Arvind Kondangi Lakshmikumar
Co-founder, Managing Director and CEO, Tonbo Imaging
Master's in Engineering (Software Systems), BITS Pilani
About
Arvind Kondangi Lakshmikumar, who also goes by Arvind Lakshmikumar, is a co-founder, promoter, managing director and chief executive of Tonbo Imaging, a Bengaluru-based maker of thermal imaging and electro-optical systems for defence. Before Tonbo he headed technology and operations at Sarnoff Corporation, according to the company. Tonbo was incorporated in 2003 and became a defence-focused product company in 2012, after Lakshmikumar and fellow promoters Ankit Kumar and Cecilia D'Souza bought out its former parent; the three have worked together for more than two decades. The company describes him as a specialist in applied imaging, computer vision and robotics who has been a principal investigator and programme director on projects for DARPA, NASA, the US Army, the Air Force Research Laboratory, the National Science Foundation and DRDO. Tonbo's offer document says he holds a master's degree in engineering (software systems) from BITS Pilani, and the company says he also did doctoral work in robotics at Carnegie Mellon University. He received CNBC's SME Entrepreneur of the Year award on 25 July 2025. By March 2026 Tonbo had deployed more than 28,000 systems across 24 countries, including thermal cores, weapon sights, targeting systems and missile seekers.
Tonbo filed its draft red herring prospectus in December 2025 and refiled in August 2026; SEBI issued its observations on 21 September 2026 for an IPO made up entirely of an offer for sale of up to 1.81 crore shares, so the company will receive no proceeds. Lakshmikumar, who held 49.68 lakh shares (8.67%) before the offer, is selling up to 11.5 lakh shares. In April 2025 Tonbo raised ₹175 crore in a Series D round from Florintree Advisors and EXIM Bank at a ₹1,500 crore valuation. Its other backers include Qualcomm Ventures, Artiman, Celesta and HBL Engineering.
Source: sebi.gov.in
