When launching a company, the decision about whether to go it alone or court investors is pivotal; Subodha Charles has done both and learned the many lessons that each path offers.
Going it alone, for example, “teaches discipline like nothing else,” he says, and also underscores the importance of every hire, every decision, every dollar spent. This path’s pay-offs include bolstering creativity, a scrappy mindset, and a “laser focus” on identifying and solving real problems.
In partnering with investors, Charles chose to skirt the “typical venture capital route” in favor of people who believed in the mission they helped to finance. This resulted in collaborations that emphasized scalability and stability rather than growth at all costs.
Today, Charles is both a faculty member in the Department of Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering at the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, and cofounder of Alta Vision energy company, which expanded into the Pearl Cluster, a group of companies operating across energy, construction, digital services, and other sectors, with offices in London and Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Charles is also one of Computing’s Top 30 Early Career Professionals. In the following Q&A, he describes
- Key elements of a successful patent application, including detailed specifications; flow diagrams; use-case scenarios; and clear, defensible claims about the invention’s novelty and non-obviousness
- How building multiple companies taught him the importance of early hires, why clear communication is more valuable than charisma, and how culture exists not in cafeteria menus and game rooms but in how your team performs when things go south
- The essential role of people in a company’s success, including finding the right leaders who share your vision and bring deep domain expertise
- How his approach to mentoring his students involves focusing on what they’re excited about and treating them not as learners, but as collaborators
You have been awarded four patents by the USPTO. Can you share the process of developing these patents and how they contribute to advancements in network-on-chip (NoC) architectures and hardware security?
Developing patents is a deeply iterative and research-intensive process. For my patents, the journey began with identifying inefficiencies and vulnerabilities in existing NoC architectures, particularly as chip complexity grew. Collaborating with peers, we introduced novel security mechanisms that improved both performance and resilience against attacks. In terms of hardware security, our innovations addressed confidentiality, integrity, and availability in multicore systems—which are especially relevant in an era of increasing IP reuse and third-party integrations.
Once we achieved convincing results, we initiated the patenting process with the University of Florida’s Tech Transfer Office. We began by filing provisional patent applications, which offered a 12-month window to further develop the technology while securing an early filing date. During this period, we refined our claims, gathered additional supporting data, and evaluated potential applications and commercialization pathways.
As we transitioned to full utility patent applications, we worked closely with patent attorneys to craft clear and defensible claims that highlighted the novelty and non-obviousness of our inventions. The process involved drafting detailed specifications, flow diagrams, and use-case scenarios. The USPTO then conducted a thorough prior art search, during which they often raised rejections or requested clarifications.
Responding to these office actions was a critical part of the journey. We defended our claims by providing technical arguments, contrasting with existing technologies, and occasionally amending the language to better align with patentability criteria. After multiple rounds of correspondence and refinement, four patents were ultimately granted, with a few others still in the pipeline.
You have built both bootstrapped and investor-backed companies with over 200 staff members combined. Can you share your experiences in building these companies and the key lessons you have learned in entrepreneurship and leadership?
Yes, I’ve had the opportunity to build both bootstrapped and investor-backed companies, and each path brought its own set of challenges, growth moments, and hard-earned lessons.
Bootstrapped journey. Building a bootstrapped company teaches discipline like nothing else. With limited resources, every hire, every product/service decision, and every dollar spent had to be intentional. We couldn’t afford to waste. This lean mindset forced us to be scrappy, creative, and laser-focused on solving real problems—not chasing vanity metrics.
It also shaped a very grounded company culture, where resilience, ownership, and experimentation were part of our DNA. In hindsight, bootstrapping taught me the value of long-term thinking, profitability early on, and building sustainable teams.
Partner-investor backed experience. In another venture, we brought on strategic partners and external investors, not through the typical venture capital route but via aligned collaborators who believed in the mission and had skin in the game. This form of backing was less about hyper-growth at all costs and more about building with scale, stability, and strategic alignment in mind.
Having outside investors introduced a new layer of accountability and expectation. We had to communicate clearly, align roadmaps, and make decisions with a broader group of stakeholders in mind. It wasn’t just about what was right for the product, but also how our direction fit into the bigger ecosystem we were part of.
This experience taught me the importance of managing relationships, setting expectations early, and maintaining transparency—even when things aren’t going perfectly. The ability to build trust through honest communication became just as important as shipping a great product. It also reinforced how critical it is to choose the right partners. Alignment in values, vision, and time horizons can make or break a growing company.
Of course, we didn’t get this all right at once. Many lessons were learned through mistakes. Some cost us dearly. That is part of all this anyway 🙂
My key lessons in entrepreneurship and leadership include the following:
- Hire slow—but hire leaders fast. The early team defines your trajectory more than any strategy.
- Culture isn’t about ping pong tables—it’s about how your team behaves when things go wrong.
- Clarity and communication beat charisma. Scaling leadership means making sure people don’t just buy into the what, but also deeply understand the why.
- Adaptability is a superpower. Every stage of a company requires you to reinvent yourself as a leader—from builder to manager to enabler.
Ultimately, building these companies has been a deeply humbling experience. It’s never linear, but it’s incredibly fulfilling to see people grow with the company and to create something that truly solves a need in the world.
As the Group Chairman of Pearl Cluster, you oversee multiple domains, including energy, construction, industrial automation, software, digital marketing, and healthcare. How do you manage such a diverse portfolio, and what are the key challenges and opportunities you encounter?
To set the context, the bootstrapped and investor-backed companies mentioned earlier gave rise to Pearl Cluster, the group of companies we operate today. With offices in London and Colombo, we span sectors including energy, construction, digital services, industrial automation, health and wellness, and manufacturing. Our journey began in the energy sector with Alta Vision. Each of the other companies emerged as a response to real-world gaps we encountered along the way. For example, Syntax Genie was born when we saw the lack of monitoring and management systems for distributed energy sources.
At the core of managing a diverse portfolio like Pearl Cluster is one simple principle: It’s all about the people. Success across sectors starts with finding the right leaders—individuals who bring deep domain expertise, take ownership, and align with a shared vision. With the right teams in place, the focus shifts to collaboration, enabling each business unit to thrive while staying aligned at the group level.
The team works incredibly hard to get new ventures off the ground while continuously streamlining operations in the more mature ones. Each sector brings its own pace, challenges, and opportunities, but strong leadership, clear communication, and mutual trust remain consistent across the board. Rather than centralizing control, the approach is to empower teams and foster an environment where ideas, resources, and insights can move freely between companies.
Securing about $3 million USD in grant funding for technology development is impressive. What strategies did you use to secure this funding, and how has it supported your research and development efforts?
We’ve been fortunate to raise grant funding from organizations such as InnovateUK, USAID, and the Asian Development Bank. While each grant had a distinct focus, they all aligned under the broad umbrella of energy innovation. This support enabled us to conduct Sri Lanka’s first residential demand-response pilot, develop a scalable and cost-effective mini-grid model, and advance battery technology tailored for last-mile mobility solutions.
Securing this funding required a combination of domain credibility, well-aligned partnerships, and a strong emphasis on impact and sustainability. The team focused on designing proposals that addressed real, measurable challenges in energy access, efficiency, and resilience—while demonstrating a clear pathway from research to implementation. The grant funding has been instrumental in accelerating our R&D efforts, allowing us to move faster, take on more ambitious technical challenges, and validate our solutions in real-world environments.
Winning at the National ICT Awards in Sri Lanka and being nominated for Asia Pacific ICT Alliance (APICTA) are significant achievements. What were the key projects or innovations that led to these honors?
Winning at the National ICT Awards (NBQSA) and being nominated for the APICTA Awards were driven by our work on Sri Lanka’s first Virtual Power Plant (VPP) controller, developed with direct utility support. The platform integrates solar, battery energy storage systems (BESS), and demand-response (DR) capabilities, with a roadmap to support EV integration in progress. Importantly, it offers utility-level controllability for ancillary services, positioning it as a key enabler of next-generation grid infrastructure.
The platform stands out because of its end-to-end architecture—entirely developed in-house, including hardware, firmware, and software—and its modular, scalable, and cost-effective design. The system is built for compliance with industry standards and is fully capable of integrating third-party hardware and software, making it adaptable to a wide range of deployment scenarios. This level of interoperability, combined with localized innovation, is what led to national and regional recognition.
As a senior lecturer at the University of Moratuwa, you have guided students and coworkers to notable success. How do you approach mentorship, and what do you find most rewarding about guiding the next generation of engineers and researchers?
The approach is simple—treat students and junior researchers as collaborators, not just learners. From the beginning, the focus is on identifying what excites them, giving them space to explore, and then guiding them toward building something meaningful around it. Whether it’s a research paper, a prototype, or a startup idea, the goal is to help them connect theory with real-world impact.
What’s most rewarding is watching that transformation—from uncertainty to confidence, from following instructions to asking their own questions and challenging assumptions. Some of the most exciting innovations and award-winning projects have come out of these student-led efforts, often with minimal resources but a lot of heart. Being part of that journey and seeing them go on to contribute to industry, research, or even start their own ventures is incredibly fulfilling. It’s a reminder that investing in people has the highest return.
Bio: Subodha Charles
Subodha Charles is a faculty member in the Department of Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. He received a PhD in computer science from the University of Florida and his BSc, specializing in electronics and telecommunication engineering, from the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. His research interests include hardware security and trust, embedded systems, and computer architecture. He has published his work in premier international conferences and journals, and he has four USPTO patents. His experience in industry includes Intel, USA, and Zone24x7, Sri Lanka.
In 2013, Subodha cofounded a company in Sri Lanka operating in the energy sector; it is currently one of the country’s market leaders. The company has invested and expanded into other areas, including construction, healthcare, and digital services and is now operating as a group of companies—the Pearl Cluster—with offices in London and Colombo.
Since 2011, Charles has volunteered at IEEE and held several global leadership positions. He has successfully led many initiatives within IEEE to foster entrepreneurship, industry collaboration, and membership growth. For these efforts, IEEE has recognized him with several international awards. Currently, Charles serves as IEEE MGA Student Activities Committee Chair.
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