An IIT Kharagpur graduate left a PhD programme at 22 to launch an AI startup with his college friend. Varun Vummadi and Esha Dinne, who met during their first year at IIT, recognised a generational opportunity when ChatGPT launched and decided to act immediately rather than wait. The decision was difficult for Vummadi, who grew up in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, and had planned to complete his PhD first. The pair moved to San Francisco and founded Giga in 2023. Three years later, their company has raised $61 million and serves clients including DoorDash. Their AI agents handle millions of support tickets daily.

Giga, an AI startup founded by IIT Kharagpur graduate Varun Vummadi and Esha Manideep, has raised $61 million in Series A funding led by Redpoint Ventures. The company, which began in a college dormitory in 2023, develops voice-based AI agents for businesses and now operates from San Francisco. Before launching Giga, Vummadi declined a $525,000 job offer from a high-frequency trading fund and rejected a Stanford PhD opportunity. He previously earned over $100,000 through Kaggle competition wins. Y Combinator partner Jared Friedman called Giga one of the "first great AI companies to come out of India". The startup recently faced allegations from a former employee regarding revenue disclosures and workplace practices. Giga denied all claims, stating individuals illegally obtained confidential information and demanded $3 million. The company has contacted law enforcement.