Pranjali Awasthi's story is a remarkable example of how passion, early exposure, and a keen eye for opportunity can lead to extraordinary success, regardless of age. At just 16, she founded Delv.AI, an artificial intelligence startup valued at $12 million, demonstrating that age is truly just a number in the world of technology and entrepreneurship.
Pranjali's journey began in India, where she was born in 2007. Her passion for technology ignited at the young age of seven, thanks to her father, a computer engineer who introduced her to the world of coding. This early exposure laid a strong foundation for her future endeavors. When she was 11, her family moved to Florida, USA, providing her with access to advanced educational opportunities in mathematics and computer science. She excelled in these subjects, further solidifying her skills and knowledge in the tech field.
By the age of 13, Pranjali secured an internship at Florida International University's Neural Dynamics of Control Lab, where she worked on machine learning projects. This hands-on experience provided invaluable insights into the practical applications of AI and helped her identify a critical gap in the research and data extraction space. During this time, the release of OpenAI's ChatGPT-3 beta in 2020 proved to be a pivotal moment for Pranjali. Recognizing the potential of AI to revolutionize information processing, she conceived the idea for Delv.AI—a platform designed to streamline data extraction for researchers.
In January 2022, Pranjali launched Delv.AI in Miami. The platform leverages AI to help researchers extract and summarize information from academic content, PDFs, and other sources, saving them significant time and effort. Delv.AI can search multiple documents simultaneously, connect to cloud drives, and export results in various formats. Even with a free plan, Delv.AI quickly garnered attention, attracting $450,000 in seed funding from investors such as Backend Capital and Village Global. By October 2023, the company's valuation soared to approximately $12 million.
Delv.AI's success can be attributed to its ability to reduce repetitive R&D tasks by up to 75%, offering a practical solution to a common pain point for researchers across various fields. Pranjali's platform offers a range of features that streamline research workflows, such as the ability to query multiple documents simultaneously, integrate with cloud drives, and export results in CSV format and supports qualitative data extraction from textual PDFs and TXT documents, with plans to support scanned PDFs and quantitative data analysis in the future.
Despite her young age, Pranjali has been deeply involved in all aspects of her company, from coding and product development to customer service and operations. She even put college on hold to focus on scaling Delv.AI. Now 18, Pranjali is currently a Bachelor of Science (Computer Science) student at Georgia Institute of Technology. She is working full-time on her next big project called Dash, which she describes as "ChatGPT with hands", alongside co-founders Dhruv Roongta and Harsha Gaddipati.
Pranjali's journey has inspired many in the tech and startup world, highlighting the potential of young innovators and the importance of early mentorship, access to education, and bold risk-taking. As she continues to push the boundaries of innovation with Delv.AI and her future endeavors, she serves as a role model for aspiring entrepreneurs worldwide, proving that with passion and determination, anything is possible.
