• Source:JND
Add as a preferred

Two young Indians, Varun Vummadi and Esha Manideep, students at IIT Kharagpur, emerged as the latest success story in Silicon Valley when their voice-based AI startup, Giga, raised USD 61 million in Series A funding. However, their achievement was overshadowed by a wave of racist and appearance-based trolling that erupted soon after they shared the news online.

The duo are also Forbes 30 Under 30 honourees and posted a video on social media platform X announcing their funding milestone and revealing that Giga's AI technology is already being used by DoorDash. The startup is now preparing for an expansion to several Fortune 100 companies.

Instead of celebrating the founders' innovation, several users on X targeted the founders for their appearance, accent, and Indian background. One troll commented, “If you raise USD 61M maybe hire attractive people for the demo.” The remark immediately drew backlash from users condemning the hate and defending the entrepreneurs.

“When people can’t compete in brilliance, they attack appearance. That’s not humour, that’s insecurity,” replied a user. “Watch them become millionaires while you’re stuck with a USD 12-an-hour job,” another wrote. Yet despite the hate, many social media users rallied in support of the founders. “They have an attractive product, that’s what matters. You don’t use X because Elon Musk is attractive; you use it because it’s a great product,” read one such post.

Bold Decisions Behind Giga's Success

Founded in 2023, the San Francisco-based company Giga develops voice-based artificial intelligence systems that can manage real-time customer interactions, handle multiple languages, and integrate with large enterprise systems. Its technology allows AI to speak and chat simultaneously-a feature that has impressed investors and clients alike.

ALSO READ: Indian-Origin Immigrant Creates History, Becomes First Sikh Mayor In Connecticut’s History

Both founders made unconventional choices to follow their entrepreneurial dream. While Varun rejected a PhD offer from Stanford University and a quant trader job worth USD 525,000, Esha declined a USD 150,000 role at an Indian high-frequency trading firm. In a resurfaced LinkedIn post, Varun wrote, “We left all those opportunities to pursue our passion for solving challenging problems in machine learning.”

ALSO READ: Indian-Origin Truck Driver Was Not Under Alcohol Influence At Time Of Crash: US Rejects Initial Media Report Claims

The trolling episode has once again brought to the fore the underlying bias that Indian professionals face in global tech spaces. Some users mocked their accents and even made xenophobic remarks, linking them to “outsourcing,” while others praised their determination to succeed.

Also In News