Founders of Pratham Software (PSI) a global provider of software solutions !
Puneet Mittal and Sumeeti Mittal gave away their comfortable jobs to start Pratham Software (PSI). Mittal started his career in designing and construction of infrastructure, and Sumeeti, a Government employee, quit her job with the aim to pursue higher studies from USA. But destiny had something else written for them.
How the foundation of Pratham Software was laid…
The Mittals got an offer from a US-based company to develop software for them and this is how a small software export order changed their plans. Puneet took this opportunity of software assignment as a challenge. Having basic knowledge about coding, he decided to hire an IIT Professor to take interviews for their company. Their journey in the field of software exports started with a mere four freshers from IIT and NIT. The couple then took up software development courses. Having tasted a byte during the college days, the subject was not new to them. Mr. Mittal was inclined towards computers since the college days; unaware that this inclination would turn into a profitable profession.
Starting from a meagre number of four, now there are around 400 people working in Pratham Software (PSI) and every year there is a growth in number.
The couple’s skills, adaptability, and approach of doing things to suit a new situation, is the key to their success.
The upper floor of their home was Pratham’s first office, which has now grown and moved to a prime industrial area of Jaipur, with a huge development centre. They began to get big breakthroughs from the international market. To cater to the international market and to serve a highly diverse customer base, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies across industry and technology domains, they have opened offices in the USA and Germany.
They believe in investing in the right people and are considered as good paymasters in the industry.
Their philosophy is to build relationships based on mutual trust and respect as it helps achieve the desired results. “Time management, hard work and discipline are what have made it possible”, say the Mittals. In their organization, people from diverse backgrounds and geographies have come together in pursuit of a common vision.
A good piece of advice by the head of the family to start their project in India and their sister’s guidance to help them get their first software project for USA based company, changed the direction of Mittals’ careers. The journey has not been very easy for the engineer couple as it was a start from scratch, with barely any infrastructure or expertise.
Sumeeti’s Journey does not stop here…
While on business tours to the USA, she saw that every class of society had access to education. Whereas, underprivileged children in our country were deprived of even basic education.
This ignited her to start an NGO “Pratham Shiksha”, a charitable organisation with the primary objective to impart education to the underprivileged section of our society.
The organisation runs classes for up to 10th standard with a strength of 300 students. They also support these children for higher education. Apart from basic education, vocational training in plumbing, stitching, and many such areas is also provided to both boys and girls in order to make them self-dependent and earn their livelihood. They have also collaborated with a few private hospitals to impart certified nursing training to the students, making them eligible for nursing jobs.
Sumeeti is also passionate about painting, travel, music, and robotics. We get to see her beautiful paintings hung across on the walls of her organisations. With the support of her loving family and her two daughters, she is able to follow her passion. She won hearts and accolades for her work and was awarded, “100 Women Achievers Award”, by the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare, Government of India and has also a receiver of “Make in India” award.
Education and Constant learning helps not only in Self-growth but is also the key to a successful life and career.