CHENNAI: Sivarajah Ramanathan has resigned as the mission director and chief executive officer of StartupTN. Ramanathan, whose extended term was due to end in December 2026, confirmed on Wednesday that his resignation had been accepted by the government, ending nearly a week of speculation over his future.
L Nirmal Raj, industries commissioner and director of industries and commerce, will now hold the additional charge of CEO of StartupTN. The GO to appoint the successor of Sivarajah Ramanathan was issued by MSME secretary Atul Anand on Thursday.
Appointed by the DMK government and assuming office in January 2022, Ramanathan oversaw a period of rapid growth in TN’s startup landscape. His departure marks the end of a four-and-a-half-year stint during which StartupTN evolved into a key driver of entrepreneurship and innovation-led economic development.
The number of startups recognised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) rose from just over 2,000 in 2021 to more than 14,700, making TN one of the country’s fastest-growing startup ecosystems.
Nearly half of the recognised startups in the state are women-led, a figure that stands out in an industry traditionally dominated by male founders. At the policy level, one of Ramanathan’s most notable achievements was steering the TN Startup and Innovation Policy 2023.