Karnataka tech CEO, wife, and son found dead in US home; former colleague mourns 'tragic loss'
The tech community in Karnataka is reeling from the shocking news of the deaths of
Harshavardhana Kikkeri
, CEO of robotics company
HoloWorld
, his wife
Shwetha Harshavardhana
, and their young son Dhruv. Shwetha was also the president of the company.
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The family was found dead at their home in the United States, with local police indicating a possible tragic
murder-suicide
.
While official investigations are underway, the news has sent waves of grief and disbelief through those who knew the couple.
Stafford Michahial
, Group CTO at PRS Neurosciences and former Deputy CTO at Holosuit, the company Kikkeri founded, shared a tribute with ET, highlighting the profound loss felt by those close to the family.
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"I still struggle to find the right words," Michahial said in a statement. He recalled how Harsha and Shwetha welcomed him into their vision for Holosuit in 2017, a journey that saw him grow from a developer to their CTO. "We shared late nights building technology, dreams, and friendships that felt like family. And over time, that's exactly what we became."
Michahial painted a picture of Harshavardhana as a "man of calm presence — spiritual, meditative, and full of focused energy," someone who believed in him and significantly shaped his life and career. He described Shwetha as a "steady, brilliant leader and a loving soul who held the team — and her family — together." He said their son, Dhruv, was: "always full of light, laughter, and innocence… they were everything to me."
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The news of their passing has left Michahial "shattered." "Losing all three of them — Shwetha, Dhruv, and Harsha — in such a tragic way has left a pain I can't describe," he said. "I love Harsha for everything he created, for the wisdom he shared, and the lives he changed. But I cannot reconcile the way it all ended. It is devastating. It's impossible to understand how someone so spiritually grounded could reach such a point."
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"And yet, this is the hard truth — sometimes the signs are hidden, sometimes silence is louder than words," Michahial said.
The tragic news has cast a pall over the tech circles in both the US and India, leaving many to grapple with the sudden loss of an entrepreneur, his wife, and their young child.
Kikkeri originally came from Kikkeri village in Karnataka. He completed his early education in Mysuru and later moved to the US, where he earned a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering from Syracuse University. He worked at major tech firms, including Microsoft, where he focused on robotics and innovation.
According to a description on his TEDx talk posted on YouTube, Kikkeri held 44 international patents across the US, China, Japan, and Europe. He was honoured with awards such as the Gold Star from Microsoft, an Excellence Award from
Infosys
, and a
Bharat Petroleum
Scholarship. He also won several chess championships.
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