Pranav Giridhar is the founder and executive chairman of Applied Federal Technologies, an Ashburn, VA-based information technology consulting company committed to addressing the intricate challenges faced by various government agencies and commercial customers, by propelling them ahead of the technology curve. He is responsible for leading all business development functions at AFT, as well as defining long-term and near-term IT strategy for its clients. He served as CEO of AFT until January 2025, when he transitioned into his role as the Global Chief Operating Officer and President of North America at CloudMetic Solutions, a New Rochelle, NY-based systems integrator which specializes in Salesforce consulting and implementation for a wide array of companies across the globe. He is responsible for leading more than 50-employees across North America and Asia, working with clients such as Deloitte, PwC and Accenture, across more than 250 implementation projects. 

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Prior to founding AFT, Pranav served as the Managing Partner of FirstPoint Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm based in Phoenix, AZ. During his tenure at FirstPoint, he developed the firm's industry-agonistic investment thesis and led more than half-a-dozen investments into various technology companies across high growth sectors, creating a combined value of the firm's portfolio companies exceeding US$450 million. 

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He previously served as the Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) & Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy at Syntrillo, Inc., a Charlottesville, VA-based healthcare technology company with more than US$3 million in venture capital backing. He continues to work with Syntrillo today as a member of the company's board of advisors. He also served as the Chief Business Officer (CBO) of Knowt, one of the fastest growing VC-backed EdTech startups with excess of US$2.5 million in financing. He led the development and expansion of the KnowtTakers program and played a key role in the company's growth and marketing strategy which eventually drove their worldwide userbase from 1 million to 3 million. He additionally founded and served as the CEO of Startupper, a Brooklyn, NY-based media technology company that developed a vast network of advertising outlets focusing on private markets and decentralized finance. He grew the company to nearly 1.5 million in monthly viewership, while securing advertising customers such as ODF, Ava Labs and Myria. In April 2021, Startupper was acquired by NovaCrypt, a New York-based technology holdings company. 

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In addition to his executive roles, Pranav serves on the board of directors of several global technology companies collectively valued at over $100 million and employing hundreds of people worldwide, spanning enterprise software, customer experience, and cloud services.

 

He is a board director of Emvigo Technologies, a UK-headquartered IT services company with 200+ consultants and a global presence across the UK, India, UAE, and KSA. He also sits on the board of 12Grids, a customer experience technology company specializing in UI/UX design, digital marketing, CRM, and mobile development, serving clients like State Bank of India and UPL. Additionally, he is a member of the board of directors of Edge CRM, an India-based enterprise software company serving over 2,500 global customers through its proprietary CRM platform that streamlines sales and workflow automation. 

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Pranav Giridhar is also an accomplished philanthropist in the Washington, D.C., area, who often gives his time to educational, environmental and economic causes. He is a 2021 Honoree of the George H.W. Bush Points of Light Award, which he received in cause for his efforts to develop various software applications to assist undereducated children in impoverished regions in the Philippines and Africa. Since 2020, he has served as a member of the board of directors of the Career Analysis Organization of America (CAOA), the nation's largest provider of career exploratory programs to secondary school students.