At the entrance to a storm in the tech world, 16-year-old Indian adult Pranjali Awasthi has made waves with her AI startup, Delv.AI. During the Miami Tech Week event, Awasthi unveiled her Brainchild, revealing that she founded the company in January 2022 and has successfully raised nearly $450,000 (Rs 3.7 crore) in funding. Notably, Delv.AI’s LinkedIn profile already brings together a team of 10 dedicated professionals. During the event, Awasthi attributed her entrepreneurial journey to her father.
Her passion for technology was ignited at a young age, thanks to her engineer father’s passion for the promotion of computer science education in schools. This inspiration prompted her to start her coding journey at the age of seven, laying the foundation for her remarkable trajectory. When her family moved to Florida at age 11, new opportunities opened up, giving her access to computer science classes and competitive math programs. However, it was her internship in the research lab at Florida International University at the age of 13 that set the stage for her entrepreneurial adventure.
During this internship, as a result of the ongoing pandemic, Awasthi entered a machine learning project while attending a virtual high school. It was around this time that OpenAI released the ChatGPT-3 beta, which spawned the idea of streamlining research data extraction and summarization using AI. Delv.AI was conceived around this time, with Awasthi’s goal of leveraging machine learning to improve data extraction processes and break down data silos.
A significant milestone in her journey came when she joined an AI startup accelerator led by Lucy Guo in Miami and Dave Fontenot of Backend Capital. Steady acceptance of the program indicates her unwavering commitment to pursuing her dreams, even if it means her high school education is temporarily withheld. She revealed that the beta launch of Delv.AI in the product hunt has been an exceptional success. For those unfamiliar, Product Hunt is a platform that facilitates free software sharing.
Awasthi explained that Delv.AI’s primary objective is to help researchers efficiently access specific information within an ever-expanding area of online content. The accelerator program has played an important role in helping investors secure investments from On Deck and Village Global. In total, Delv.AI has raised $450,000 (approximately Rs. 3.7 crore) in funding and currently has an estimated valuation of $12 million (approximately Rs. 100 crore).
While education remains a fundamental value in the eyes of Awasthi’s Indian parents, she has chosen to put her college plans on hold, prioritizing her responsibilities and unwavering passion for her company. Awasthi envisions returning to higher education in the future to gain business skills that will benefit her entrepreneurial journey. Leading a small but dynamic team, Awasthi oversees various aspects of Delv.AI, from coding to operations and customer service.
