IIT grad who rejected Stanford to build a $61 million AI startup: A look at Varun Vummadi’s education and career

In 2023, while many of his peers from India’s premier engineering institutions were pursuing seven-figure roles or global doctoral programmes, Varun Vummadi made a choice that defied convention.

Rather than following a predictable path, he embraced uncertainty, co-founding an artificial intelligence (AI) startup that would soon attract global attention.Alongside his Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur classmate Esha Manideep, Vummadi began building Giga, a company designed to transform how enterprises communicate with their customers. Two years on, the venture has raised $61 million in Series A funding from prominent Silicon Valley investors, including Redpoint Ventures, and counts major corporations such as DoorDash among its clients.

A decisive choice after graduation

Vummadi’s decision was neither impulsive nor without alternatives. After completing his Bachelor of Technology in Electrical Engineering at IIT Kharagpur in 2023, he was presented with options many would consider irresistible. Esha received a US $150,000 job offer as a systems engineer at a leading Indian high-frequency trading (HFT) firm, while Vummadi himself held a PhD offer from Stanford University, alongside a US $525,000 quant trading role at an international HFT.

In a LinkedIn post from two years ago, recently resurfaced on X, Vummadi reflected on the moment of choice: “We left all those opportunities to pursue our passion towards solving challenging problems in machine learning.”It was this willingness to prioritise learning and innovation over immediate financial reward that set the foundation for Giga.

From IIT Kharagpur to Silicon Valley

Giga began in a college dormitory, initially conceived as a platform to fine-tune large language models for enterprises.

The trajectory changed only after engaging directly with potential customers. Conversations revealed a broader challenge in customer operations, prompting a pivot that would define the company’s mission.Today, Giga delivers measurable results for some of the world’s largest companies. For Vummadi, the decision to forgo Stanford was less a rejection of academic opportunity than a continuation of his learning trajectory in a different context.

By founding Giga, he transformed the abstract principles acquired in his studies into tangible solutions that address real-world enterprise challenges.

Recognition and influence

The success of Giga has not gone unnoticed. Nara Lokesh, an Indian politician currently serving as the Minister for Information Technology, Electronics and Communications, Real Time Governance and Human Resources Development in the Government of Andhra Pradesh, publicly acknowledged Vummadi’s achievements, highlighting the pride his home state holds for his work.

Lessons from the path less travelled

Beyond accolades, the narrative of Varun Vummadi offers insight for students and early-career professionals: education is both a foundation and a toolkit. Academic excellence, when combined with curiosity, risk-taking, and perseverance, can catalyse ventures that extend far beyond the classroom.Varun Vummadi's journey from IIT Kharagpur to the helm of a $61 million AI startup illustrates that education is not merely a stepping stone, but a platform for innovation. By integrating rigorous academic training with strategic risk-taking, he has built a venture that redefines enterprise AI, offering a compelling model for the next generation of technologists and entrepreneurs.