SUNDEEP DRONAWAT

Dr. Sundeep “Sunny” Dronawat, PhD, MBA
Entrepreneur | Innovator | Community Leader

Dr. Sundeep “Sunny” Dronawat is a visionary entrepreneur, technologist, and community leader dedicated to economic development, innovation, and public service in Louisville, Kentucky. With a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering and an MBA from the University of Louisville, and an executive certification in Healthcare Innovation from Harvard Medical School, Dr. Dronawat blends deep academic expertise with dynamic business leadership.

Arriving in Louisville in 1992 with just $50 and no local contacts, Dr. Dronawat has since built and exited multiple successful ventures, including POS on Cloud (acquired by Newtek in 2019) and Samiteon AI, a company at the forefront of AI and IT services. He is also the driving force behind Fetal Life, Inc., an NIH-funded medical device company developing innovative solutions for prenatal care, and he serves as Principal Investigator on a $2 million NIH grant focused on underserved communities.

Dr. Dronawat is a partner in Triple Crown Holdings, a real estate investment fund with over $75 million in assets under management, and he recently developed a $13 million award-winning green hotel in partnership with La Quinta. He also co-founded PlayPickleBall Club, an indoor pickleball venture emphasizing wellness and community engagement.

In the public sector, Dr. Dronawat is Chairperson of the Louisville Water Company, and serves on the boards of the University of Louisville School of Business, Jefferson Community and Technical College, and several other educational and civic institutions. His contributions have earned him the MOSAIC Award, the Kentucky Colonel honor, and recognition as the 2018 Alumni Fellow of the Year by the University of Louisville’s Speed Scientific School.

Dr. Dronawat’s policy work on Big Data Governance has been presented to the Obama White House and laid foundational ideas for today’s AI and machine learning policy development. He has authored over ten peer-reviewed scientific papers and continues to mentor the next generation as an adjunct professor at both Bellarmine University and Indiana University Southeast.