{"id":158719,"date":"2025-04-24T10:24:21","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T14:24:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=158719"},"modified":"2025-04-24T10:24:22","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T14:24:22","slug":"wright-state-grad-students-startup-wins-annual-entrepreneurship-competition-aims-to-revolutionize-food-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2025\/04\/24\/wright-state-grad-students-startup-wins-annual-entrepreneurship-competition-aims-to-revolutionize-food-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"Wright State grad student\u2019s startup wins annual entrepreneurship competition, aims to revolutionize food industry"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Tharun Sai Nandigam, a graduate computer science student, won the 2025 Wright Venture competition for Kyantra, a smart management platform built for shared kitchens, food entrepreneurs and independent restaurants. (Photo by Erin Pence)<\/p><\/div>\n

Wright State University graduate student Tharun Sai Nandigam is cooking up innovation to support the food industry \u2014 and now he has $5,000 in startup funds to help bring his vision to life.<\/p>\n

Nandigam, a computer science<\/a> student from India, took first place in the 2025 Wright Venture competition for his startup, Kyantra, a smart management platform built for shared kitchens, food entrepreneurs and independent restaurants to simplify operations and boost profitability.<\/p>\n

Hosted by Wright State\u2019s Raj Soin College of Business<\/a>, Wright Venture gives students a chance to develop and present their startup ideas and compete for seed funding.<\/p>\n

Nandigam’s winning business pitch stood out among five finalists and was selected by a panel of three local entrepreneurs in a competition modeled after the reality TV show \u201cShark Tank.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kyantra features an all-in-one system that covers kitchen scheduling, payments, compliance management, marketing and advanced AI tools like dynamic pricing and predictive ordering.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are also expanding into the food truck market, helping mobile food businesses manage their orders, optimize their routes, automate pricing and grow their operations seamlessly,\u201d Nandigam said. \u201cWhether it\u2019s a shared kitchen, a stationary restaurant or a food truck on the move, Kyantra empowers food businesses to work smarter, faster and better.\u201d<\/p>\n

The name Kyantra comes from two Sanskrit words: Gyaan, meaning \u201cknowledge,\u201d and Yantra, meaning \u201cmachine\u201d \u2014 together symbolizing a \u201cmachine of knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe chose Sanskrit because it is one of the oldest and most structured languages in the world,\u201d he said. \u201cSanskrit represents depth, intelligence and timelessness, which perfectly reflects our vision of building a platform that is smart, structured, and built to last.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cK\u201d in Kyantra stands for \u201ckitchen,\u201d symbolizing essential kitchen tools, of which a fork, spoon and a chef\u2019s hat are incorporated into its logo design along with a bright color scheme.<\/p>\n

\u201cOrange represents warmth and energy, green symbolizes freshness and sustainability, and yellow brings creativity and optimism,\u201d Nandigam said. \u201cTogether, they create a vibrant, inviting feel that reflects the spirit of the food businesses we serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lesley Ott, one of the Wright Venture<\/a> judges and a two-time Wright State graduate, said Nandigam stood out with his thoughtful solution to a real-world challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe key for me is that he was solving a problem for other people,\u201d said Ott, the chief operating officer at James Investment Research.<\/p>\n

For example, Ott said, a \u201cfood truck operator might not have a business background but wants to cook the food and interact with clients. By using Tharun\u2019s software and website, it allows business owners to focus on the things they enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ott also said she was impressed with Nandigam\u2019s research and data.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a great profit analysis and realistic revenue numbers,\u201d Ott said. \u201cHe had a very professional presentation with great graphics, and you could tell he was passionate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nandigam is consulting with his advisors to determine how best to invest the prize money. His initial idea is to invest in continued development and pilot testing with early users.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to launch a beta version by late summer this year and begin onboarding our first users in the fall,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He is on track to graduate with his master\u2019s degree in computer science<\/a> in December and plans to stay at Wright State to pursue a Ph.D. in computer science and engineering<\/a>, focusing on AI-driven real-world applications, while continuing to grow Kyantra.<\/p>\n

The Ph.D. program will help strengthen both his technical expertise and long-term business strategy, combining deep research with practical execution.<\/p>\n

\u201cI chose Wright State because of its excellent computer science program, supportive faculty and welcoming environment for international students,\u201d Nandigam said. \u201cThe Wright Venture experience was incredible. It helped me refine my business model, polish my pitch and gain valuable feedback from experienced judges and mentors.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wright State graduate computer science student Tharun Sai Nandigam is cooking up innovation with Kyantra, a smart management platform for kitchens, restaurants and food trucks. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":158731,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,729,748,4267,743,2060,725,2046,715,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-158719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-around-campus","category-business","category-computer-science-and-engineering","category-engineering-computer-science","category-graduate","category-home-news-sidebar","category-international-students","category-news","category-research"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158719"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158719\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":158740,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158719\/revisions\/158740"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}