About
Prashanth Balasubramanian studied at ETH Zurich, where he left his MSc program to co-found Lastbit, which became Striga. His background spans Bitcoin development and experience navigating multi-currency payment challenges.
Founder/CTO at StrigaYC W21
Intro paths
YC
Prashanth went through Y Combinator (Winter 2021) — any YC alum in your network can reach them through the YC community.
GP
Their group partner at YC was Nicolas Dessaigne, General Partner at Y Combinator — the partner who ran Striga's batch and knows the company first-hand. YC profile ↗
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In turn, Prashanth can intro founders to Striga's investors below.
Experience
- LightsparkChairman of the Management Board - Lightspark Payments Europe (Formerly Striga)current2025 — presentEstonia
- StrigaFounder, CEO & CTOcurrent2018 — presentSan Francisco Bay Area, Tallinn
- Y CombinatorCEO @ Striga2021
- Berkeley SkyDeckCEO @ Striga2019 — 2020Berkeley, United States
- ETH ZurichResearch Assistant2017Zurich, Switzerland
- SONECTHead of IT2016 — 2017Zurich, Switzerland
- L3S Research CenterResearch Student2016Hannover, Germany
- Tata ElxsiAndroid Developer2015Bangalore, India
Skills & more
Banking5Cryptocurrency6Payment Card Processing5Regulatory Compliance1Artificial Neural Networks7Cryptography7Data Mining1Android Development2Bitcoin5STM322Trading SystemsEmbedded Systems9
+8 more
ScalaCC++JavaEmbedded CJavaScriptNode.jsBlockchainLanguages English · Tamil
From Prashanth's professional profile.
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Prashanth Balasubramanian?
- Prashanth Balasubramanian studied at ETH Zurich, where he left his MSc program to co-found Lastbit, which became Striga. His background spans Bitcoin development and experience navigating multi-currency payment challenges.
- Where does Prashanth Balasubramanian work?
- Prashanth Balasubramanian is Founder/CTO of Striga.
- What companies did Prashanth Balasubramanian found?
- Prashanth Balasubramanian founded Striga.
- Where did Prashanth Balasubramanian go to school?
- Prashanth Balasubramanian studied at ETH Zürich (Master of Science (MSc), Computer Science); Tsinghua University (Big Data Summer Camp, Computer Science); Vellore Institute of Technology (Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.), Computer Science and Engineering).
Founder mafias
Y Combinator mafia9,496
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Sam AltmanPresidentFounded Tools for Humanity +3Garry TanPresident & CEOFounded Y Combinator +1Jessica LivingstonCo-founderFounded Y CombinatorAlexis OhanianYC Summer 2005Founded RedditFred EhrsamYC Summer 2012Founded Nudge +1Matt HuangYC Winter 2011Founded Hotspots
+ 9,489 more
ETH Zürich mafia146
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Thomas DübendorferPhDFounded Spontacts +2Veronica Gambillara FonckEngineerFounded LimmaTech Biologics +1Dr. Hanspeter FässlerHonorary Councillor Award (Ehrenrat)Founded Gravis Robotics +1Nikolay KobyshevMaster's DegreeFounded Assaia +1Toni RosinolMaster of ScienceFounded Stack AI +1Robin GuldenerBsc.Founded Nango +1
+ 139 more
Tsinghua University mafia59
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Adrien CohenMBAFounded Lazada +1Alice DengStudy AbroadFounded Slope +1Ray LiaoBachelor’s DegreeFounded Empallo +1Konstantin KlinglerMaster of Science - MSFounded Seamflow +1Tim ShiBachelor's DegreeFounded Cresta +1Collin WallacePresident of Stanford Tsinghua Exchange Program (STEP)Founded ZeroStorefront
+ 52 more
Vellore Institute of Technology mafia33
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Raghu YarlagaddaBachelor of Technology (B.Tech.)Founded FalconXSrikanth VeeraraghavanB.TechFounded Expent IncAbhishek KankaniBachelor of Technology (BTech)Founded DytePalash GolechaBachelor of TechnologyFounded DyteKunal KumarBachelor of Technology (B.Tech.)Founded HyperTraderNitin MuthyalaBachelor of Technology (B.Tech.)Founded HitPay
+ 26 more
Sonect mafia3
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Same school
Also attended ETH Zürich276
Bastian HasslingerInvestor at Index VenturesSteve VassalloInvestor at Foundation CapitalHelge DaebelPartner, Head of Water at Emerald Technology Ventures AgMaurin DaiInvestment Manager, Physical AI & Robotics at Emerald Technology Ventures AgChristoph FreiPartner, Head of Energy at Emerald Technology Ventures AgMax HeftiInvestment Director - Energy at Emerald Technology Ventures Ag
+ 270 more
Also attended Tsinghua University230
Zhenyu TangInvestment Director at Intel CapitalVinnie LauriaFounding Partner at Golden Gate VenturesTed BreyerPartner at Breyer CapitalAlexander KremerPartner at Keen Venture PartnersCollin WallaceGeneral Partner at Lobby CapitalSong MaoManaging Director, China at Qualcomm Ventures
+ 224 more
Also attended Vellore Institute of Technology51
Ashul SinhaFinance Analyst at Planet A VenturesSidhartha MenonInvestment Associate at Eximius VenturesMayur SonthaliaAssociate at Arkam VenturesArchit VadaliSenior Analyst at Endiya PartnersDhanush RamInvestment Principal at Speciale InvestManvitha PonnapatiInvestor at E14 Fund
+ 45 more
Also attended National Public School, Indiranagar2
Shared employers
Also worked at Striga2
Also worked at Y Combinator389
Garry TanPresident & CEO of Y CombinatorJessica LivingstonCo-founder of Y CombinatorDaniel GrossMeta Superintelligence Labs; co-founder of NFDG and Safe SuperintelligenceAlexis OhanianFounder & General Partner of Seven Seven SixMichael SeibelPartner Emeritus at Y CombinatorDalton CaldwellCo-founder of Standard Capital; Partner Emeritus at Y Combinator
+ 383 more
Also worked at Berkeley SkyDeck105
Will McKelveyPrincipal at Lerer HippeauPeter GiordanoFormer Global Director GTM Strategy at Scale Venture PartnersKristina VulganCo-Founder & Managing Partner at Ferocity CapitalLukas GenteleCEO, vCluster at EMERGENT VENTURESSanjeev KumarVenture Partner at FusionPatricia LiuInvestor at Inception Studio Capital
+ 99 more
Also worked at ETH Zurich122
Max HeftiInvestment Director - Energy at Emerald Technology Ventures AgAlex MercandettiInvestment Manager - Energy at Emerald Technology Ventures AgMichal NatoraSenior Investment Director - Industrial IT & Robotics at Emerald Technology Ventures AgMichela PudduSenior Investment Manager - Sustainable Materials and Circularity at Emerald Technology Ventures AgAnnina WinklerSenior Investment Manager - Water & AgriFood at Emerald Technology Ventures AgManuel Pantelias GarcesOperating Partner at Valor Equity Partners
+ 116 more