The Developer - Santosh Govindaraju

Mr. Govindaraju is Chief Executive Officer of Paragon Capital Partners, LLC, a Tampa based real estate private equity firm. At Paragon, Mr. Govindaraju has originated over $600 million in residential and commercial loans and invested over $100 million in the repositioning or development of commercial real estate. He is responsible for directing the firm’s strategy, managing the finances, managing the risk in the firm’s investments, evaluating the firm’s processes and quality control, and overseeing the real estate investments and portfolio lending operations.

Mr. Govindaraju began his career at Lehman Brothers in New York as a trader of fixed income derivatives, including various U.S. Dollar interest rate products such as swaps, caps and floors.

Mr. Govindaraju was named IndoUS Chamber of Commerce Businessman of the Year for 2002, and was designated as the Young Minority Business Person of the Year for 2003 by the Tampa Bay Business Journal. He was also honored as one of the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s “Top 30 Under 30,” recognizing the top 30 individuals under 30 years of age contributing to the Tampa Bay business community.

Mr. Govindaraju is a level 2 candidate for the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. He is a member of Leadership Florida. He has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the IndoUS Chamber of Commerce, is past President of the Asian American Chamber of Commerce, and served on the Board of Advisors of the University of South Florida College of Business, St. Petersburg, Florida.

Mr. Govindaraju obtained a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Entrepreneurial Management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and concurrently earned a B.A.S. in Systems Engineering from the University’s School of Engineering & Applied Science and minors in Theatre Arts, Mathematics, and South Asian Studies. He also ran for the University’s Division I Cross-Country Team.