Illinois Students Raise $17M for Two Thriving Startups

Three University of Illinois students proved you don't need to wait until graduation to build something real. At the school's second annual Founders' Week panel, they shared how campus became their launchpad for ventures now generating millions in revenue and serving customers across America.

Gautam Ajjarapu and Vishnu Chakroborty met at the Siebel School of Computing and Data Science in 2021. Their startup journey began with a simple observation: their favorite lunch spot, Jip Bap, had no loyalty program because the owner lacked the tech resources to build one.

They created an SMS loyalty system that tracked purchases and issued rewards automatically. That scrappy first project taught them to identify real problems and build solutions fast.

After about ten pivots, Glide emerged as something completely different: a digital banking platform for credit unions. The company now serves more than 15 banks, hit $2 million in annual revenue in 2024, and raised $15 million from major investors including Pear VC and NextView Ventures.

Current student Akylai Kasymkulova took a different path but followed similar principles. As president of Zero2One, a student entrepreneurship organization, she noticed a pattern when visiting companies in San Francisco: legacy businesses wanted to adopt AI but lacked expertise to do it safely and effectively.

She co-founded Human Delta to bridge that gap, offering hands-on AI integration support for enterprises outside tech hubs. The company has already raised $2 million and works directly with CEOs, sometimes flying to their homes to explain complex AI tools in plain language.

The Ripple Effect: These founders share a common philosophy that's rippling through Illinois's entrepreneurship community. "Love your customers," Kasymkulova told the audience of aspiring student entrepreneurs. When you genuinely care about the people you serve, you naturally focus on solving their real pain points rather than chasing trendy ideas.

Vishnu emphasized that speed matters more than perfection. Student founders have one major advantage: they can iterate rapidly without bureaucracy slowing them down.

The hardest moment came when Glide pivoted from consumer banking to serving credit unions. Gautam and Vishnu had to have difficult conversations with investors and downsize their team. But leaning into their actual strengths in technology and marketing, rather than trying to master banking compliance overnight, unlocked their success.

Jed Taylor, Assistant Dean for Innovation at Grainger College of Engineering, noted these aren't typical student side projects. "These are students who have taken their ideas here on campus, gone out and raised significant funding to take their products out to the market," he said.

The panel's advice for current students was refreshingly simple: start building something today, find a problem worth solving, and don't be afraid to change direction when you learn something new.