraya ranked 7th on the Largest Women-Owned Business in Silicon Valley List in the Silicon Valley Business Journal and also became a 2009 Inc. 5000 honoree. As a successful woman entrepreneur, Sonu believes that with success comes responsibility. Today, Sonu is proud to serve on several committees in NCAABA including the South Asian Outreach, Corporate Committee, Women’s Outreach. In this role, Sonu is working on enhancing the stability and longevity of minority women-owned business enterprises in Northern California. “NCAABA is an organization close to my heart with the mission of building a community and women empowerment” said Ratra. “I believe that the best way for a brighter future is for all of us to come together as a community and support one another. Change can happen but has to begin in our own community.” Sonu is also on the board of the Northern California Supplier Diversity Council – MBEIC. In this role, Sonu supports MBEIC’s mission to find ways to help women-owned minority businesses reach a larger market. Sonu also makes it her priority to mentor women and provide career guidance. During this economic downturn, Sonu has been active in guiding the careers of her mentees in job transition. She hosted several networking events such as the “Pay It Forward” Matchmaking Event and the “Woman Power Hour Mixer” with the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) to help find jobs for her mentees or to connect them further. Recognizing Sonu’s commitment to helping women, WBENC recently invited Sonu to their Certification Committee to identify, qualify and certify other Women Owned Businesses. Most recently, Sonu joined The Institute of Economic Empowerment for Women’s Peace Through Business Mentorship Program and became a mentor to Joy Kabera Kansangire, a female business owner from Rwanda. “To be able to successfully advocate Asian female entrepreneurs, we need minority female business owners to fully realize the power of belonging to minority and women business organizations like NCAABA and WBENC” said Jamie Borromeo, Executive Director of NCAABA.


“Sonu Ratra is the poster child of how Asian female entrepreneurs can benefit from being part of the NCAABA community while simultaneously giving back to other female business owners.” About NCAABA NCAABA is the largest national Asian business coalition in the United States. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, California, NCAABA provides a national voice for its network of over 380,000 Asian American small businesses and over 100 Asian business organizations and chambers of commerce on issues of economic development, public contracting, supplier diversity and public policy. For more information, please visit www.national-caaba.org. About Akraya Akraya, Inc. is a multiple award-winning, fast growing provider of IT, Engineering, Creative & Marketing talent. We have extensive experience supporting Enterprise clients like eBay, Cisco, Oracle and Roche as well as hot emerging companies like Facebook. Akraya is a woman-owned and minority-owned certified business and also a certified Bay Area Green Business. To find out more about Akraya, please visit www.akraya.com. .


AKRAYA PROMOTES LITERACY IN INDIA Akraya becomes Gold Sponsor for India Literacy Project’s 11th Annual Race for Literacy May 17th, 2009 MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA A large crowd of nearly 1,000 people gathered by the Start Line of the 11th Annual Race for Literacy in Shoreline Park on early Sunday morning. They were there to cheer, promote and participate in the race and to simply have a fun Sunday. By being there, all of them helped a truly worthy cause – promoting literacy in India. Silicon Valley-based multiple award winning IT staffing company, Akraya has always been conscious about pioneering social change. The company makes a continuous effort to facilitate positive change by supporting orphanages like SOFOSH and Faith Ministries in India. This year once again, Akraya continued furthering its social responsibility by becoming a Gold Sponsor for the 11th Annual Race for Literacy. The race is held every year by the India Literacy Project (ILP) to increase literacy in India. Despite the recent economic boom, India is still one of the countries where the literacy levels are below the threshold level of 75%. By partnering with ILP’s Race for Literacy project, Akraya is working towards the gigantic effort to reach this level. “ILP’s primary goals are total literacy and the universal right to primary education in India” said Sriram Puthucode, Sponsorship Coordinator of ILP- Race for Literacy. “Companies like Akraya that continue to stand by our cause even under the current tough economic situation, bring us one step closer to our efforts to lead people from the darkness of illiteracy to the light of knowledge.” “Akraya strives to be a good corporate citizen. Education and literacy are issues that are particularly close to our heart, since we are in the technology and professional services business. We are proud to sponsor ILP and strongly believe in its charter and objectives” said Sonu Ratra, President of Akraya. Akraya intends to continue eradicating illiteracy and promoting literacy in India through future partnerships with ILP as well as its Race for Literacy. About Akraya Akraya is a leading provider of Information Technology, Engineering and Life sciences managed talent solutions and professional staffing. Akraya enables the success of strategic technology initiatives through its Management, Analysis, Architecture, Engineering and Support services. Akraya is a preferred partner to several Fortune 500 companies and exciting startups. Akraya is a certified Minority Owned (NCSDC) as well as a Woman Owned (WBENC) enterprise. Akraya is also a Certified Green Business. For more information on Akraya, please visit www.akraya.com. For press related questions, please contact Eszter Szikora at (408) 907-6424.

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