The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign hosted its second annual Founders' Week panel, featuring fintech startup founders Gautam Ajjarapu ('22 B.S. Computer Science) and Vishnu Chakroborty ('22 B.S. Computer Science), and AI adoption firm co-founder Akylai Kasymkulova (’26 B.S. Information Sciences + Data Science).

Gautam Ajjarapu and Vishnu Chakroborty met while studying at the Siebel School of Computing and Data Science in The Grainger College of Engineering and co-founded Glide in 2021 while still in school. Glide initially launched as a digital bank and crypto app. In 2023, the company pivoted to providing financial infrastructure services to help credit unions modernize. Glide’s white-label digital banking portal enables customers to open accounts and apply for loans online. The company now serves more than 15 banks, reached $2 million in annualized revenue in 2024, and has raised $15 million in Series A funding from investors, including Pear VC, NextView Ventures, and Shine Capital.

Akylai Kasymkulova is the co-founder of the enterprise AI company Human Delta, which has raised $2 million in funding. Human Delta is designed to help enterprises adopt artificial intelligence. The company offers tailored artificial intelligence integration support and strategic guidance, enabling businesses to implement artificial intelligence technologies.

Ayush Gupta, an aerospace engineering student moderated the panel discussion. The three panelists discussed their startups, how their time at the University of Illinois shaped their entrepreneurial journeys, and the challenges, pivots and lessons they encountered, along with advice for aspiring student entrepreneurs.

This event was a collaboration between Grainger Engineering's Siebel School of Computing and Data Science, Technology Entrepreneur Center and Research Park.

Questions and answers from the panel have been edited for content and length.

Watch the panel discussion

How did the idea for Glide first come together on campus, and what made you take it seriously enough to turn it from a side project into a full company?  

Gautam: The original idea for Glide was completely different. We ate at a restaurant called Jip Bap every day. They had no loyalty program, and when we asked why, they said they didn’t have the tech or resources to set one up.

We built an SMS loyalty system that tracked repeat purchases and issued rewards automatically. Larger companies do this now, but at the time, it felt new to us.

After many pivots—about ten—we evolved from SMS marketing for small businesses to building AI software for banks and credit unions. The biggest lesson was to start building, look for real problems and use technology to solve them. That led us here.

Vishnu: Ideas change. What matters is rapid iteration. Speed is your biggest advantage as a founder. Take customer feedback, pivot quickly and keep moving.

Akylai, you're still a student working full-time for your company. What first pushed you toward solving real-world problems with AI, and how did you start a business while still in school?

Akylai: I did a lot of community building, including serving as president of Zero2One, a student organization. My first project was very niche, a debugging agent for mobile apps. 

After moving to San Francisco and joining the Ford Capital Founder-in-Residence program, I realized I needed a broader focus. Ford Capital’s office was inside Chronicle Books, where I spoke with executives who lacked AI expertise.

We realized there was a major gap in AI adoption outside the Bay Area. That’s why we built AI tools for legacy enterprises to help them adopt AI more efficiently.

Photo Credit: Grainger College of Engineering

Glide went through several major pivots before reaching your current model. How did you decide to change direction, and how did you keep the team aligned? 

Gautam: Our first product was an SMS loyalty tool. The second was a Gen–Z-focused consumer banking app, which we built after Pear VC invested and told us our original idea wasn’t strong enough.

We raised a $4M seed round, hired a founding engineer, and built for six months before realizing that consumer banking required expertise we didn’t have—compliance, operations and risk.

So, we pivoted again. We repurposed our tech and offered it as a white-label platform to local banks and credit unions. That required difficult conversations with investors and the team, downsizing and resetting priorities. But once we leaned into our strengths—tech and marketing—we gained traction.

Vishnu: Your company is your team, not your product. Hiring well keeps everyone aligned. When you hire good people, alignment happens naturally.

For you, Akylai, you're early in your startup journey, but you already have progressed. How did you choose what idea to pursue?

Akylai: Success isn’t about fundraising; it’s about solving real problems. A mentor told me, “Love your customers.” If you love the customers, you’ll love their problems.

We meet our customers constantly—even flying to CEOs’ homes—to explain AI tools and answer questions. Many enterprises lack deep AI expertise, so we focus on understanding their needs and solving their pain points.

Glide raised from Pear VC and others. How did investors attitude change from pre-seed to seed to Series A? And how did you choose your VCs?

Vishnu: We applied to Pear’s accelerator during COVID and unexpectedly got in. We had no fundraising experience. The first day, they told us, “We like you, but the idea needs to change.” They were betting on us, not the product.

Gautam: Success came from focusing on fundamentals, not fundraising. You can focus on fundamentals with zero dollars and a dorm room. Pear helped introduce us to 200+ seed investors. During the seed phase, we lacked experience, traction and product maturity. During the post-seed phase, we focused entirely on product, customers and revenue. We grew from 0 to 25 banks and from $0 to $4M revenue in two years.

A Series A investor pre-empted the seed round. The only time we spent too much energy on VCs was the seed round. Looking back, we should’ve spent more time on the product.

Focusing intently on the product, the company, the customers and the team will allow VCs, fundraising and capital to fall into place naturally.  

Photo Credit: Grainger Engineering / Leo Luo

What were investors skeptical about, and how did you win them over?

Akylai: We raised a $2.5M seed round recently. Our first check came from Ford Capital when we only had a minimum viable product (MVP). They invested in us as founders, not the product.

I built a strong reputation by hosting campus events and bringing investors to Champaign-Urbana. They saw proactiveness and backed us before we had customers.

During the summer, after landing early enterprise clients, we closed a $2M seed funding round in about a week or so. VCs were backing us, and using the school’s name and past experiences helped us build a reputation. The real challenge is building the company, not raising capital. 

You were once in the audience. What practical advice do you have for students who want to start meaningful companies?

Gautam:
AI has leveled the playing field for early-stage founders. Industry experience matters less now because AI tools give new graduates the same leverage senior operators used to have. You can build a world-class team without relying on “traditional” roles. 

Lean into AI tools across engineering, sales, business development, marketing and product development. 

Vishnu:

Many founders overthink. They read startup books and expect a straight roadmap, but everything is hard in practice. Believe you can do it — we’re not extraordinary.

Think of yourself as the underdog. Don’t wait for VC money. Stop applying to accelerators all day. Cold-email customers, not investors. Build something now, even if you don’t know the final idea.

Akylai:

I would add that you can find your co-founder in college. Most great companies are started by co-founders who met in school. Your classmates are often the smartest people you’ll ever meet. Build things together now; trust develops early. Use this environment to meet the people you’ll work with for years.

 

Where do you see Glide in three to four years? Going deeper into fintech or expanding?

Gautam:
Today we have $4M recurring revenue, 25 banks and $20M raised. Our focus is scaling from 25 to 200+ banks and hiring strong talent.

Banks waste huge time on manual work — moving data, printing, filing — tasks that AI can automate easily.

Our long-term goal: eliminate manual work in banks so staff can focus on advancing the institution. We’re running pilot programs for AI-driven back-office automation and will expand that into a major line of business.

Photo Credit: Grainger Engineering / Leo Luo

What are your milestones for the next four to five years?

Akylai:
Our focus is revenue and stakeholder value. We want to dominate one or two verticals — becoming the go-to AI partner for Fortune 50s and 500s — and automate as much enterprise work as possible.

AI is still early. There are several years before the market matures, so now is the best time to build.

A student in the audience asked, "If you have an MVP, a team, and a vision but no money, what's the first step?"

Gautam:
If your product, metrics and team are strong, that is the right time to fund. Many B2B AI startups don’t need capital early — small teams can get far. But if capital is the blocker, start fundraising.

Two recommendations:

1. Join an accelerator.
   They accelerate your network dramatically. Instead of six months of cold outreach, you get 200 investor intros in a week.
2. Use your network.
   The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has a big investor network — reach out to Jed, to us, to alumni, to founders who are scouts. They can refer you to angels and VCs.

Watch the full panel discussion