Our Team
Kumar Shah, Chairman & CEO
Our Chairman/CEO, Kumar Shah, is the visionary who founded Accelar to bring the power of the Internet, Web 2.0 and Social Media to the $95B Group Travel services market. With less than 30% of all Group Travel services market conducted on-line, he saw the opportunity to bring more sophisticated Web 2.0-based dynamic packaging and automation to the On-line Group Travel Services booking market. Kumar is a veteran of the high-tech industry and brings more than 15 years of experience in working with entrepreneurial start-up companies as senior executive and as an investor. Under his leadership, Accelar has become one of the leading providers of On-line Web/Internet solutions to the Group Travel services market, in general, and Ground Transportation services, in particular. Besides leading the Accelar venture, he is also the Managing Partner of an investment fund that has invested in a brick-and-mortar Group Travel services company, El Camino Trailways, to execute on the Click-and-mortar business model that has become his and our guiding principle. Kumar has led and guided many other ventures - Kasenna, Occam, AccessLan and others - and has been affiliated with several venture capital firms, including US Venture Partners. The companies Kumar has been affiliated with have delivered more than $1B of Business-to-Business and Business-to-Consumer products and services. Kumar has an MS from University of Massachusetts, Amherst and BS from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay, India. Kumar resides in Silicon Valley and sets the strategic direction for our company and manages the most important capital assets for our company - technology, equity and human capital.
Andy Beohar, VP Engineering
Andy has 13+ years of experience in the E-business and Software Development industry. He has strategized, architected and led the execution of numerous web portals, enterprise e-commerce applications, wireless applications and large-scale database solutions. He has a deep understanding of web based technologies and a successful track record of translating complex processes into intuitive e-business solutions. Prior to joining Accelar, Andy was founder and President of Infoscaler, a leading Santa Clara based e-business solutions firm. At Infoscaler, Andy was instrumental in bringing in Fortune 50 and global enterprise customers such as Sony, McKesson and Covance. He successfully managed distributed teams to create large-scale web portals and internet applications. Prior to Infoscaler, Andy held development management and software engineering positions at Client Server Designs, a developer of CASE tools, and Pittway (now Honeywell), a manufacturer of security access control devices. Andy has a degree in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin. Andy provides engineering management for our engineering team across the globe.
Allan Linden, Director of Marketing
Allan Linden marketing communications professional with over 20 years of advertising, marketing, public relations, investor relations and branding/messaging experience. Over his career he has helped to successfully launch over 100 products and services, and almost as many companies worldwide. Allan’s has worked with such companies as Foundry Networks, Kasenna, Occam Networks and agency giants J. Walter Thompson and Doyle Dane Bernbach. Most recently he founded and sold Software as a Service business, which focused on digital asset management. At Accelar, Al is responsible for managing all marketing, public relations, marketing communications and advertising activities.
Tinny Arora, Web Designer/Engineer
Tinny has over seven years experience in the field of Information Technology primarily in the field of web development.She worked as an Application Analyst in Allegheny Energy and PPG(Paint Glass) in Pittsburgh, PA. At Accelar, Tinny is responsible for development of new features for further enhancements and maintenance of site.
Vikrant Pathania, Marketing Manager
Vikrant Pathania is a Marketing Manager for Accelar Inc. His duties include content generation and conducting online marketing activities. Vikrant has a B.S. in Information Technology and an A.A. in Technical Communications. He is currently pursuing a Marketing Management certification from UCSC-Extension program. Social media marketing such as Facebook and Twitter are also part of Vikrant’s duties.
Ken Wong, Operations Manager
Ken is currently our Operations Manager for services operated by Accelar. He oversees the logistical aspects that is required to operate our services. He has an extensive logistical background with FedEx and is also currently a travel counselor with Mundi Travel in San Jose. Ken graduated from San Jose State University with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing.
Kinnery Shah, Marketing Intern
Kinnery is a second year undergraduate at University of California – Los Angeles (UCLA) where she is majoring in International Development Studies. Kinnery has been on the marketing team of various music events and festivals at UCLA, including the Jazz Reggae Festival at UCLA, the largest student-run event in the nation.
Advisory Board
David Pickeral, Executive Advisor
Mr. Pickeral is a senior expert and strategist in the area of transport and telecoms, particularly in the area of technology and policy surrounding the operation and deployment of next-generation transportation systems. In addition to his work with Accelar Mr. Pickeral currently works as an independent consulting supporting US and international clients related to critical communications systems development. In this capacity he has managed large teams supporting successful efforts for nationwide interoperability initiatives working with transport public safety and emergency management entities at all levels of government. He belongs to a number of professional and academic societies related to his background in telecommunications and transportation management and policy as well as his military service.
Bill McFarlane, Advisor
Bill McFarlane is a senior travel industry executive/consultant with a proactive entrepreneurial spirit and significant achievements in both the corporate and consulting environment for companies from established Global 1000 firms to start-up ventures. He has successfully fulfilled roles as CEO and board member, as well as key leadership positions in strategic planning, M&A, marketing, sales, product and market development and operations for a variety of companies, including i-FAO, a German Corporate Travel Services Management company; TravelStora, a UK-based on-line, full-service B2B travel services site; and Galileo/North America, the joint venture between European Airlines and United Airlines for development of their GDS. Bill has Diploma in Management Studies from Abertay University, Scotland, and MBA from Edinburgh University, Scotland. Bill has been instrumental in helping Accelar formulate our strategic direction and in developing our strategic partnerships.
