Nationality American | Known for Explica | |
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Occupation Graphic designer, startup entrepreneur, biologist | ||
Viputheshwar "Vip" Sitaraman (born 10 September 1997) is an American designer, entrepreneur, and scientist. He is best known as the founder of Explica, a multi-faceted digital media startup. In May 2016, Sitaraman made headlines when, at age 18, he graduated from the University of Arizona and his company was funded by Seed Sumo, a startup accelerator in Bryan, Texas. Sitaraman is one of the youngest people to raise a round of venture capital. He has been interviewed on Forbes, NPR/Public Media, The Huffington Post, Entrepreneur and Times Highered Education.
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Personal life
Sitaraman was born in Theni, Tamil Nadu, India in 1997 to Sitaraman Venkatasubramanian, a software engineer, and Swarna Sitaraman, an interior designer & artist. Shortly after Sitaraman was born, the family moved to the United States, where they settled in Chandler, Arizona.
Through his early education, Sitaraman showed a propensity for science. He competed for seven consecutive years in science & engineering fairs, collecting accolades including Intel International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF) Finalist, TGen Helios Scholar-designate, Society for In Vitro Biology ISEF Award, and several state and local awards. Sitaraman published his research on engineered zinc finger nucleases in the World Forum in Biology.
In August 2014, Sitaraman enrolled at the University of Arizona under a full-ride scholarship. Within two years, he graduated with a Bachelor's in Science in Molecular & Cellular Biology, along with a minor in African American Studies, founding several companies and organizations in that span. Later, Sitaraman would explain "None of this was part of the plan. I was a pre-med student; entrepreneurship wasn't even in my vocabulary." in an interview. His first organization, Live, Love, Lab (LLL) provided free resources for STEM students including an e-course system, a crowdfunding platform, and opportunies for academic publication. The platform served 140,952 students from 141 countries generating over 521,131 views, winning 1st Place in the 1000Pitches competition. After LLL, Sitaraman co-founded KorkBoard, a digital event bulletin mobile app striving to build stronger campus communities. Following the launch on the Apple Store for iOS, the startup was accepted to the Thryve Incubator Spring/Summer 2015 Cohort in Tucson, Arizona and the Facebook FbStart 2015 Cohort. In January 2016, Sitaraman sold his equity in KorkBoard to focus on GMTRY.
Explica
Explica started as a small blog Sitaraman built in high school, then called Draw Science, aimed at translating science with art. In the next year, Draw Science garnered over 2 million views, syndication on Business Insider, and flight tickets to conferences including ARCSCon in Philadelphia and the Lindau-Nobel Laureate Meetings in Lindau, Bavaria.
Draw Science
In August 2015, Sitaraman launched a crowdfunding campaign to scale Draw Science into an infographic consulting business, focusing on academic publishing and creation of graphical abstracts. Within 20 days, the campaign passed its funding goal. In following months, Sitaraman closed deals & partnerships with prominent scientific organizations including PeerJ, the USDA, and Elsevier. The company rapidly diversified from just science infographics into content marketing. Later re-branded as Explica Labs, the company's launch was featured on Inc. with clientele including Hillary Clinton, American Scientist, and Soylent.
Investment
Sitaraman raised a round of funding from Seed Sumo, a startup accelerator based out of Austin, Texas in May 2016. Making it through Seed Sumo's 0.5% acceptance rate made him the youngest person to ever be accepted into a startup accelerator. During the accelerator, Sitaraman launched Explica, a visual news site run by AI. In its first month, June 2016, Explica brought in nearly half-a-million native views and another 1 million off-site. In November 2016, the company raised a $450,000 seed round at an undisclosed valuation from MVII8.
Reception
Graphics created by the Explica team have been featured in Newsweek, Daily Mail, VICE, and Gizmodo. Sitaraman has made several press appearances including Forbes, NPR/Public Media, The Huffington Post, and Times Highered Education, as well as several local news publications.
Explica is a brand owned by GMTRY Inc., a Delaware C Corporation.