By John McCurry

 

Srikanth Kodeboyina, founder and CEO of Greer-based Blue Eye Soft Corporation, seems on a fast track in the IT world. Next week, the India native and Greenville resident will participate in the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Hyderabad, India. He will be one of about 1,200 entrepreneur delegates attending. The U.S. delegation is led by Ivanka Trump.

Selection as a delegate is the second recent major milestone for the naturalized U.S. citizen. Earlier this year, Kodeboyina was among 17 people selected by the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) as an Emerging Young Entrepreneur. During the GES, Kodeboyina will be representing South Carolina and he says he has been coordinating with the Upstate Alliance, the South Carolina Governor’s Office and the S.C. Dept. of Commerce for the trip. 

“This is a big honor for me,” Kodeboyina says. “I’m excited to be one of the entrepreneurs chosen for this invitation-only event.”

In addition to entrepreneurs, the conference will be attended by about 400 investors. Kodeboyina says he hopes to speak with several of them to discuss the advantages of locating in South Carolina.

Just 29 years old, Kodeboyina announced in late October that Blue Eye Soft is moving to a facility in Greer and will create 120 jobs over the next two to four years.

Blue Eye Soft has three areas of business: 20 percent staffing, 60 percent services, 20 percent software/hardware resale. Kodeboyina believes his company is well-positioned to fill a need in the region.

“None of major companies are willing or capable to sponsor visas (like H1, L1 or other),” Kodeboyina notes.  “It is a cumbersome and hard process. Having personally gone through the process, I am more competent and skilled in doing that. This way, we can provide the best talent from the globe and induce them to the local market and companies’ needs.”

Kodeboyina says his company is currently serving major automotive and engineering and construction firms.

“At a [recent] NEXT monthly CEO luncheon, when I mentioned about hiring 200 people over the next few years, most of the experienced native entrepreneurs and CEOs mentioned that it is hard to find the necessary high-skilled labor, so I have a unique value proposition to offer the local technology ecosystem.”

Blue Eye Soft has moved into 3,000 square feet of space at 44 Parkway Commons in Greer. Kodeboyina says his company will eventually need to find a larger facility to accommodate its projected growth. Blue Eye Soft previously operated at an office on North Pleasantburg, which remains its official corporate address.

Asked how he came up with his company’s name, Kodeboyina offers this explanation: “Business intelligence and analytics is my key core area & personal competence (I have been doing it for the past 12 years). Analytics and intelligence are meant to have deeper insights to run business. In plain terms, you need to see something which others can’t see. Blue-eyed people are very rare and they have special abilities. Moreover, I wanted to be a little bit cooler and non-nerdy with something with more fun.”

After forming his company a little more than two years ago, Kodeboyina looked around the U.S. for a potential permanent location. He says he fell in love with the Greenville area while working on a project for BWM. He says he picked Greenville because of its relatively inexpensive operational costs, its good weather, and a $1.24 million incentive offered by the state over the next five years.

Kodeboyina came to the U.S. seven years ago to further his education at the University of Dayton. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of Andhra Pradesh, Kodeboyina chose Dayton based on a recommendation of a friend of his brother’s.