Virtusa’s Kris Canekeratne selected as EY Entrepreneur of The Year® 2018

by Shrutee K/DNS

Mumbai, July 11, 2018 – Virtusa Corporation (NASDAQ GS:VRTU), a global provider of digital strategy, digital engineering, and IT outsourcing services that accelerates business outcomes for its clients, announced that its Chairman & CEO, Kris Canekeratne, is a winner of the EY Entrepreneur of The Year^® 2018 Award in the New England region for the Business Process Outsourcing category. The awards program took place on June 28, 2018 at a gala in Boston.

This prestigious awards program recognizes entrepreneurs across industries who have steered their organizations’ excellence in areas such as innovation and financial performance and have showcased exemplary personal commitment to their businesses and communities. Kris Canekeratne was selected as a winner by a panel of independent judges, making him one of ten representatives from the New England region to contend for the coveted U.S. national title.

“I am honored to receive this award from EY. I extend my hearty congratulations to the other winners and all of New England’s enterprising leaders who are leading disruption in their fields and making exceptional contributions to the socio-economic growth of this region and beyond,” said Kris Canekeratne, Chairman & CEO of Virtusa. 

“Virtusa and the industries it serves are at a seminal moment. The digitization of businesses and the world will only accelerate. The task to innovate will only grow in consequence. While the industry is still at the early stages of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Virtusa is incredibly well positioned to help its clients envision and usher in transformative digital futures, creating competitive differentiation for them and for us. We are well on our way to realizing our vision of becoming the leading Digital Engineering Services Firm in the world, by leveraging the platform and philosophies that helped us turn an under-funded startup in Westborough, Massachusetts, into a billion dollar global leader. I believe that this award is a wonderful acknowledgement, both of how far we have come and where we are going.   In both regards, the award really belongs to our clients, partners, team members, and shareholders around the world. Without their commitment and belief, we would not be here today,” shared Kris.

“This award is recognized around the world as an emblem of entrepreneurial success and we commend the winners for this great achievement,” said Kristin Keating, Entrepreneur of the Year Program Director and Partner at Ernst & Young LLP. “These award recipients are making a positive impact on our economy, the local New England community, and our world, and they are truly deserving of this honor.”

Founded in 1996, Virtusa is a product of Kris’s passion for technology and his groundbreaking vision for the future of the IT industry, pioneering the paradigm shift from labor arbitrage to an innovation-driven, client-centric solutioning approach. Over the years under his industrious leadership, Virtusa has not only expanded its geographic and service footprint, but has also had a consistent, industry-leading growth trajectory. Virtusa has received numerous globally renowned accolades for its vertical-specific, cutting-edge innovation capabilities and thought leadership in digital engineering. In March 2018, it announced that it crossed $1 billion in annualized revenue.

About EY Entrepreneur of the Year Awards

Founded by EY, Entrepreneur of The Year^® is the world’s most prestigious business awards program for entrepreneurs. Winners are chosen from an independent panel of judges including entrepreneurs and prominent leaders from business, finance, and the local community. The program makes a difference through the way it encourages entrepreneurial activity among those with potential and recognizes the contribution of people who inspire others with their vision, leadership and achievement. As the first and only truly global awards program of its kind, Entrepreneur of The Year celebrates those who are building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses, recognizing them through regional, national and global awards programs in more than 145 cities and more than 60 countries. The program is now in its 32^nd year.

About Virtusa Corporation

Virtusa Corporation (NASDAQ GS: VRTU) is a global provider of Digital Business Transformation, Digital Engineering, and Information Technology (IT) outsourcing services that accelerate our clients’ journey to their Digital Future. Virtusa serves Global 2000 companies in Banking, Financial Services, Insurance, Healthcare, Telecommunications, Media, Entertainment, Travel, Manufacturing, and Technology industries. Using a combination of digital strategy, digital engineering, business implementation, and IT platform modernization services, Virtusa helps clients execute successful end-to-end digital business transformation initiatives.

Virtusa engages its clients to re-imagine their business models and develop strategies to defend and grow their business by introducing innovative products and services, developing distinctive digital consumer experiences, creating operational efficiency using digital labor, developing operational and IT platforms for the future, and rationalizing and modernizing their existing IT applications infrastructure. As a result, its clients are simultaneously able to drive business growth through digital-first customer experiences, while also consolidating and modernizing their IT application infrastructure to support digital business transformation.

Holding a proven record of success across industries, Virtusa readily understands its clients' business challenges and uses its domain expertise to deliver innovative applications of technology to address its clients’ critical business challenges. Examples include building the world's largest property & casualty claims modernization program; one of the largest corporate customer portals for a premier global bank; an order to cash implementation for a multinational telecommunications provider; and digital transformation initiatives for media and banking companies.