# Ajay Prakash

> Ajay Prakash is the Co-Founder and CEO of Rinse, a tech-enabled clothing care company that has raised over $70 million and operates pickup-and-delivery laundry services across major U.S. cities. A Stanford GSB MBA alum (Class of 2010), he returned to his alma mater as a Lecturer in Management, teaching Startup Garage: Design — an intensive course where student teams build and test real-world business concepts. Before Rinse, Prakash worked at Bain & Company, Berkshire Partners, and briefly interned with Bonobos (where he became an early angel investor). He holds a BA in Economics with High Honors from Dartmouth College and has been featured on NPR's 'How I Built This' with Guy Raz.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at Rinse; Lecturer in Management at Stanford GSB
- **Organizations:** Rinse, Stanford University Graduate School of Business
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BA in Economics, High Honors, Magna Cum Laude, Dartmouth College, MBA, Stanford Graduate School of Business
- **Known for:** Co-founded Rinse in 2013, growing it into a $70M+ funded clothing care company, Raised over $70 million across multiple funding rounds including Series D and $23M from LG, Featured on NPR's 'How I Built This with Guy Raz' (August 2020)

## Career timeline

- **1999-2003** — BA in Economics, Magna Cum Laude, Dartmouth College
- **2003-2006** — Associate Consultant / Senior Associate Consultant at Bain & Company
- **2006** — Consultant (Extern) at NBA International Group
- **2006-2008** — Associate at Berkshire Partners (private equity)
- **2008-2010** — MBA at Stanford Graduate School of Business
- **2009** — MBA Summer Intern at Bonobos; became early angel investor
- **2010-2013** — COO and CFO at Humble Brands (consumer product startup, San Francisco)
- **2013** — Co-Founded Rinse with James Joun and Sam Cheng
- **2020** — Featured on NPR 'How I Built This' with Guy Raz; navigated Rinse through COVID-19
- **2022** — Joined Stanford GSB as Lecturer in Management, teaching Startup Garage: Design
- **2024** — Rinse closes Series D funding round
- **2025** — Rinse raises $23M from LG; total funding exceeds $70M

## Achievements

- Co-founded Rinse in 2013, growing it into a $70M+ funded clothing care company
- Raised over $70 million across multiple funding rounds including Series D and $23M from LG
- Featured on NPR's 'How I Built This with Guy Raz' (August 2020)
- Returned to Stanford GSB as Lecturer in Management, teaching Startup Garage: Design
- Built Rinse on a W-2 employee model rather than gig economy contractors
- Grew Rinse to operate across major U.S. markets with PERC-free, sustainability-focused operations
- BA with High Honors, Magna Cum Laude from Dartmouth College
- MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business (Class of 2010)
- Early angel investor in Bonobos
- Contributor to Inc. Magazine; author of essays on entrepreneurship and operations

## Latest updates

- **2025-02** — Rinse raises $23 million from appliance-maker LG as part of Series D close
- **2024-12** — Rinse closes Series D funding round
- **2022-01** — Joins Stanford GSB as Lecturer in Management, teaching Startup Garage: Design

## Links

- Website: https://www.rinse.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/aprakash03
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/aprakash03

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ajay-prakash
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-13