A viral tweet targeting two Indian-origin startup founders who secured $61 million in funding for their voice-based artificial intelligence company Giga has sparked widespread condemnation on social media platform X.
Viral Bullying Targets Achievers
The racist post by user @boneGPT on X had garnered 34 lakh views and over 4,600 likes as of November 8. The offensive content targeted San Francisco-based startup founders Varun Vummadi and Esha Manideep based on their physical appearance rather than their professional accomplishments.
Both founders are distinguished IIT Kharagpur graduates and were featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2024. Despite these credentials, the troll post stated, "if you raise $61M maybe hire attractive people for the demo." The user later doubled down on the bullying after Vummadi blocked him.
Netizens Rally in Support
The bullying post received what social media users term a "ratio," where views significantly outnumbered likes, indicating widespread disapproval. The online community quickly rose to defend the accomplished entrepreneurs.
One commenter emphasized, "They have an attractive product, that's the only thing that matters. You are not using X because Elon musk is attractive, you are using X because it is an awesome product."
Another supporter fired back, "Watch them become millionaires while your groyper ass slaves away for a $12/h job." A third user noted, "When people can't compete in brilliance, they attack appearance. That's not humor that's insecurity."
Meet the Visionary Founders
Varun Vummadi (CEO) and Esha Manideep (CTO) co-founded voice-based AI systems company Giga in 2023. The duo recently announced their $61 million funding success and partnership with US food delivery platform DoorDash, with plans to scale to other Fortune 100 companies.
Their career choices reflect remarkable dedication to their startup vision. According to Financial Express, Vummadi turned down a $525,000 package as a quant trader, while Manideep refused a $150,000 role with a high-frequency trading firm to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams.
In an interview with Y Combinator, the founders described Giga as "building the next generation of customer support — real-time AI agents that can understand emotion, resolve issues instantly, and scale across the world's largest enterprises." The platform supports multiple languages and integrates seamlessly into existing company systems.
