Episode

Youthful Innovations in Accessibility with Riya Karumanchi – May 7 2019

Episode Overview

Riya Karumanchi took an idea she had from a chance encounter with her friend’s visually-impaired grandmother and turned it into a successful startup business with a promising career ahead. Riya is an avid ML developer and Innovator at The Knowledge Society.
She is the founder and CEO of SmartCane, a company that is building an enhanced version of the common white cane for the visually impaired. She found it shocking that the white cane was never updated to take advantage of new technologies, so she decided to change it. The device leverages technology to increase independence and safety through GPS, object detection & computer vision – gaining over $73,000 in funding and support from some of the world’s top companies like Microsoft, Google, TD, and DMZ. Her hard work and passion in her field have led her to be recognized as an innovative entrepreneur with a portfolio to match – and she is only 15. In this week’s episode, Riya is going to let us in on her unconventional path to unconventional success, and give us a look at what it’s like being a young entrepreneur in today’s growing technological world.

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