Lak Ananth

Lak is a Vice President of Corporate Development for Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Managing Director of Hewlett Packard Ventures. In this role, he leads M&A strategy for Hewlett Packard and oversees the company’s strategic investments. He led the acquisitions of Eucalyptus and Shunra, the strategy behind the acquisition of Aruba (NASDAQ:ARUN), and the investment in Hortonworks (NASDAQ: HDP). He was a key member of the team that developed the strategy and drove the decision for HP to separate into two industry-leading public companies. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of MphasiS (NSE: MPHASIS), an HP company listed in India. Prior to joining HP, Lak worked in corporate development at Cisco Systems. There, he led multiple transactions including acquisitions, investments, joint ventures, and divestitures. Most notably, he was instrumental in the $2.9 billion acquisition of Starent Networks (NASDAQ: STAR), the $1.2 billion acquisition of Meraki, and investment in Control4 (NASDAQ: CTRL). Before Cisco, Lak was a venture capital investor in Silicon Valley, where he invested in several companies such as Cortina Systems, Digital Chocolate, IMVU, Jasper Wireless, and Open-Silicon. Previously, he was with 3i private equity in Asia, where he specialized in growth of capital investments in India and formulated 3i’s venture capital strategy for that geography. Earlier, he was a Director with Cambridge Technology Partners, managing large product development teams for clients ranging from start-ups to Fortune 50 companies. Lak holds an MBA with distinction from INSEAD, an MS from Kansas State University, and a BE from Guindy Engineering College, India, where he was a Gold Medalist.