5 Indian Americans helming some of Silicon Valley’s most successful ventures

 

In the cut-throat world of Silicon Valley where startups bloom ever so often, the race to the top is fierce. But several Indian-Americans are ahead of the curve in shepherding some of the US’ most innovative ventures, some that have gone on to become unicorns and even publicly-listed companies  According to Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends of 2018, startups founded or co-founded by Indian-origin entrepreneurs were among the most highly valued private tech companies in the US. Over the years, several Indian-Americans have shot to the big league in Silicon Valley, the hotbed of global innovation.

Global Indian traces the journeys of contemporary Indian-American entrepreneurs who are making waves, especially during the pandemic.

Baiju Bhatt, Robinhood

Baiju Bhatt

The eight-year-old no-brokerage stock trading app has over 13 million users and is valued at more than $40 billion. The company, which is planning to go public later this year, was founded by Baiju Bhatt and his friend from Stanford University, Vladimir Tenev. The app lets users invest in top stocks of major companies gained immense popularity with millennials who earlier might have felt intimidated at the prospect of investing in the stock market.

The COVID-19 pandemic, especially, saw the app gain 3 million users and a 250% increase in revenue since 2019. 37-year-old Bhatt who grew up in eastern Virginia was born to immigrant parents from Gujarat. His parents moved to the US in 1984, when his father Praful Bhatt enrolled for a Ph.D. program in theoretical physics at the University of Huntsville in Alabama. The family eventually moved to Poquoson where Bhatt completed his high school and relocated to the West Coast for his under graduation in physics at Standford University. He stayed on at Stanford to earn his Master’s in Mathematics and it was here that he and Tenev became roommates and friends. The duo had earlier launched two companies Read More