Sriram Emani, a native of Mumbai and a second-year MBA candidate at MIT Sloan School of Management, has been named one of eighty-five, worldwide Siebel Scholars for 2013.  

The prestigious Siebel Scholars program was established in 2000 by the Siebel Foundation to recognize the most talented students at the world’s leading graduate schools of business, computer science, and bioengineering. This year’s scholars from across the globe were chosen by the dean of their respective schools on the basis of outstanding academic achievement and demonstrated leadership.

Emani will receive $35,000 to be put towards his final year of study. He will join the nearly 800 active Siebel Scholars that are part of the Siebel Scholars Foundation to nurture leadership, academic achievement, and the collaborative search for solutions to today’s most crucial global issues. Emani will serve on the Siebel Scholars Advisory Board, a group that sets the strategic direction of international program.

Emani is the founder and CEO of IndianRaga, a digital media start-up venture devoted to democratizing Indian music through technology (www.indianraga.in ). With its new, technological tools, IndianRaga identifies the most promising musical talent and helps them identify pockets of demand for their music in India and abroad. An analytics-based approach to ticket-pricing, audience size, choice of music, and other performance-related factors further supports their efforts. IndianRaga recently partnered with the ITC Sangeet Research Academy, India's leading conservatory for Indian classical music, to promote master classes among international students. IndianRaga is the winner of the 2012 MIT IDEAS Global Challenge Community Choice Award and the 2012 Creative Business Cup award. He is slated to represent the United States against 23 participating teams from across the globe at the international finals being held between November 12 and 14, 2012, in Copenhagen, Denmark.

“IndianRaga is a finishing school of sorts for these musicians to guide  them in identifying gaps in their skill sets based on audience feedback analytics and connect with global mentors to bridge this gap and build sustainable careers,” says Emani who is officially  launching the start-up In November 2012, in partnership with Boston, Massachusetts’ leading Indian arts organizations.

In August 2012, Emani helped launched the MIT Accelerating Information Technology Innovation (AITI) program – http://aiti.mit.edu/ – at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, which works to develop mobile technology and entrepreneurship skills in undergraduate students. Emani also facilitated the partnership with Freemont Partners in Mumbai to provide mentorship and seed-funding for the successful ventures to come out of the AITI program. Earlier this year, Emani was awarded an MIT Fellowship for Technology and Design to work on low-cost, technology-based solutions for the Indian market.

Emani is co-president of the MIT Sloan Entertainment, Media and Sports (EMS) Club. His focus this year is to promote technology entrepreneurship in the creative industries, for which he is launching a series of creative industry hack-a-thons with different groups at MIT.

Last year Emani was invited to launch and moderate the first-ever panel on Indian arts and culture at the MIT India Conference where panelists included the founder of the Jaipur Literature Festival and the president of the Indo-American Arts Council among other leaders from the Indian arts community.

Emani is slated to graduate from MIT Sloan in June 2013.

Emani completed his undergraduate studies at IIT Bombay.  After graduation, Emani worked in strategy management consulting in India and United States, and then launched the Marketing and Business Development team at India’s premier performing arts center, the National Centre for the Performing Arts Mumbai. He is a 2011 Tata Scholar and a 2011 Mahindra Scholar.

“The honor of being accepted into the prestigious Siebel Scholar community takes me closer to my dream of leveraging technology and emerging media platforms to promote entrepreneurship in India,” says Emani. “Siebel Scholars have had lasting impact on their schools and communities. This is an incredible opportunity for me to meet with future leaders from the world’s leading universities to work on society’s most pressing problems.”

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