Meet Nick Grewal who received the Entrepreneur of the Year Award; he founded Nashoba Networks, acquired by Cisco in 1996, before building ePropelled, a global propulsion company
More than three decades after entering the technology industry, entrepreneur Nick Grewal has added another distinction to his career: the 2026 Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the New Hampshire Tech Alliance, according to a press release by Access Newswire.Grewal, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of ePropelled, was named the recipient of the award in September and formally received it at the Tech Alliance’s Innovation Summit in Nashua on October 6. The recognition follows a career spanning networking technology, investments in high-tech companies, and, more recently, electric propulsion systems for uncrewed vehicles.The New Hampshire Tech Alliance said Grewal has spent more than four decades building companies and advancing emerging technologies. Before turning his attention to autonomous systems, he founded Nashoba Networks, a company that Cisco acquired in 1996. He later founded ePropelled in 2018, taking his career from computer networking into a field focused on electrification, propulsion and autonomous vehicles.
Nashoba Networks and the Cisco deal
One of the biggest milestones in Grewal’s earlier career came in the 1990s, when he founded Nashoba Networks, a Massachusetts technology company working on Token Ring switching. Cisco’s own acquisition records confirm that the company announced an agreement to acquire Nashoba Networks on August 6, 1996. Cisco described Nashoba as a privately held company focused on Token Ring switching technologies and said the acquisition would expand its offerings for high-performance switched workgroup and backbone Token Ring networks.The deal was completed the following month. In a September 19, 1996 announcement, Cisco said it had completed its purchase of Nashoba Networks and that the transaction followed an August stock-swap agreement. According to Cisco, shares worth approximately $100 million were to be exchanged for all outstanding Nashoba shares and options.Grewal subsequently served as a Cisco vice president, according to his profile published by Smart Business Dealmakers. The Nashoba chapter was only one part of a broader technology career. Before and around that period, Grewal held senior executive positions at companies including Proteon and CrossComm, both of which became publicly traded during his tenure, according to the New Hampshire Tech Alliance.
From technology investor to another startup
After the Cisco acquisition, Grewal continued working in technology and investment. Between 1998 and 2018, he invested in and advised more than 40 companies, many of them based in New Hampshire, according to the Tech Alliance. His next major entrepreneurial chapter began in 2018, when he founded ePropelled.The company’s original focus was electric vehicle propulsion, with a broader goal of developing highly efficient electrical power, propulsion and energy-management systems. ePropelled says it was founded in Lowell, Massachusetts, in 2018, with Grewal providing the initial private investment.Grewal has led the company as CEO since May 2018, according to ePropelled’s leadership profile. The company now develops electric propulsion and energy-management technologies for air, land and water applications, with a particular focus on uncrewed systems.Unlike Nashoba Networks, which operated in the networking technology sector, ePropelled is focused on the growing intersection of electrification and autonomous systems. The New Hampshire Tech Alliance describes the company as designing and manufacturing intelligent propulsion and energy-management systems for uncrewed vehicles operating across air, land and sea. Its technologies are aimed at applications where propulsion efficiency, energy use and system control can affect the performance and endurance of autonomous platforms.The company has expanded beyond its original US base. ePropelled currently has operations, engineering and production facilities in the US, UK and India, according to its investor-relations information. Its UK operations grew after ePropelled acquired ElectronicaUK Ltd in 2018, while its Coventry facility opened in 2022.In 2023, ePropelled moved its headquarters from Massachusetts to Laconia, New Hampshire. The company says it now has more than 40 global customers and develops propulsion products for uncrewed aerial, ground and marine platforms, alongside industrial and other electric-motor applications.
Why Grewal received the award
The Entrepreneur of the Year award is not new. The New Hampshire Tech Alliance says it was first presented in 1988 and recognises technology entrepreneurs based on factors including risk, innovation, growth, competition, profitability and employment.Grewal’s selection reflects both his earlier work in networking and his more recent efforts in autonomous and electric systems. The Tech Alliance highlighted his decision to establish ePropelled’s headquarters and manufacturing operations in New Hampshire and continue investing in local jobs and facilities as the company grows.His career also illustrates how technology sectors have changed since the 1980s and 1990s. Grewal’s first major success was tied to computer networking at a time when businesses were building the infrastructure that would underpin modern internet connectivity. Decades later, his focus has shifted toward systems that combine electric propulsion, energy management and autonomy.Today, ePropelled’s work spans aerospace, defence, maritime, industrial and autonomous systems markets. The company says it is developing technologies designed to improve the efficiency, endurance and performance of uncrewed platforms.For Grewal, the latest award marks a new milestone in a career that has already crossed several technology eras: from networking hardware and a Cisco acquisition in the 1990s to electric propulsion and autonomous vehicles in the 2020s.
