Meet This 16-Year-Old Indian Child Prodigy Who Is Already Running A Rs 100 Crore AI Startup

The tech world is witnessing a child prodigy making huge waves. At the age of just 16, Indian child prodigy Pranjali Awasthi is already running a Rs 100 crore AI startup, Delv.AI.

Who Is Pranjali Awasthi?

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16-year-old Pranjali Awasthi unveiled her US-based AI startup at the Miami Tech Week event, revealing that she founded the startup in January 2022 (as mentioned in her LinkedIn profile also) and had been successful in raising about $450,000 (roughly Rs 3.7 crore) in funding since 2021. Her startup is currently valued at about $12 million (roughly Rs 100 crore).

Notably, a team of 10 devoted professionals is already listed on Delv.AI's LinkedIn profile. Awasthi said her father was the main inspiration for her entrepreneurial journey during the event. Early on, Awasthi's interest in technology was sparked by her engineer father's enthusiasm for advancing computer science education in the classroom. At the tender age of seven, she was inspired to start learning to code, laying the foundation for her extraordinary trajectory, as per the Business Today report.

Also Read: 15 Commonly Used Startup Terms

How It All Began

When she was 11 years old, her family moved to Florida, which opened up new opportunities for her. As a result, she was able to enrol in computer science classes and challenging math programmes. However, it was the 13-year-old's internship at Florida International University's research labs that set the stage for her entrepreneurial adventure.

Awasthi spent her internship working on machine learning projects and attending virtual high school, which was a result of the covid pandemic. During this time, OpenAI had released ChatGPT-3 beta, which gave birth to the idea of using AI to accelerate the extraction and summarization of research data.

The teenager's startup, Delv.AI, was conceived during this time, with Awasthi's mission being to leverage machine learning to enhance data extraction processes and dismantle data silos.

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Also Read: How Hyderabad-based Startup Skyroot Is Aiming To Become India's SpaceX

What Was Her Career's Turning Point?

When the prodigy joined an AI startup accelerator in Miami, run by Lucy Guo and Dave Fontenot of Backend Capital, it marked a significant turning point in her journey. Acceptance into the programme was a testament to Awasthi's unwavering dedication to following her dreams, even if it meant temporarily pausing her high school education. She mentioned how successfully the beta launch of Delv.AI on Product Hunt went. For the unversed, Product Hunt is an American website to share and discover new products.

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According to 16-year-old Awasthi, the main goal of her startup, Delv.AI, is to assist researchers in quickly finding specific information within the constantly expanding universe of online content. Awasthi was greatly assisted by the accelerator programme in securing investments from On Deck and Village Global. Delv.AI has received funding totaling $450,000 (roughly Rs 3.7 crore), and it is currently valued at about $12 million (roughly Rs 100 crore). While Awasthi's Indian parents still view education as a fundamental value, she has decided to put off her college plans for the time being in favour of her obligations and unwavering devotion to her company. Awasthi plans to return to school in the future to gain business knowledge that will help her on her entrepreneurial journey. Awasthi manages several aspects of Delv.AI, from coding to operations and customer service, while leading a small but effective team.

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