Kaushik Manian is a Co-Founder and CTO at Neural Drive Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-based AI startup pioneering accessible brain-computer interface (BCI) technology to restore communication for patients with stroke, ALS, and paralysis.

At just 19 years old, Kaushik was studying for his Diploma in Information Technology (Computer Science) at Singapore Polytechnic, where he honed his skills in deep learning and hardware engineering through competitive hackathons.

Kaushik brings a rare blend of hardware and AI expertise, having built PCB designs and BCI systems from the ground up, and won first place at NTU's Deep Learning Week Hackathon with a Brain-Computer Interface prototype.

He joined Neural Drive after connecting with founder Mohammed Khambhati Huzefa at hackathons, and the team has since iterated through more than 380 device versions to reach a market-ready, non-invasive BCI solution.

Neural Drive secured US$250,000 in pre-seed funding from Afore Capital, placed in the Top 40 at TechCrunch Startup Battlefield, and won S$150,000 at the Entrepreneurs Next Star Global Challenge in Shenzhen.