A brand new TiE Silicon Valley series that brings the best, brightest, and most inspiring speakers to discuss trending and disruptive technologies. Our first conversation will be a fireside chat with Akash Nigam (Founder & CEO of Genies) and Nickhil Jakatdar (CEO, GenePath Diagnostics). 

We'll learn all about Akash's career trajectory, his decision to start Genies as well as drop out of college to pursue his passion, the ups and downs of the startup journey and more. Hear from Akash and Nickhil about current technology trends they find interesting and complex. There will also be an opportunity for the audience to ask questions and make comments.

Akash Nigam is the founder and CEO of Genies, the leading avatar technology company empowering humans to create their own avatar ecosystems through the tools they provide. In April 2022, the company announced its $150 million Series C round led by Silver Lake. The investment values the company at $1B+ and includes participation from existing investors Bond, NEA and Tamarack Global. The company has 99% celebrity market share through its partnerships with Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group as their official avatar and digital goods NFT provider. Thousands of talent already use Genies including Paris Hilton, Justin Bieber, Migos, Cardi B, and J Balvin. 

Dr. Nickhil Jakatdar earned his bachelor’s degree in EE from COEP, India, and his MS and Ph.D. in EECS from UC Berkeley. He has been the founder and/or CEO at startups in semiconductors, consumer video and diagnostics for healthcare. His startups have had exits totaling more than $1.3B

Nickhil has been awarded 60 patents, and has more than 20 journal and conference publications. He is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from College of Engineering, Pune and the Berkeley Distinguished Alumni Award. He is an Advisory Board Member for the South Asian Heart Center as well as for the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS), an initiative by the State of California and the University of California system, whose mission is to solve society’s most complex problems through research collaboration across public and private sectors. He is the founding member of the Bhau Institute of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Leadership in Pune, India, with the goal of fostering an environment and ecosystem to promote entrepreneurship.