Jyoti Bansal sold his first company to Cisco, and his second startup recently raised $240 million.
Indian-born entrepreneur Jyoti Bansal has entered the billionaire’s list by building two billion-dollar companies, including Harness. The AI-based software delivery platform reportedly raised $240 million at a huge valuation.
Who is Jyoti Bansal?
Bansal, who graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, grew up in a small town in Rajasthan. He recalled that a visit to an IIT campus by Bill Gates and the success of alum Sabeer Bhatia, cofounder of Hotmail, inspired him to start his entrepreneurial journey. “That’s what brought me to Silicon Valley,”
When did he relocate to the USA?
With a few hundred dollars, Bansal relocated to California at the age of 21. There, he spent seven years working as an engineer for tech companies that sponsored his H-1B visa, according to the outlet.
“The challenge unfortunately is if you’re on an H1-B visa, you’re not allowed to start a company and create more jobs, which I find very ironic,” he told Forbes, adding, “I had to wait for some time until I got a green card.” He became an American citizen in 2016.
