Teenagers from Calcutta and Pune Take InkVell to Y Combinator

Two 18-year-olds, one of them a Delhi Public School Ruby Park alumnus from Calcutta, have built an AI startup that’s heading to Y Combinator in Silicon Valley.

When we talk about “Kolkata talent going global”, this is what it looks like in real time.

According to a recent report in The Telegraph, Aayam Bansal, a former student of DPS Ruby Park in Calcutta, and Ishaan Gangwani from Pune have been selected for Y Combinator’s incubator programme with their startup InkVell. 

InkVell is already backed by global investors and will now be part of the world’s most sought-after accelerator — one that has funded names like Zepto, Groww and Razorpay. 

For Kolkata Calling, this isn’t just a startup headline. It’s a window into what the next generation of students from our schools and colleges can achieve.

Who Are Aayam and Ishaan?

The founding story is very Gen-Z, but the ambition is anything but casual.

Aayam Bansal (18) – grew up and studied in Calcutta, passing out of Delhi Public School Ruby Park earlier this year before plunging full-time into building InkVell. 

Ishaan Gangwani (18) – studied at Indus International School, Pune, and joined forces with Aayam to turn a shared idea into a real company.

The duo started working on their product in June 2025 and registered the company in San Francisco a few months later, signalling their intent to play on a global stage from Day 1. 

What Does InkVell Do?

InkVell sits at the intersection of AI, productivity and research.

As described in the Telegraph piece, InkVell is a platform that helps users turn research into publication-ready documents with: 

• AI-powered formatting
• Automated citations
• Professional templates
• Support for both B2B (institutions, companies) and B2C (individual researchers, students) use cases

In simpler terms, it’s trying to solve a very real pain point:

Researchers, students and professionals spend a massive amount of time just formatting, cleaning, and structuring documents — not actually doing the thinking.

If InkVell gets this right at scale, it could become a default layer in how academic and professional writing gets produced.

The Y Combinator Leap

Y Combinator (YC) is one of the most influential startup accelerators in the world, with over 5,000 companies funded since 2005, including Indian names like Zepto, Groww and Razorpay. Telegraph India

Here’s what selection into YC means for InkVell:

• Three-month intensive programme in Silicon Valley starting January
• Access to a network of founders, mentors and investors across the globe
• Structured guidance on product, growth, and fundraising
• The YC brand — a strong signal that the company has both potential and momentum

The founders told The Telegraph that YC runs four such batches a year, each with around 50–200 startups, which means InkVell has made it into a very selective cohort. 

On top of that, InkVell has reportedly raised about $1.4 million from investors including Z-Fellows’ Cory Levy and FireStreak Ventures — serious backing for a company built by teens. 

Why This Story Matters for Kolkata

From a Kolkata Calling lens, this story sits at the intersection of youth, tech, and the city’s changing narrative:

School-to-startup pipeline is real
Aayam’s journey from the corridors of DPS Ruby Park to Y Combinator shows that our schools in Calcutta are already producing students who can compete globally — not just in exams, but in entrepreneurship.

AI is not “somewhere else” anymore
InkVell is an AI-native product. It’s proof that young builders from Kolkata and Pune are not just using AI tools — they’re shipping AI products for the world.

Geography is less of a barrier now
The company was conceived while the founders were still in India, and registered in San Francisco later. This hybrid, borderless way of building is increasingly becoming the norm.

Role models for the next batch
Every such story chips away at the old stereotype of Kolkata as “slow” or “risk-averse”. School students in the city now have real, contemporary examples of peers who’ve taken the leap into global tech.

What Comes Next?

For InkVell, the next 12–24 months will be crucial:

• sharpening product-market fit in the research and knowledge-work ecosystem
• scaling beyond early adopters in India
• competing with global AI-writing and document platforms
• converting the YC stamp into sustainable growth and revenues

At Kolkata Calling, we’ll be watching InkVell’s journey closely, and we hope to feature many more such stories of young builders from Bengal who refuse to be limited by pin codes.