Fishers is a city of innovators. Home to Launch Fishers, the largest coworking facility in the state; the state-of-the-art Fishers Maker Playground; the restaurant accelerator, Fishers Test Kitchen; and the state’s first Internet of Things Lab, Indiana IoT Lab Fishers, Fishers fully embraces its identity as a smart, vibrant, and entrepreneurial community.
Fishers’ reputation in tech is gaining traction on a regional and national level. In 2020, Fishers received the Rising Tech City Award at Techpoint’s Mira Awards, and our local tech companies continue to receive awards and recognition for their work in the field.
Today we meet three local female tech leaders to learn more about their work and why they chose Fishers.
Kendra Beutler
President at RoboSource
Launch Fishers
Tell us about your work.
RoboSource is a locally-owned business in Indianapolis that helps companies engage in meaningful, impactful work by automating mundane processes using tools like robotic process automation and data analytics. My husband Jason and I own RoboSource. It’s 10 years old.
How did you get into this field?
We started in custom software development and consulting, but we continued to find ourselves working on various kinds of automation for our clients. In 2021, we decided to specialize in that area, and we dropped off much of our more custom work, like web and phone apps.
Why did you choose to work out of Launch Fishers?
We’ve been in various office spaces around Indianapolis over the years. But we started at Launch Fishers, back when our business had, like, four team members. When we were looking for our next spot last fall, we remembered fondly our days at Launch Fishers. We found out that a dedicated office space was available and made plans to move back “home.” One of the things I love the most about being here is all the things that we, as owners of a small business, DON’T have to worry about. No coordinating office janitorial or ordering supplies or dealing with leaks or equipment problems. Having someone take care of all of that again after sixish years is a huge relief! We can focus on what we need to be focusing on – building our business – not finding the best deal on office janitorial.
What advice do you have for women wanting to go into tech?
I truly believe that the video-gaming culture is to blame for much of why we don’t have more woman programmers. Though girl gamers are on the rise, it’s still a largely male activity. Gamers are techy, and they learn terminology that I believe leads young women to believe that they are already behind the curve. The truth is that “seeming” techy and “being” techy are two very different things – and women catch up quickly. I always tell our women apprentices – “Stick with this. You’ll have the best job security there is.” It’s still SO difficult to find women programmers, specifically back-end ones. It can be difficult to be different, but young girls should absolutely be thinking about a career in software engineering. Change WILL come eventually, but it’s up to us in the field to encourage and mentor the next generation.
What’s been one of your biggest accomplishments in your work?
Our “why” centers around training and influencing the next generation of technology workers. To that end, in 2014, we launched an apprentice program that works with college students year-round to give them practical, hands-on experience. Over the past eight years, we’ve touched almost 100 student lives, almost all of who we’re still in touch with today.
Where can we learn more about your work?
Find us on www.robosource.us or on LinkedIn.
Cynthia Pizarro
President at CSpring
Former IoT Lab resident & Launch Fishers member
Tell us about your work.
Our team at CSpring helps leaders make better decisions faster with their data. Most companies have lots of data but, due to lack of time, system limitations, and/or expertise, they haven’t put it to work for their business. Our approach is to understand their business goals and challenges first. Then, we develop technology solutions to make data easy to access, understand, and produce insights – to accelerate results.
How did you get into this field?
I studied business and technology while in school and that landed me a job as a programmer at a Fortune 500 company. That job positioned me for the next one at a rapidly-growing consulting firm – this is where I found my path and passion at the intersection of people and technology. Here I gained the experience I needed to start my own firm in 2006. CSpring’s emphasis on data-solutions today was in response to the needs of our clients who were struggling with massive amounts of data that they could not easily access – or trust. We worked hard to become experts in this niche and developed partnerships with leaders in the analytics space to ensure we have early access to new technologies and releases.
Why did you choose to work out of Indiana IoT Lab Fishers?
Our team is passionate about data-driven solutions to accelerate business results. When we heard about the mission and community of the IoT Lab it seemed like a perfect fit. Initially, we wanted a space where our northside staff could easily come to work and connect with other technology leaders who are tackling business issues in ways that complement what we do. The IoT Lab has delivered this along with new business opportunities. We greatly enjoy the relationships that we’ve built here.
What advice do you have for women wanting to go into tech?
Study anything you want but get a technology-related minor. Possessing tech skills is a tremendous competitive advantage, independent of industry or discipline.
What’s one of your biggest accomplishments in your work?
My great accomplishment is building an outstanding team at CSpring. Our team is equally knowledgeable and enjoyable to work with. I love knowing that we are transforming lives and businesses each day with our solutions and pay-it-forward commitments. I am also very proud of the long-term nature of our client relationships. We have an inspiring culture that truly reflects our values – we are committed, collaborative, consultative, and caring. It shows in how we work with our clients and enables us to give back to our community.
Where can we learn more about your work?
You can learn more on our website at www.CSpring.com.
Nithya Kasireddy, Ph.Dc
CEO & Lead Biomedical Engineer at Levisonics Inc.
Indiana IOT Lab Fishers
Tell us about your work.
Levisonics is a technology company primarily focused on developing medical devices for blood coagulation testing using minimal blood sample volume (few microliters). We also plan to pursue pharmaceutical applications in the near future. I am the CEO as well as the lead Biomedical Engineer, leading the technology commercialization efforts as well as contribute to technology development.
How did you get into this field?
Growing up, I wanted to pursue a career that makes an impact in medical field, like becoming a doctor. I couldn’t pursue MD for several reasons and had to choose engineering, so I picked biomedical engineering for an undergrad major (it was a nontraditional engineering field to pick in India). I knew then that I would need to go to grad school to become a scientist and develop something that’s useful to real people. While in grad school, I realized that a ton of innovative technology is being developed in academic labs every day, but only a very small percentage of that technology is actually reaching people. My interest in technology commercialization and entrepreneurship grew and I was able to learn a lot by leveraging the available resources around me in grad school. That is how I ended up choosing the path to bring the innovative technology that I spent several years developing in the lab to the market and make an impact on people’s lives.
Why did you choose to work out of Indiana IoT Lab Fishers?
The Indiana IoT lab is a perfect place for our startup to advance our product development. The space has a lot of tools and resources to offer such as cutting-edge electronic design and testing tools and rapid prototyping equipment which is ideal for new hardware development projects such as developing our medical device MMP. The community of the members at the IoT Lab are also great resources to learn from and bounce ideas of each other. Additionally, the staff are always willing to help and point us to the right resources as needed.
What advice do you have for women wanting to go into tech?
Keep all your fears aside and just do it. Yes, you may have not prior experience, you may fail, but that’s okay. You have nothing to lose, will only learn from the experience and become better next time. Don’t let any gender stereotypes stop you.
What’s been one of your biggest accomplishments in your work?
I think my biggest accomplishments are yet to come. I am certainly very proud of my entire journey so far but there is still a long way to go. I was always very ambitious, and even though I didn’t necessarily have the best resources, I always made it to the top of the class, was valedictorian of the class both in high school as well as undergraduate university, receiving gold medals on both occasions. It has been a great transformation from being an introvert moving across the globe in order to pursue a PhD in the US all alone to taking up several leadership roles and learning incredible things across the disciplines over the years, including entrepreneurship and now taking up the challenging yet highly responsible role of leading and growing a medical device startup and I am proud of every single step of this journey so far.
Where can we learn more about your work?
We are still an early stage startup company, you can learn more about us by visiting our website at https://www.levisonics.com/.
Stephanie Perry is the Assistant Director of Public Relations of the City of Fishers. Born and raised in Fishers, Stephanie graduated from HSE in 2006 and is now raising her kids in her childhood home in West Fishers, which she purchased from her parents when they moved. She loves supporting the local small business community, running on Fishers’ trails, and spending time at Conner Prairie with her family (Headless Horsemen and A Merry Prairie Holiday are family favorites!). Stephanie and her husband enjoy getting outdoors and spending time camping, hiking, and boating. Stephanie has enjoyed watching her city grow over the past few decades and loves the assets and amenities that the community provides, from the parks and special events to the array of restaurants and shops.