# Jayant Kulkarni

> Jayant Kulkarni is the CEO and co-founder of Quartzy, the world's leading lab management platform serving over 400,000 researchers across 25,000+ organizations. A PhD-trained control systems engineer from Cornell University and alumnus of IIT Madras, Kulkarni co-founded Quartzy in 2011 after completing a Swartz Fellowship at Columbia University's Center for Theoretical Neuroscience. The company - named after the highest-scoring word in Scrabble - went through Y Combinator's Summer 2011 batch and has grown into a vertically integrated procurement and inventory platform for life sciences, raising $23 million in April 2026 from Avenue Capital Group and BroadOak Capital Partners.

- **Role:** CEO and Co-founder at Quartzy
- **Organizations:** Quartzy, Y Combinator (S11)
- **Nationality:** Indian-American
- **Education:** Bachelor's Degree (Engineering), Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras), PhD, Control Systems, Cornell University, Swartz Fellowship (Postdoctoral Research), Columbia University - Center for Theoretical Neuroscience
- **Known for:** Co-founded Quartzy, the world's #1 lab management platform serving 400,000+ researchers, Grew Quartzy to serve 25,000+ organizations including Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Columbia, Beyond Meat, Gilead, and AbbVie, Y Combinator Summer 2011 alumni

## Career timeline

- **Pre-2011** — PhD in Control Systems from Cornell University, studying optimal control theory and its applications
- **Pre-2011** — Swartz Fellow at Columbia University's Center for Theoretical Neuroscience, building brain-function models with statisticians and neuroscientists
- **2010** — Won Washington University's Olin Cup business plan competition against 44 competitors with early Quartzy concept
- **2011** — Co-founded Quartzy with Adam Regelmann; accepted into Y Combinator Summer 2011 batch
- **2011** — Won Business Insider's Startup 2011 competition
- **2011-present** — CEO of Quartzy, growing the platform from an academic lab order tool to a vertically integrated life sciences procurement platform
- **2018** — Launched Quartzy Shop marketplace with access to 3+ million products from 1,000+ suppliers
- **2020** — Quartzy scaled to 400,000+ researchers across 12,000+ academic labs; hired VP of Marketing Jeff Platon
- **2026** — Raised $23 million in financing from Avenue Capital Group and BroadOak Capital Partners (April 2026)

## Achievements

- Co-founded Quartzy, the world's #1 lab management platform serving 400,000+ researchers
- Grew Quartzy to serve 25,000+ organizations including Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Columbia, Beyond Meat, Gilead, and AbbVie
- Y Combinator Summer 2011 alumni
- Won Washington University's Olin Cup business plan competition in 2010
- Won Business Insider's Startup 2011 competition
- Built a marketplace with 10+ million lab supply products from 1,000+ industry suppliers
- Led Quartzy to raise over $74 million in total funding
- Secured $23 million financing from Avenue Capital Group and BroadOak Capital Partners in April 2026
- PhD from Cornell University in Control Systems

## Latest updates

- **2026-04** — Quartzy announced $23 million in financing from Avenue Capital Group and BroadOak Capital Partners to support continued growth of its software platform, supplier network, and go-to-market capabilities.
- **2024-12** — Jayant Kulkarni posted about exciting milestones at Quartzy in 2024, noting 50% growth and key company achievements.
- **2020-09** — Quartzy scaled to 400,000+ researchers and 12,000+ academic labs; announced VP of Marketing hire Jeff Platon during period of soaring SaaS demand.

## Links

- Website: https://quartzy.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jayantekulkarni
- Twitter/X: http://twitter.com/Quartzy
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Quartzy

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/jayant-kulkarni
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-12