Currently building Certivo

KunalChopra

BuilderOperatorInvestorBoard Director

I turn services businesses into technology platforms — three times over. From a public-market turnaround to a 25x private-equity valuation, and now the AI company rewriting how the world stays compliant.

See the WorkFollow on LinkedIn ↗
Kunal Chopra
Chief Executive
FORBESGEEKWIRECNBCTHE SPOKESMAN-REVIEWPR NEWSWIREPULSE 2.0TECH STARTUPSSEATTLE DJCVALIANTCEOFORBESGEEKWIRECNBCTHE SPOKESMAN-REVIEWPR NEWSWIREPULSE 2.0TECH STARTUPSSEATTLE DJCVALIANTCEO
01
By the Numbers
0×
Times a CEO
0×
EBITDA Valuation (Beckett)
$2$52
Kaspien Stock Run
$0M+
Capital Raised
$0B+
Revenue Managed
0
Directors Recruited as Chairman

“I find businesses at their inflection point — and turn them into platforms that outlast me. That's the whole job: vision, team, momentum, and value that compounds long after I've moved on.”

02
Story

From a one-way ticket
to a NASDAQ turnaround.

I grew up in Mumbai. When I finished my engineering degree, I borrowed $10,000, bought a one-way ticket to the United States, and enrolled at Clemson on the waitlist for a scholarship I didn't yet have. Two weeks after I landed, the scholarship came through.

Everything since has been built the same way — on hard work, clear goals, and a refusal to wait for permission. I started as a software engineer at Microsoft, got curious about the business behind the technology, and spent the next two decades moving from building products to building companies: an MBA at Chicago Booth, hypergrowth at Groupon, GM roles at Microsoft and Amazon, a NASDAQ turnaround at Kaspien, a 25x private-equity valuation at Beckett, and now an AI company at Certivo.

The throughline never changes: find the inflection point, set the vision, build the team, and create lasting value.

Also founder of Coursetake, an AI-powered interview preparation platform.

Kunal Chopra — in the Kaspien office
Companies Built or Led
CertivoBeckettKaspienMicrosoftAmazonGroupon
03
Work

Three companies. Three different ownership structures. One repeatable pattern: turn a services business into a technology platform, and create measurable value doing it.

$1B
Marketplace Sales
+20%
EBITDA Swing
20x+
EV / EBITDA
4 Qtrs
Consecutive Profit
The Situation

Recruited to lead the turnaround of a public e-commerce company in decline — revenue contracting, EBITDA negative, stock languishing near $2, and no defensible growth engine.

What I Did

Built an entirely new business — a tech-enabled agency and software platform distributing brands across Walmart, eBay, and Target — that became the margin engine driving EBITDA from red to black.

Re-engineered the cost structure through outsourcing, automation, and organizational redesign, cutting SG&A margin 20%+.

Deployed a new digital customer-acquisition strategy that drove an 8:1 LTV:CAC ratio, tripled the customer base, and cut churn below 5%.

Funded the growth plan through both debt and public equity, partnering closely with the board on capital strategy.

Rebuilt the company from the inside out — HR function, leadership principles, compensation structure, career paths — earning back-to-back "Best Places to Work" recognition (2020, 2021).

The Results

Took the stock from ~$2 (end of 2019) to a $52 peak (Q1 2021), with four consecutive profitable quarters.

Reversed revenue from -28% YoY to +20%+; EBITDA from negative to positive within the first year.

Grew the business past $1B in marketplace sales; enterprise value drew acquisition offers at ~20x adjusted EBITDA.

Why a board should care: Public-company command under real scrutiny — earnings calls, analyst relationships, proxy execution, and capital-markets decisions with shareholders watching every quarter.
$40M
ARR Built (SaaS)
5%→20%
Recurring Rev Mix
$200M+
Capital Secured
2x
Market Share
The Situation

A private-equity-owned, three-company platform (Beckett Collectibles, Southern Hobby, Arcane Tinmen) anchored by a 40-year-old grading and services business. The mandate: turn the flagship into a technology platform — Bloomberg + Amazon for the collectibles industry — and unlock synergies across the portfolio.

What I Did

Set a new mission, competitive strategy, 3-year operating plan, and 10-year vision — repositioning Beckett from a services company into a technology platform with clear, defensible differentiation.

Launched five new products: a data & analytics platform, a rebuilt beckett.com, the Beckett Collect SaaS product, Beckett Vault, and a patent-backed NFT product.

Relaunched beckett.com as a modern, Amazon-like eCommerce experience — lifting revenue 20% in just three months.

Recruited a product-first leadership team — CFO, CTO, Chief Product Officer, Chief People Officer, Head of Design, and Chief of Staff — and rebuilt the culture around it.

Secured $200M+ in financing from HPS Investment Partners and Freedom 3 Capital to fund the transformation and strategic acquisitions (Due Dilly, NoXX) — institutional capital that publicly validated the thesis.

The Results

25x EBITDA valuation increase, positioning the company for PE exit.

Built a ~$40M ARR SaaS business — recurring software revenue grew from 5% to over 20% of the mix.

Doubled market share from 5% to 10%.

Why a board should care: The PE value-creation playbook executed end to end — thesis, product transformation, M&A, debt structuring, team build, and exit positioning.

$200M+ figure and lender names confirmed in Beckett's February 2023 press release (HPS Investment Partners + Freedom 3 Capital).

$350B
Annual Compliance Spend (TAM)
80–90%
Manual Work Eliminated
1/10th
Cost vs. Traditional
The Situation

Manufacturers spend over $350B annually on compliance — roughly 12% of the sector's value-add to GDP. Without the right certifications and constant regulatory vigilance, products can't launch and revenue is lost. Certivo, a Pioneer Square Labs spinout built in partnership with Fortive, was founded to solve this with AI.

What I Did

Leading 0-to-1 company building across product, go-to-market, team, and fundraising.

Built the platform around CORA, a 24/7 AI compliance assistant that parses BOMs, validates documents, monitors regulatory change (REACH, RoHS, PFAS, TSCA, Prop 65), and manages supplier and customer communications.

Automating certificate collection, supplier engagement, and global regulatory tracking — eliminating 80–90% of manual work at roughly 1/10th the cost of traditional methods.

Secured backing from Suffolk Technologies, Pioneer Square Ventures, Fortive, and the AI Studio Fund (a PSL/Mayfield partnership).

Why a board should care: A sitting AI CEO brings real-time, hands-on AI and regulatory expertise into the boardroom — the single most-requested director skill of 2026.
04
Writing

Sharp takes on AI, operating, and where enterprise software is going.

Selected Forbes Bylines
From LinkedIn

Manual effort climbs in a straight line; automated effort stays nearly flat as volume grows. And the gap between those two lines is exactly where the pressure is building for every manufacturer.

Read on LinkedIn ↗

If your AI compliance platform can hallucinate, it shouldn't be your AI compliance platform. A confidently wrong answer in compliance isn't a UX issue — it's a detained shipment, a failed audit, a regulatory penalty.

Read on LinkedIn ↗

‘AI features’ and ‘AI-native’ are not the same thing. When a president asks their team to be AI-native, they're not looking for a chatbot bolted onto a 2015 platform — they're looking for systems where AI does the work, not just assists with it.

Read on LinkedIn ↗
More on LinkedIn →
Forbes Technology CouncilTechstars MentorAdjunct Professor — Whitworth UniversityTech Advisor — U.S. House of Representatives
05
Now

What I'm building right now.

Building
Certivo

Leading the AI-native compliance company, backed by Suffolk Technologies, Fortive, and PSL.

Read the case study →
Writing & Sharing
Thought Leadership

Sharing regular short-form perspective on AI, operating, and building — on LinkedIn.

Follow on LinkedIn ↗
Advising & Investing
Founders, early-stage

Backing and advising early-stage founders; mentoring through startup programs.

06
Recognition
Featured Appearances
articleGeekWire
Certivo Raises $4M to Automate Supply Chain Compliance with AI
Coverage of Certivo's seed round and the launch of the AI-native compliance category.
Read
NYSE Floor Talk — Ringing the Bell: Public Company Leadership
videoNYSE Floor Talk
Ringing the Bell: Public Company Leadership
NYSE Floor Talk on leading a public company and creating shareholder value.
Watch
Dave & Adam’s — The Chase — Beckett CEO on Transforming the Collectibles Industry
videoDave & Adam’s — The Chase
Beckett CEO on Transforming the Collectibles Industry
A conversation on taking Beckett from a services business to a technology platform.
Watch

Also featured in Pulse 2.0, Seattle DJC, PR Newswire, and the Spokane Journal of Business.

07
Board & Governance

I serve as Chairman of Aventis Alpha Care and on the boards of Certivo and CareTech — bringing operator-tested governance to the table.

Chairman — Aventis Alpha CareBoard & CEO — CertivoBoard — CareTech
Board credentials & committee fit
08
Contact

Let's work together.

Open to operating roles, board work, advisory, speaking, and strategic conversations.