Umang Gupta (August 3, 1949 – April 19, 2022) was an
Indian-American
Indian Americans or Indo-Americans are citizens of the United States with ancestry from India. The United States Census Bureau uses the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Native Americans, who have also historically been referred to ...
entrepreneur and
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, executive credited with writing the first business plan for
Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation headquartered in Austin, Texas. In 2020, Oracle was the third-largest software company in the world by revenue and market capitalization. The company sells da ...
.
He was also the founder of enterprise software company
Gupta Technologies
Gupta Technologies, LLC was a software development company based in Roseville, Placer County, California. It was later renamed to Centura Software in the late 1990s and then to Halo Technology Holdings, Inc in 2005. It was acquired by Unify C ...
and was later the CEO of
Keynote Systems
Keynote Systems was a U.S. based company that specialized in developing and marketing software as a service technology to measure, test, and improve from the end user perspective, the performance of websites, online content, applications, and ser ...
.
Early life
Gupta was born on August 23, 1949, in
Patiala
Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, India, Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak, Patiala, Qila Mubarak ...
, the son of
Ramnika Gupta
Ramnika Gupta (April 22, 1930 – March 26, 2019) was an Indian writer, activist and politician. She was the founder and President of Ramnika Foundation, member of the CPI(M), a tribal rights champion, former trade union leader, politician, writ ...
and Ved Prakash Gupta. His mother was a politician and activist, while his father worked with the Indian labor ministry. He was raised by his father, Mr. Ved Prakash Gupta after his parents separated when he was a young child. He obtained his Bachelor of Technology degree in
chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...
from
IIT Kanpur
The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT Kanpur) Hindi: भारतीय प्रौद्योगिकी संस्थान कानपुर) is a public institute of technology located in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was ...
in 1971.
During his time at IIT Kanpur, Gupta was exposed to the first
IBM computers in the country helping him develop his
computer programming
Computer programming is the process of performing a particular computation (or more generally, accomplishing a specific computing result), usually by designing and building an executable computer program. Programming involves tasks such as ana ...
skills.
After immigrating to the United States, Gupta also earned M.B.A. degree (1972) from
Kent State University
Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in As ...
. In 1996, Umang received the Distinguished Alumnus Award of IIT Kanpur.
Career
IBM and Oracle
After graduating, he joined
IBM as a computer sales representative.
After working seven years at IBM, in 1981 Umang Gupta joined
Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation headquartered in Austin, Texas. In 2020, Oracle was the third-largest software company in the world by revenue and market capitalization. The company sells da ...
as their 17th employee. He was credited with writing the company’s first business plan in 1981 and was eventually promoted to vice president of the company’s microcomputer products division. He remained in the role until his departure from the company in 1984.
Gupta Technologies
He was the founder and chief executive of
Gupta Technologies
Gupta Technologies, LLC was a software development company based in Roseville, Placer County, California. It was later renamed to Centura Software in the late 1990s and then to Halo Technology Holdings, Inc in 2005. It was acquired by Unify C ...
, a
client/server database and tools company, from 1984 to 1996, where he helped to usher in the era of client server computing with the first
SQL database server
A database server is a server which uses a database application that provides database services to other computer programs or to computers, as defined by the client–server model. Database management systems (DBMSs) frequently provide database- ...
and application development tools for PC networks. In the 1980s, products of Gupta Technologies included interfaces for programming custom applications and tools for programmers with a background in
Cobol
COBOL (; an acronym for "common business-oriented language") is a compiled English-like computer programming language designed for business use. It is an imperative, procedural and, since 2002, object-oriented language. COBOL is primarily us ...
,
dBase
dBase (also stylized dBASE) was one of the first database management systems for microcomputers and the most successful in its day. The dBase system includes the core database engine, a query system, a forms engine, and a programming language ...
, or
Visual Basic Visual Basic is a name for a family of programming languages from Microsoft. It may refer to:
* Visual Basic .NET (now simply referred to as "Visual Basic"), the current version of Visual Basic launched in 2002 which runs on .NET
* Visual Basic (cl ...
.
Gupta was the first executive who had worked under
Larry Ellison
Lawrence Joseph Ellison (born August 17, 1944) is an American business magnate and investor who is the co-founder, executive chairman, chief technology officer (CTO) and former chief executive officer (CEO) of the American computer technology ...
to start his own company.
Gupta Technologies was the first Indian-run enterprise software company to go public on
Nasdaq
The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...
.
Gupta sold the company in 1997.
Keynote Systems
Gupta was chairman and chief executive officer of
Keynote Systems
Keynote Systems was a U.S. based company that specialized in developing and marketing software as a service technology to measure, test, and improve from the end user perspective, the performance of websites, online content, applications, and ser ...
from December 1997.
He oversaw the company as it went public in 1999. Gupta was able to negotiate the merger between Keynote and Vividence in 2004 after meeting Vividence CEO Peter Watkins at a poker game.
It was sold to
private equity
In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a ty ...
company
Thoma Bravo
Thoma Bravo, LP, is an American private equity and growth capital firm with offices in San Francisco, Chicago and Miami. It is known for being particularly active in acquiring software companies and has over $114 billion in assets under manage ...
in August 2013.
Other
Gupta served as an advisor and investor in
William Draper’s project to establish a
venture capital
Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...
fund for India in 1994. He served on the board of Mosaix, a company that developed call-center software, from 1997 to 1999, before it was sold to
Lucent Technologies
Lucent Technologies, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications equipment company headquartered in Murray Hill, New Jersey. It was established on September 30, 1996, through the divestiture of the former AT&T Technologies business u ...
.
After selling Keynote Systems, Gupta dedicated his efforts to education for young children, founding SeaShells Education. One of his main initiatives was Reading Racer. Gupta developed the Reading Racer app with a team including Carnegie Mellon graduates Melanie Lam and Rodrigo Cano and also launched a foundation to continue support for Reading Racer. Gupta also began investing in educational technology companies such as Front Row Education.
In 2000, Gupta was honored with the Shreyas Mavanoor Foundation Award
for Civic Leadership and Philanthropy. Gupta served on the board of the Peninsula Community Foundation, California, which later merged with another foundation to form the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the largest community foundation in the United States. He along with his wife Ruth were donors to, and served as board members of PARCA, a non-profit organization in the
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...
devoted to the needs of the developmentally disabled and their families, and helped to found Raji House, a respite home for the developmentally disabled, located in Burlingame, California. Gupta also had an avid interest in history and served as Chairman of the Board and on the President’s Advisory Committee of the ''San Mateo County Historical Association'' (SMCHA); SMCHA operated the
San Mateo County History Museum
The San Mateo County History Museum is located in downtown Redwood City, California. Housed inside the former San Mateo County Courthouse built in 1910, the museum showcases the rich history of San Mateo County, California, San Mateo County and th ...
, where he and his wife helped sponsor the "Immigrants Gallery", also known as the “Land of Opportunity” Exhibit, a permanent exhibition to honor the contributions of immigrants to
San Mateo County
San Mateo County ( ), officially the County of San Mateo, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 764,442. Redwood City is the county seat, and the third most populated city following Daly ...
.
Gupta and his wife Ruth also contributed $500,000 for the renovation of the San Mateo County History Museum, which was acknowledged as the biggest private contribution received by the museum.
Gupta was also a co-founder of the IIT Kanpur Foundation
and served as Global Board Chairman of PanIIT,
the alumni organization of over 200,000 alumni of the Indian Institutes of Technology. Bagla is credited with drafting the constitution of the Global PanIIT Association, which is used in the association’s chapters around the world.
He participated as an angel investor and advisor to various
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...
technology companies.
Gupta was also a guest contributor to ''The New York Times''.
Personal life
Gupta was married to Ruth Gupta, an immigrant from the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
.
The couple had two sons and a daughter.
One of his sons died at an early age. The couple founded Raji House, a support center for
developmentally disabled
Developmental disability is a diverse group of chronic conditions, comprising mental or physical impairments that arise before adulthood. Developmental disabilities cause individuals living with them many difficulties in certain areas of life, espe ...
children. The center was associated with Partners & Advocates for Remarkable Children & Adults.
Gupta died on April 19, 2022, at his home in
San Mateo, California
San Mateo ( ; ) is a city in San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula. About 20 miles (32 km) south of San Francisco, the city borders Burlingame to the north, Hillsborough to the west, San Francisco Bay and Foster C ...
, at the age of 72. He was diagnosed with terminal
bladder cancer
Bladder cancer is any of several types of cancer arising from the tissues of the urinary bladder. Symptoms include blood in the urine, pain with urination, and low back pain. It is caused when epithelial cells that line the bladder become mali ...
more than two years earlier.
References
External links
Biography of Umang Gupta prepared and presented at the 2000 Asian Pacific Fund gala by Board Member and KRON TV News Anchor Emerald Yeh
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gupta, Umang
1949 births
2022 deaths
Deaths from bladder cancer
Deaths from cancer in California
Oracle employees
Indian emigrants to the United States
Businesspeople in computing
Kent State University alumni
IIT Kanpur alumni
Punjabi people
American people of Indian descent
20th-century American businesspeople
21st-century American businesspeople