Srikanth Bolla Biography, Early Life, Education and Entrepreneur

Srikanth Bolla is an Indian industrialist and the founder of Bollant Industries. He is the first international blind student in Management Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Name:	Srikanth Bolla
Born:	7 July 1991 – Sitaramapuram, Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India
Alma mater:	Massachusetts Institute of Technology [Management Science]
Occupation:	Entrepreneurs
Spouse:	Veera Swathi (m. 2022)

About Srikanth Bolla:

What is it like to be the first international blind student ever admitted to the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT (U.S.), or being the co-founder, Chairman and CEO of BOLLANT Industries Private Limited, a leader in the sustainable packaging products and solutions.

It has been a long and tedious journey to become a leader amongst leaders, a public speaker, a celebrated entrepreneur, an outright philanthropist, a highly vocal educationist, and becoming a beacon of hope for anyone who seeks courage in life.

His company, Bollant, is a fast-growing, eco-friendly disposable paper and packaging products manufacturing company based in Hyderabad, India. The company has clocked an annual turnover of more than 150 million dollars and employs more than 500 people currently.

When treading a path full of challenges and discrimination, you are led to something extraordinary that defies the status quo of this society. That’s how Srikanth’s story unfolds.

People asked him to give up on his studies. He refused and stood meritorious every time. Boards asked him to give up science as a subject. He refused and fought the system to level the fields for all blind students in India. Colleges refused to admit him for studies. He went on to study SB in management science from the prestigious MIT. He refused to even take a safe & lucrative job so he could build his own venture in India – Bollant Industries. But this was just the start…

It is one thing to be known as a Forbes 30 under 30 entrepreneur or set up a multi-million revenue industry but it is completely different to be cherished by the whole world as a blind man with a noble cause.

He is a man on a mission to spread optimism around the world about differently-abled people. Against all odds, Srikanth not only succeeded to build a profitable venture, but he also managed to incorporate a disabled workforce that makes up 36% of his current employee strength. His stubborn nature is making everyone believe that all humans deserve the right to equal opportunities in the world despite their shortcomings.

As we debate the myriad issues and complexities surrounding environmental degradation and climate change, Srikanth firmly believes that businesses can only flourish today only when they are in sync with Mother Nature.

As he believes in leading by example, the Srikanth-led Bollant industry has done tremendous work to create a sustainable zero-waste facility. Every member of his team cares for this philosophy like their own child project.

In this incredible journey and fight against the norms of society, he is thankful for his parents that raised him to become a good and self-reliant human.

As an active Vice President and Member of the Board of Trustees, Srikanth is helping Lead India Foundation re-emerge as a pioneering platform. Just like it once empowered hundreds of thousands of youths, under the able guidance of the Former President of India, Late. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. In his philanthropic endeavour, Srikanth is also associated with several other platforms like the Surge Impact Foundation (for the accelerator for social enterprises, CSRs, and individuals achieving sustainable development goals) and Samanvai Centre (for Children with Multiple Disabilities)

Srikanth stood tall at the World Economic Forum’s 2021 List of Young Global Leaders. He has been named an Outstanding Person in Business by Junior Chamber International.

This is the journey of a boy who could have been set to die just after birth by society and is now creating global standards for the correct treatment of differently-abled people in the same society. Someone who was denied to sit in the class 12th exams is now educated as a chapter of inspiration for the whole state.

On the other hand, his Brainchild, the Bollant industry, is being referred to and taught in prestigious national and international institutions of business for their excellence in manufacturing, leadership, and sustainable technologies.

His humble yet powerful journey also caught the attention of the Indian Film Industry and is soon to be displayed as a biopic to inspire many more people.

In his journey so far, he has been conferred with many titles like young change maker, social entrepreneur of the globe, Indian of the year, best youth leader, and outstanding person in business. Yet his personal favourite is to be known as – a beacon of hope.

Beginning…

In 1991, monsoons had just started. An ordinary farmer named Damodar Rao was tense and excited because he was about to become a father soon. Back then, everyone prayed for a boy-child and when the day came, a boy it was. But everyone fell silent. Unlike every other time, no one seemed excited in that village of Sitaramapuram, Andhra Pradesh.

“Your Child is born with blindness, you must have sinned”, said the villagers. Damodar and his wife constantly got advice, “Let him die. He can’t survive with this blindness all his life.” But the couple was too compassionate, kind, and determined to let him go.

They started to raise him with a strong sense of his own qualities and a fight for the life that the world will deny him, every step of the way.

Early Life:

Being born in a nondescript environment to poor and uneducated parents posed a natural challenge to Srikanth’s journey. His father enrolled him in a regular school at 6 years of age where he had to walk more than a few miles to ensure his presence. The education system, instead of empathising with the pursuit of this blind kid, always expected him to catch up with the normal kids without any special attention.

Their Father shifted him to a residential school in Hyderabad where he could focus on developing his skills, adapt to the world, and someday become eligible for a clerical job maybe. But to everyone’s surprise, this kid proved his mettle at the matriculation exams and stood amongst the top scorers of the state.

The battle had only begun…

Srikanth wanted to study in the science stream after the tenth standard but state government rules didn’t permit blind students to do so back then. Anybody else would have just given up and taken Arts but not Srikanth. He decided to fight the system, not only for himself but for the generation of blind students after him.

He went through months of long legal battles with the government, which finally gave up and allowed him to pursue his dreams. He converted this opportunity into an example for everyone. Even with the lack of proper study material, for the first time, a visually-impaired person ranked shoulder to shoulder with other merit holders of the science stream getting a 98%.

Getting into a college…

So, in a path when you break one wall and then another one appears, either you hammer the next or find a new way itself.

Srikanth wanted to pursue Engineering and the coaching institutes gave him a big ‘No’. The prestigious IITs rejected his application as they were not capable enough to manage the studies of a visually-challenged person.

Srikanth knew he couldn’t waste more time convincing people. So he applied to foreign institutions. Many of the top colleges in the world like Stanford, Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, etc. accepted his applications and finally chose Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to become his Alma mater. And with this, he became the first international blind student ever to get into MIT.

He is more than just academics…

Srikanth has the zeal to live and show others how to do so as well. He has shown his prowess at national level blind cricket, international chess, and other sporting events, like baseball and swimming.

He cherishes his personal moments with his friends, colleagues, and family by travelling, swimming, trekking, and other adventure sports. He believes that life should be lived like one that inspires others.

A firm believer in spirituality, Srikanth loves watching movies, spending time with family, and getting inspired by reading business and motivational books.

His love for Humanity & Dr. Abdul Kalam…

It was a difficult choice to choose your country over a lavish life after MIT. Yet, Srikanth’s heart is one that finds fulfilment in uplifting others. He knew his life goals will find its ways to India.

In 2005, after coming back to India, Srikanth became a Youth Leader in the Lead India Program to combat poverty and unemployment. He first started his journey in social service as a youth trainer to more than 800,000 youth in honing their leadership, human values, and employability skills.

During this time, Srikanth attracted his role model, the visionary scientist, educationist, and former President of India, the Late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.

Dr. Kalam often mentioned Srikanth as an inspiration and a big hero for himself. Srikanth bravely told Dr. Kalam about his vision to be the first visually challenged President of India.

My answer was inspired by his own thought that – a “Dream is not that which you see while sleeping it is something that does not let you sleep”.

His passion projects…

While studying at MIT, he set up a computer training centre promoting computer independence of visually challenged students & helping them with educational and employment goals. All this was done by using grants from MIT Public Service Center.

In another commendable move, he designed and implemented a much-needed Braille library at his home city of Hyderabad with the support and grants from The Legatum Centre at MIT. It filled a large gap between blind students and their educational goals in Hyderabad.

In 2011, Srikanth co-founded Samanvai Center for Children with Multiple Disabilities in Hyderabad, India, which provided educational, vocational, financial, and rehabilitation services to students with multiple disabilities for an economically independent and self-sustained life.

Through Samanvai, Srikanth and his like-minded co-founders, impacted the lives of more than 4,000 students with multiple disabilities, helping them achieve courage and competence to achieve a better life.

And the masterstroke was yet to come…

The Journey of Bollant:

In 2012, with a lot of courage and determination, Srikanth started Bollant Industries, which has today shaped into a fast-growing, eco-friendly paper product manufacturing company. Here his Co-founders included his lifelong mentor Swarnalatha Takkilapati and angel investor Mr. Ravi Mantha

With a small capital of about 19000 US dollars, at that time, this journey began. Today, under his able leadership and the support of his team, the company has spread its wings in every direction and is valued at above 60 Million US dollars, with an annual turnover of more than 12 million $.

Bollant was established with the mission of overcoming employment barriers for more than a hundred million physically and mentally challenged people and providing sustainable and competitive employment to both skilled and unskilled or uneducated Indians.

The manufacturing plants employ a mix of uneducated and unskilled able-bodied people and people with various abilities. It now has 500+ employees of which 36% are differently abled. Through its five manufacturing plants, Bollant Industries provides direct and indirect employment to around 500 and 2,500 people, respectively.

Since its incorporation in 2012, the company has been growing at a steady rate of 20% per month and the compound annual growth rate has been a whopping 107% from 2015 to 2019.

“Everyone should have an equal opportunity of work and training. Employing differently-abled people and techniques is good for every individual and industry.”

Sustainability and Bollant…

Bollant produces kraft paper & eco-friendly packaging material by recycling municipal waste and other such sources. It also manufactures non-chemical-based food-grade adhesives, printing inks, FMCG products, and surfactants.

“I believe that protecting the environment and being in tandem with nature is the only way to create true wealth and build a scalable business.”

Since he leads by example, he has turned bollant into a ‘Zero Waste Company’. With his vision, bollant recycles all of its unusable water, plastic, boiler-generated solid ash, and solid waste. It not only recycles 100% of its own waste but also the chemical waste from pharma companies in the area to create industrial-grade chemical products. He believes in Solar Power and his plants and machinery are run partially on this green energy itself.

Srikanth envisions growing Bollant as 1st Sustainable Unicorn Startup by 2025.

Leadership and Youth…

Today Srikanth is an icon for the youth. While he inspires the youth and promotes entrepreneurship amongst them, he also leads a non-profit initiative called Surge Impact Foundation, as its Director.

This organisation is founded on the principles of finding, honing, incubating, and testing more enthusiastic entrepreneurs like Srikanth that can realise his dream of India into a developed nation and a world leader.

“Entrepreneurship has been a spiritual yet lonely journey for me and I want to nurture the spirit of entrepreneurship by motivating and guiding the Indian youth for this journey”

Beacon of hope…

Srikanth has been invited as a keynote motivational speaker across the globe. He feels privileged to have addressed important global conferences and events that have impacted thousands of leaders and changed the life trajectory of many.

Videos featuring him have garnered millions of views across various platforms. His keen vision and uniquely inspiring journey have inspired thousands of students, businessmen, and corporate leaders within a very short span of time.

A 360-degree achiever…

For his distinguished achievements, Srikanth has been honoured with numerous awards and accolades that have proved his mettle on national and international forums.

In his latest spree, Srikanth was chosen as a Young Global Leader 2021 by the World Economic Forum. JCI USA awarded him as one of the Top Ten Most Outstanding Young Persons of the world.

In November of 2021, he was chosen to join Lead India Foundation as Vice President and Member of the Board of Trustees. He has taken up the colossal task to reorganise and re-establish this forum to bring back and excel in its old glory by systematically training millions of youth by 2030.

A biopic about his life is becoming a reality soon. The project is taken up by some of the lead producers and actors in India in the hope to inspire billions around the world.

“I know that I have come a very long way from where I started. However, it is still just the beginning of better things to come.”

In 2022, a biopic Srikanth a film featuring Rajkummar Rao in the lead role of Srikanth Bolla was announced. The trailer was released on 10th May, 2024.