Enovix Corporation (“Enovix”) (Nasdaq: ENVX), the leader in the design and manufacture of next generation 3D Silicon™ Lithium-ion batteries, announced the appointment of Dr. Raj Talluri as President and Chief Executive Officer, effective January 18, 2023. Talluri is also expected to be appointed to the Enovix board of directors on a later date. Talluri replaces CEO and Co-Founder Harrold Rust, who is retiring from his position and the board but will serve in an advisory capacity to support the leadership transition.
Talluri brings a strong track record of leading successful high-volume and highly profitable semiconductor franchises with a specific focus on the portable electronics market over a nearly 30-year career. Talluri joins Enovix from Micron Technology Inc., where he served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of its Mobile Business Unit, with worldwide revenue greater than $5 billion. Prior to Micron, Talluri was Senior Vice President responsible for Qualcomm Inc.’s IoT business unit, where he drove the division from incubation stage to over $1 billion in product revenue. During his Qualcomm tenure, he also led product management for the company’s flagship Snapdragon applications processor business including ownership of product roadmaps targeting smartphones, tablets and automotive. Talluri began his career at Texas Instruments as a member of the technical staff and then successively led product groups and business units over a 16-year tenure culminating with becoming general manager of the OMAP wireless terminals business unit, an over $750 million revenue business with over 800 employees throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.
Enovix Executive Chairman T.J. Rodgers said, “Raj possesses both strong technical competency and a track record of having run with full P&L responsibility several of the most successful and profitable semiconductor franchises globally targeting portable electronics. He intimately understands the business processes necessary to translate compelling technology into sustainable product leadership at significant scale and at low cost. Enovix has built and demonstrated with leading customers a battery architecture with significant competitive advantages in performance and now is the time to build a company that can truly transform the Lithium-ion battery industry. I would like to thank Harrold Rust for his many years of leadership in building the company and for supporting a smooth transition ahead of his retirement.”
Talluri said, “I am deeply honored to be given the opportunity to lead Enovix. Many of the key technologies of the future, from portable electronics to EVs, rely on significant advances in battery technology and Enovix is the leader in this space. I am looking forward to leveraging my experience and leading the company to deliver advanced, high-performance products at scale.”
Rust added, “After starting the company over 15 years ago with life-long friends and colleagues it’s time for me to pass the baton to a new leader who can take Enovix to the next level. I couldn’t be more excited that Raj has chosen to continue our mission of creating a better world through innovation in energy storage.”
Talluri holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, a Master of Engineering degree from Anna University in Chennai, India, and a Bachelor of Engineering from Andhra University in Waltair, India. He holds 13 patents in image processing, video compression and media processor architectures.