14 May 2008
Asa Kalavade, Indian-Born Co-Founder of Tatara Systems
Immigrant entrepreneur profile
Seventeen years ago, it would be considered improbable for a young woman to found her own technology business in India. “Even when I just started studying engineering, people came to my parents to talk them out of it, never mind starting my own company,” said Asa Kalavade. Asa came to America as an international student and received a master’s and PhD in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California at Berkeley.
While most people think of wireless networks and streaming as brand-new technologies, Asa has worked on these technologies for more than 10 years. Early in her career at Bell Labs, Asa invented patent-pending technologies for wireless multimedia streaming, network interfaces, and real-time multiprocessor DSP (digital signal processing) systems. She holds multiple patents.
After serving as vice president of technology at Savos, Asa founded Tatara Systems along with an immigrant from China, Hong Jiang. Based in Acton, Massachusetts, the privately held Tatara Systems employs 60 people. It develops and deploys solutions for communication service providers, helping them to provide converged mobile services to their subscribers. Among Tatara’s customers are Vodafone, Telus Mobility, and O2 UK.
Technology and entrepreneurship run in Asa’s family. Her two siblings are both in the United States working as electrical engineers. Her Indian-born husband has started his second company, Tizor Systems, a venture-backed company that provides data security for businesses. “We’re serial entrepreneurs,” said Asa.
The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. government.
Note: This profile originally appeared in the study American Made: The Impact of Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Professionals on U.S. Competitiveness, which was commissioned by the National Venture Capital Association and conducted by Stuart Anderson of the National Foundation for American Policy and Michaela Platzer of Content First LLC.
