Mysuru entrepreneur kills wife, son; ends life in US

Mangalore Today News Network

Mysuru, April 29, 2025: Mysuru-based entrepreneur Harshavardhana Kikkeri (57) shot his wife Shwetha and elder son at their residence in Newcastle, near Washington in the United States, and then he too dies by suicide.

The incident occurred on Thursday night, according to the US time zone, and the local police are investigating. The exact reason for the tragedy is not yet known. It is reported that the younger son, 7-year-old, was outside the house when the tragedy occurred and thus he survived.

Harsha is the son of well-known linguist Kikkeri Narayana, who passed away in 2017. Harsha, his mother Girija Narayan and brother Chetan resided in Vijayanagar of Mysuru. Both Harsha and Chetan were chess players.

A native of Kikkeri in KR Pet taluk of Mandya district, Harshavardhan did an engineering degree from Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering (SJCE) in Mysuru city and then worked for Microsoft in the US. In 2017, he founded robotics technology-based companies HoloWorld and HoloSuit.

He was the CEO and CTO of HoloWorld, while his wife Shwetha was its chairperson. Former cricketer Yuvraj Singh was the brand ambassador for the company’s products. It is reported that Harsha had discussed about the robots that would guard the borders like soldiers, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The company had received the ’Sustainable Technology Company’ award during a United Nations’ Novus summit.

He used to participate in events held at various engineering colleges across Karnataka to inspire and encourage students to start their own ventures. He had participated in programmes at various engineering colleges like National Institute of Engineering (NIE) and SJCE in Mysuru city, as well in various technology conferences.

In 2018, Harsha started the corporate office of HoloWorld on Nirmithi Kendra Road, Third Stage, Vijayanagar, in Mysuru, and later returned to the United States in 2022.