Two IIT Delhi graduates who walked away from high-paying jobs have secured $1 million in pre-seed funding for their AI startup ByteAsk, backed by Y Combinator.
Cofounders Pratyush Saini and Anirudha Kulkarni are building specialised AI coding agents for C and C++ — languages that power embedded systems, robotics, automotive technology and semiconductor engineering, where general-purpose AI coding tools still struggle with low-level programming errors that can affect system performance, security and hardware control.
Their journey is a founder story in itself. Saini, who graduated in computer science from IIT Delhi in 2023, had a Rs 50 lakh-per-annum role at AI cybersecurity company Simbian; Kulkarni, who completed a five-year BTech-MTech programme in 2024, joined Quantbox Research with an annual package of Rs 88 lakh. The duo left their jobs in December 2025 to launch LawSutra, an AI-powered legal research platform for Indian lawyers — which was acquired by legal information provider Manupatra in mid-2026. They founded ByteAsk in June 2026 after the acquisition.
ByteAsk's selection for Y Combinator provides funding plus access to a global startup network, and the $1 million pre-seed backing will fund product development and early growth.
Why it matters for founders
ByteAsk is a two-time founder story: LawSutra to acquisition in six months, then straight into a YC-backed second company tackling a genuinely hard technical problem. For technical founders, the playbook is visible — pick a narrow, difficult domain (C/C++ coding agents), ship fast, and let the first exit fund the bigger swing.