Who Is Riya Karumanchi?
Riya Karumanchi is a 22-year-old tech entrepreneur and inventor from Burlington, Ontario, Canada. She has made a huge difference with her creative ideas and commitment to using technology to help people. Riya Karumanchi was born in 2003. She has already started companies to help blind people, won awards, and inspired people all over the world with her passion for using technology to improve people’s lives, especially with her ground-breaking invention, Smart Cane. Her story of going from a curious teen to a Stanford graduate and famous inventor shows how strong will, creativity, and a desire to make the world a better place can be. We look at her life, education, inventions, advocacy for women in STEM, and plans for the future, as well as answers to common questions about her work.
Background and Early Life
Riya Karumanchi grew up in Burlington, Ontario, Canada, in a close-knit Indian family that valued helping others and being part of a community. People called her the “question box” because she was always asking questions about how things worked and how they could be better. Her curious nature set the stage for her future in technology and business, which led her to focus on technology that is easy to use.
Riya Karumanchi joined ZeroToStartup when she was only 12 years old. This program taught her about business. Her first project, Smart Street Lights, used motion sensors and streaming air quality data to make cities more environmentally friendly. This early experience made her want to use technology to improve people’s lives and solve real-world problems. It set her on the path to becoming a top innovator in start-ups for the visually impaired.
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School
Riya Karumanchi has done just as well in school as she has as an entrepreneur. She went to Stanford University, one of the best schools in the world for technology and innovation, after finishing high school in Burlington. She got her degree in biomedical engineering and computer science in 2025. These fields were a perfect fit for her passion for using technology to make healthcare more accessible and improve people’s lives.
While she was at Stanford, Riya Karumanchi learned more about technology, made connections with mentors and peers, and kept working on her creative projects. Her education gave her the tools she needed to reach her ambitious goals. She is now a role model for women in STEM because she can handle difficult problems in the tech industry.
Creating New Things and Starting Businesses
SmartCane: A Game-Changer for People Who Can’t See
Riya Karumanchi is best known for Smart Cane, which she started working on when she was 14 years old as part of her job with start-ups for blind people. The idea came from a time when she went to a friend’s house and saw her friend’s blind grandmother having trouble getting around with a regular white cane. Riya Karumanchi was shocked to find out that the white cane, which is very important for people who can’t see, hadn’t been changed much since 1921. She was determined to make a difference, so she started working on SmartCane for a school science fair. It quickly became a big project in accessibility technology.
Key Features of SmartCane
Ultrasonic Sensors: These pick up on things like tables or signs that are between the user’s knees and head and vibrate to let them know, stopping them from tripping or crashing into things.
GPS Navigation: The cane connects to a maps app and uses vibrations to tell the user where to go—one buzz for a left turn and two for a right turn. This makes it easier to find their way around new places.
Emergency Alerts: If the user falls, the cane can send an alert to family or emergency contacts, making sure they get help right away.
Future Improvements: Riya Karumanchi is working on adding a camera with artificial intelligence (AI) to the cane so it can recognize faces and describe things. This will make the cane even more useful.
People have praised Smart Cane for giving people more control over their lives through technology by letting blind people move around with more confidence and freedom.
Riya Karumanchi wants everyone to be able to use this accessibility technology, no matter how much money they have. The Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) has worked with her to help her bring SmartCane to market by giving her advice and support. Her work on this project has also brought in money and resources from big companies like Microsoft, Google, and Arrow Electronics, which have given over $85,000 to help it grow.
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Other Plans
Riya Karumanchi is creative in more ways than just SmartCane. She started another company that makes a wearable device that uses machine learning to predict falls in older people up to three weeks in advance. This project, which she worked on with Deloitte’s aging technology team, is meant to help seniors live alone for longer by keeping them from having accidents.
Articulate is another important project. It’s a piece of software that she and her friend Zaynah Bhanji made together. It uses AI and virtual reality to give you feedback on your public speaking skills in real time. These projects show how versatile and dedicated Riya Karumanchi is to solving a wide range of problems for blind people through accessibility technology and startups.
Project Summary Table
| Project | What it is | Who is this for? | Important Parts |
| Smart Cane | A high-tech cane that helps blind people get around safely | Can’t see well | Ultrasonic sensors, GPS, emergency alerts, and plans made by AI |
| Device for Predicting Falls | Wearable device that uses ML to guess when older people will fall | Older people | Can tell when someone will fall up to three weeks in advance |
| Articulate | AI and VR software that helps people get better at public speaking | Students, workers | Feedback on speaking skills in real time |
Awards and Recognitions
Riya Karumanchi’s groundbreaking work in accessibility technology has earned her numerous accolades, reflecting her talent and impact. Some of her notable awards include:
Teen Vogue’s 21 Under 21: Recognizing her as one of the most influential young people globally.
Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top Teen Entrepreneurs Worldwide: Highlighting her entrepreneurial achievements on an international stage.
“One To Watch” Award: Presented by Hon. Charles Sousa, Ontario’s Minister of Finance, for her potential as a future leader.
BASEF Awards: Multiple awards at the Brampton Area Secondary Schools Education Foundation for her work on SmartCane.
Hacking Health Hackathon Grand Prize: Her team won $13,000 for improving SmartCane at a health technology hackathon in Hamilton.
Schulich Scholarship Offers: Received offers from prestigious universities, including the University of Waterloo, McGill University, the University of Toronto, the University of British Columbia, and McMaster University.
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Overcoming Challenges
Being a young woman of color in the tech industry has not been without challenges. When Riya Karumanchi started pitching her ideas at 14, some people dismissed her due to her age. “It was hard to get people to listen at networking events or pitch competitions,” she shared in an interview with DiversityQ. However, she persevered, proving her credibility through her skills and passion for accessibility technology. She raised significant funding for SmartCane and built a team of engineers to support her vision.
Riya Karumanchi also balanced her entrepreneurial work with school and a demanding schedule. She woke up at 6:30 a.m. to take a bus to her internship at Mohawk College’s Mobile and Electronic Health Development and Innovation Centre, worked on her projects during the summer, and even traveled to Iqaluit for a business program.
Advocacy for Diversity in STEM
As a young woman in a male-dominated field, Riya Karumanchi is a passionate advocate for increasing diversity in women in STEM. She speaks at global conferences, such as WE Day, Elevate, and the Women in IT Summit, to inspire others, particularly girls and women of color, to pursue careers in technology.
Her advocacy extends to her involvement in initiatives like the Women in IT Summit and partnerships with organizations like the University of Ottawa to promote diversity in women in STEM. She also participated in a panel discussion with the Honourable Bob Rae, Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations, highlighting her influence beyond the tech world.
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Future Plans
Having graduated from Stanford University in 2025, Riya Karumanchi is now focused on bringing Smart Cane to market, with the goal of making this accessibility technology accessible to visually impaired people across North America and beyond.
She is also exploring new projects in clean tech and other areas where empowering lives through tech can drive social good. Her ultimate ambition is to impact a billion people with her innovations, not just to build a billion-dollar company.
Why Riya’s Work Matters
Riya Karumanchi’s story is inspiring because it shows what’s possible when curiosity, hard work, and a desire to help others come together. At just 22 years old, she has already made a significant difference for the visually impaired and elderly communities through her inventions in accessibility technology.
Conclusion
Riya Karumanchi is a shining example of how young people can use their talents and passions to make a meaningful difference. Through Smart Cane and her other projects, she is empowering lives through tech for the visually impaired, elderly, and beyond.
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FAQs
1. What is SmartCane and how does it work?
SmartCane is an advanced version of the traditional white cane used by visually impaired people. It features ultrasonic sensors to detect obstacles, GPS navigation to guide the user with vibrations (one buzz for left, two for right), and emergency alerts that notify contacts if the user falls.
2. How old was Riya Karumanchi when she invented Smart Cane?
Riya Karumanchi was 14 years old when she began developing Smart Cane.
3. What inspired Riya Karumanchi to create Smart Cane?
Riya Karumanchi was inspired after seeing her friend’s visually impaired grandmother struggle to navigate with a traditional white cane.
4. What other projects has Riya Karumanchi worked on?
In addition to Smart Cane, she developed a wearable device to predict falls in elderly people and co-created Articulate, a public speaking improvement tool using AI and VR.
5. What are Riya Karumanchi’s future plans after graduating from Stanford?
She plans to bring Smart Cane to market, explore clean tech, and impact a billion people through tech innovations.
Key Citations
Tech star Riya Karumanchi talks D&I lessons ahead of WIT Europe
The 17 Year-Old Founder, Riya Karumanchi — FLIK
Burlington teen is an entrepreneur, an inventor and hopes to be the change
This Teen Tech Pioneer Has Advice About Making the Future Equitable
15 Yr Old Blockchain Genius: Riya Karumanchi, Founder & CEO, SmartCane
Riya Karumanchi – Stanford University | LinkedIn
SmartCane | Riya Karumanchi empowering lives through tech for the visually impaired
