Summary
Known across national media as the "Road kid of India", Surya Uthkarsha is one of India's youngest serial founders, building civic-technology and research-access platforms before age 15. Founder of The Marg Initiative and builder of RASTHE, a citizen-reporting platform that reached 10,000+ users in its first week. Director at NSRI, a global student-led research initiative supporting 2,465 active and 16,843 community researchers across 96+ countries. Emergent Ventures Fellow ($6,500 grant) building Flake Labs — AI infra that turns any website into a live visual editor with GitHub sync. Intern at Antler VC. Youngest invited to Y Combinator Startup School Bengaluru; pitched directly to YC Partners. TEDx speaker; pitched ventures at incubators at IIT Madras and BITS Pilani. Won Lyzr Agentathon (3rd of 500+ teams, youngest). Founded a road-safety nonprofit backed by UNICEF India and Bengaluru Police. Recognised by unicorn founders, national media, and NASSCOM.
Experience
Founder · The Marg Initiative · NGO
2024 – Present
- Youth-led nonprofit promoting road safety under UN SDG 3.6 — Awareness, Advocacy, Innovation
- Launched with official support of Bengaluru Police; co-planned Road Safety Traffic Month for 25,000+ attendees
- Reached 100,000+ people through road-safety education and civic-impact initiatives; scaled to 15+ national chapters with support from UNICEF India
- Partnered with SBI, PhonePe, and Rotary for marathons and awareness campaigns
- Research abstract accepted into the World Road Safety Conference, Cape Town — peer-reviewed global stage
- Invited to the UN ECOSOC Youth Forum by the President of ECOSOC
Founder & Builder · RASTHE · rasthe.in
2026 – Present
- Built the RASTHE civic-technology platform for citizens to swipe, rate, and report pedestrian-infrastructure obstructions to relevant authorities
- Reached 10,000+ users in its first week, generated 500,000+ video views, and recorded 500+ active reports
- Developed a Bengaluru research study using 269 geolocated reports across 78 wards, with privacy-preserving spatial analysis and a publication-style manuscript
Director · National Student Research Institution (NSRI) · nsri.world
2026 – Present
- Leads expansion for a student-led global research initiative providing access to research groups, editorial guidance, publication pathways, and research integrity education
- Helps scale an ecosystem of 2,465 active researchers and 16,843 community researchers across 96+ countries and 164 research groups
Fellow · Emergent Ventures · George Mason University (Tyler Cowen)
2026 – Present
- Competitively selected grant (~$6,500) to build Flake Labs; one of the youngest recipients in the programme's history
- Programme supports the world's most ambitious builders, researchers, and entrepreneurs
Intern · Antler · Global Early-Stage VC
2026 – Present
- Shadowing founding partners across deal flow, portfolio operations, and early-stage founder evaluation
- Exposure to how a global VC assesses teams, products, and market theses at pre-seed
CEO & Founder · Roadyz · roadyzapp.com
2024 – Present
- Built a gamified road-safety app for children aged 5–14; reached 10,000+ users; game shipped Q2 2025
- Cleared Round 1 of Shark Tank India; raised Rs. 20K initial funding; received multiple angel investment offers
- Endorsed publicly by Ashish Singhal (founder, CoinSwitch — India's largest crypto platform)
- Covered by Deccan Herald, The New Indian Express, News18, Better India, Startup Pedia, and 10+ outlets
Founder · 6bit HQ · 6bithq.in
2026 – Present
- Leads events and media for 6bit HQ, a premier Bengaluru tech community and innovation lab
- First event: 1,000+ registrations in 4 days; attendees included Founder.inc members, EF (Entrepreneur First) acceptees, founders who raised $5M+ from a16z, and engineers with 10,000+ GitHub stars
Recognition & Awards
- TEDx speaker — delivered the talk What Does the Future Deserve From Us? on youth agency, civic action, and beginning before readiness
- Pitched ventures before incubator teams at IIT Madras and BITS Pilani
- Emergent Ventures Fellow — one of the youngest recipients globally; $6,500 grant to build Flake Labs
- Youngest invited to Y Combinator Startup School Bengaluru; pitched directly to Jared Friedman and Ankit Dobhal (YC Partners)
- Won Lyzr Agentathon — ranked 3rd of 500+ teams; youngest winner in the competition
- Accepted to Vibecon
- Recognised as Earth's New 30 — global young changemakers list
- 1M1B Future Leader (UN & ECOSOC-recognised) for contributions to social impact
- Featured and endorsed by: CTO of Anthropic, CTO of Microsoft Innovation Hub India, founders of Ather, Rapido, PhonePe, NoBroker, CoinSwitch, and Rana Daggubati
- Recognised by Ex-Chairman of NASSCOM · Bengaluru Residency (demo + support)
- Campus Fund $2,000 grant credits · Rork $1,800 grant credits
Skills & Domains
Coding: JavaScript, Node.js, React, Next.js, MERN stack
Growth & GTM: User acquisition, partnerships, go-to-market strategy, product-market fit
Domains: Edtech, Road Safety / Social Impact, Community Building, Research Networks
Education
National Public School, Rajajinagar
2016 – 2029
- 4.0 GPA · Student Council President (Finance & Quiz clubs) · State-level basketball player
- International Rank 13, Zonal Rank 49 — Logiquids Mental Aptitude Olympiad, SOF IMO Medalist
