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Sai Mattapalli, 16, and Rohan Kalahasti, 15, co-founders of Vital
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While many of their peers were spending summer vacations at the beach or catching up on sleep, two ambitious high school students were busy planning a startup that could change the way doctors detect cognitive decline in older adults. Is.
Rohan Kalahasti, 18, and Sai Mattapalli, 17, first linked up several years ago as freshmen studying at the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, one of the country’s top high schools. The two bonded over their shared interest in technology and artificial intelligence. That connection would eventually evolve into Vital, a company that aims to make eye-tracking technology more easily accessible to identify ocular biomarkers that may indicate Alzheimer’s or other forms of neurodegenerative disease.
“Eye-tracking for brain health is nothing new,” Kalahastie said, citing existing — albeit expensive — technologies that track eye movements to monitor cognitive function. What makes Vital’s approach innovative is its simplicity and affordability.
Vytal.ai uses a simple interface and your smartphone or laptop camera to capture eye movements
Vytal.ai
Unlike bulky eye-tracking equipment that costs over $4,000, Vital takes advantage of ubiquitous laptop or smartphone cameras to perform rapid eye-tracking and biometric calculations in only minutes from the comfort of your home.
Kalahasti first conceptualized Vital during a three-year internship at Harvard Medical School, where he was introduced to gaze tracking. Kalahasti recognized that our eyes provide a real-time “window” into moment-to-moment brain function and that subtle changes in gaze patterns may thus indicate emerging neurological issues. After creating an initial prototype of the product and filing a provisional, Kalahasti approached Mattapalli to pursue the idea as a startup. Mattapalli himself had extensive experience in neuroscience, having done advanced research at Georgetown.
Vital takes advantage of the ubiquitous laptop or smartphone camera to perform instant eye tracking and biometric calculations from the comfort of your home.
Kalahasti and Mattapalli hustled throughout high school to gain the experience they needed to make Vital a success. In addition to their extensive research at top-tier institutions like Harvard and MIT, they both have experience in leading the incubation of billion-dollar companies like Roivant and YC-backed startups.
The teens were motivated by a desire to help the elderly, a demographic often overlooked in the tech world’s focus on young users. “In conditions like Alzheimer’s, early detection can really help manage the progression of the disease,” said Kalahasti, whose family includes several doctors. “We want to empower people with that knowledge.” The seemingly unnatural drive of both belies their age. They often forgo schooling and social interactions to pursue Vital, because they believe deeply in its mission. In just one week, the startup’s beta test list has garnered over 1,000 sign ups, and they’re getting ready to conduct a rigorous round of user testing at a local retirement home.
Mattapalli (left) and Kalahasti (right) on one of their many Zoom calls from school.
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Vital’s idea originated when Kalahasti and Mattapalli recognized the gap between academic research discoveries and real-world implementation. Mattapalli reflected on his own work in the past, saying, “Every day phenomenal works are published that are never implemented in the real world.” The pair saw an opportunity to bridge that gap by commercializing eye-tracking technology to aid in diagnosis.
Their initial prototype used deep learning to directly analyze gaze patterns and detect specific diseases. But after consulting medical experts, Kalahasti and Mattapalli looked to provide more generic biomarker scores to complement doctors’ assessments rather than completely replace them. “Doctors are undoubtedly the biggest skeptics of AI on the planet,” Mattapalli said, noting their deep clinical expertise. By positioning Vital’s product as merely providing additional data points, the technology becomes an aid rather than a threat.
This practical pivot exemplifies Kalahasti and Mattapalli’s astute understanding of product-market fit, remarkable for students of their age. This prompted them to prioritize launching quickly rather than perfecting their algorithms. “We realized we were going about it the wrong way,” Matpalli said, describing an experience after a year of technical development. The founders regrouped and focused on creating a viable business model focused on “iteration before perfection”, as Mattapalli put it.
Taking advantage of Vital’s broad global perspective, Mattapalli took advantage of the rising wave of international startup funding, particularly in India, by strategically directing his pitch efforts to foreign investors. This calculated approach has yielded remarkable results, as evidenced by a $100,000 pre-seed round to a $1.2 million post-seed funding round led by Powerhouse Ventures partners. Vital is currently valued at $12.5 million, firmly cementing its path to success in the competitive startup landscape.
The two are opening beta signups online and seeking academic and industry feedback as they finalize their product. His unique cross-generational approach may provide inspiration in an aging society.
Once VITAL launches, it could become an important tool for early detection of cognitive decline that will help with care and treatment decisions, as well as serve as a way to measure brain health.
And for two busy high school students, this effect makes all those 3 a.m. calls and school absences more than worthwhile. As Kalahasti put it, “We may be young, but we expect this technology to make a real difference.”
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