MetroWest495 Biz

MetroWest495 Biz | May 2015 17 10 TO WATCH R eWalk Robotics and its wearable exoskeleton — like those with disabilities that the prod- uct helps — can only go up from here. After last year's Smaller Business Association of New England's Innovation Award; Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approval; and its $150-million initial public offering, the company, led by CEO Larry Jasinski, is poised for success. Asked to describe his experience at ReWalk, Jasinski said it's been "the best experience of my life." Jasinski, who has a bachelor's degree in marketing from Providence College and an MBA from the University of Bridgeport in Conn., had related experience before joining the firm in 2012. He has served as president and CEO of Cortek Inc., which develops treatment for degenerative disc disease; Soteira of Natick, a medical device maker for those with compression fractures of the verte - brae; and has held various positions at medical device maker Boston Scientific in Marlborough. "Our goal has not changed," Jasinski said, from the time he came to the company with 17 employees, to its current team of 72. "The goal is to use robotics to allow people better health, a better life experience." The exoskeleton allows the user the benefits of exercise; to be more eye-to-eye with others; and the ability to do simple tasks, like getting things from high shelves. ReWalk was founded in Israel in 2001 by inventor Amit Goffer — after he was left paralyzed following an ATV accident. The growing company opened offices in Marlbor - ough in 2012. The average person with a spinal-cord injury is likely a younger man, Jasinski said. He said there are 42,000 U.S. veterans with spinal-cord injuries. With government dollars already funding research into the benefits of walking to help soldiers, the ReWalk exoskeleton's timing was fortuitous: ten days after FDA clear - ance, the James J. Peters VA Medical Center in the Bronx, N.Y. became the first U.S. insurer to pay for the $70,000 exoskeleton for the veterans it serves. One of the company's goals, said Jasinski, is to further insurance acceptance of the device. "Someday (our clients) will include those who have had a stroke, MS, or someone who is older and in need of an assistance device," he said. n LARRY JASINSKI CEO, ReWalk Robotics V enkat Kolluri, CEO of Internet advertising companies Chitika Inc. in Westborough and Cidewalk Inc. in Southborough, describes himself in simple terms. "I'm probably about the most hard-core geek you would ever run into," said Kolluri, a native of India who moved to Boston in the late 1990s to work for search engine company Lycos. An engineer with a degree from the University of Pittsburgh, Kolluri said the job "opened his eyes" to the power of the web in making con- nections between advertisers and consumers. And so, despite the fact that Kolluri lacks what he calls a "typical advertising background," he saw an opportu- nity to use his engineering mind to apply that technology to make those connections happen. Kolluri launched Chitika in 2003 with his business partner, Alden DoRosario, the company's chief technol- ogy officer. "Chitika" means "with a snap of the fingers" in Telugu, a language predominant in certain regions of India. And it's fitting, according to Kolluri, because what the company essentially does is enable clicks on online advertisements. As the "connection agent" between advertisers and consumers, Kolluri likened the work they do to matchmaking. With 35 employees in Westborough, Chitika serves about four billion online ads per month. The company is known for its innovative work environment, offering catered lunches and laundry service to employees, among other perks. "We can- not rely on the old structured workplace environment," Kolluri said. Meanwhile, Kolluri has shifted attention to the company's new mobile advertising spinoff, Cidewalk Inc., over the last year. Cidewalk started as a segment of Chitika that focused on delivering targeted mobile advertising for small-business owners. But in March, Chitika announced that Cide- walk would become its own company under the Chitika umbrella. With headquarters in Southborough, Cidewalk now employs 15 people. The company leverages the smartphone, which provides advertis- ers with precise location information on their targeted customers, in delivering targeted mobile ads, Kolluri said. Back in March, Cidewalk also announced it would partner with Yahoo Small Business, which would offer the Cidewalk platform to its customers. But the company has also taken a grassroots approach to pro- moting Cidewalk to small-business users by partnering with local cham- bers of commerce and the Westborough Economic Development Corp. to offer training and certain freebies to local businesses on the service. "If we can empower the local businesses to grow," Kolluri said, "all of us will succeed in this ecosystem." n VENKAT KOLLURI CEO, Chitika Inc. and Cidewalk Inc.

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