Ayaan Parikh
| Ayaan Parikh | |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur, co-founder and CEO of Convexia |
|---|---|
| Known for | Co-founding Convexia, an AI-driven pharmaceutical company |
| Education | Stanford University (Computer Science and Biology) |
| Website | convexia.bio |
Ayaan Parikh is an American entrepreneur and co-founder of Convexia, a pharmaceutical company that uses artificial intelligence agents to discover, evaluate, and develop drug assets. Convexia, which describes itself as "the world's first AI-maximalist pharma company," was part of Y Combinator's Summer 2025 batch.[1]
Early life and education
Parikh grew up in Wichita, Kansas, where he attended Wichita Collegiate School. While in high school, he was active in debate and scholars bowl competitions.[2] In 2022, at the age of 17, he founded Medic All, a nonprofit organization that leveraged telemedicine to increase healthcare access for low-income patients in the Wichita area. The nonprofit partnered with Wichita State University's physician assistant program and the Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine.[3] Medic All was selected as a finalist in a healthtech pilot competition in 2023.[4]
After graduating high school in May 2024, Parikh was named CEO of Novus, a Wichita-based startup that tracks and rewards people during recovery from substance abuse.[5] He enrolled at Stanford University in the fall of 2024, studying computer science and biology.[6]
Career
At Stanford, Parikh co-founded Convexia with Rahul Vijayan. The company's Y Combinator profile notes that the two had built three startups together prior to Convexia. The platform operates as an end-to-end AI stack for pharmaceutical development, deploying multiple autonomous agents across the drug development pipeline. Its Sourcing Agent scans public and private databases for overlooked preclinical drug candidates, including abandoned pharmaceutical intellectual property. A Scientific Evaluation Stack runs computational biology models—including tools such as ESM-3, RFdiffusion, Boltz-2, and AlphaFold—to assess drug safety and efficacy in silico. Additional agents analyze commercial viability, operational risk through digital twin simulations, and probability of clinical trial success. Human review by PhD-level scientists and key opinion leaders is incorporated at multiple stages before development decisions are made.[7]
Convexia claims its approach enables drug development that is "10x faster and 20x leaner" than traditional pharmaceutical companies. The company officially debuted in July 2025.[8]
References
- ↑ "Convexia – Y Combinator". 'Y Combinator}'. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "State debate roundup: Quartet of Wichita Collegiate teams share 2-speaker Class 3-1A debate championship". 'KSHSAA Covered}'. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "Wichita Collegiate student starts nonprofit to bring health care to low-income people". 'KSN-TV}'. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "17-year-old social entrepreneur among finalists tapped for healthtech pilot competition". 'Startland News}'. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "Teen becomes CEO of Wichita startup company". 'KSN-TV}'. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "Convexia – Founder Trace". 'Founder Trace}'. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "Convexia – How Convexia Works". 'Convexia}'. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "'AI-maximalist' pharma firm Convexia, backed by Y Combinator, officially debuts". 'The American Bazaar}'. Retrieved 2026-03-19.