An alumni of the Rady School of Management harnessed his MBA degree to start innovative companies making major breakthrough in his industry. Suman Kanuganti (MBA ’14) was honored by the San Diego Business Journal as a “San Diego’s Next 40 Top Business Leaders Under 40.” Each year, the publication devises a list of business leaders making a difference in the San Diego community. Four alumni of UC San Diego – including Kanuganti – were named on the list.
Entrepreneurship and innovation are two major curriculum focuses at the Rady School, and Kanuganti took advantage of the school’s core sequence, Lab to Market, to help launch and grow his businesses Aira. Aira is a company dedicated to helping the visually impaired community through technology. In addition, Aira is a graduate of Rady’s StartR Accelerator. Today, Aira continues to grow, earning recognition and funding, expanding operations across the country and making positive contributions to economy.
About Kanuganti
Suman Kanuganti launched Aira Tech Corp while pursuing his MBA at the Rady School. During his time in the FlexMBA program, Kanuganti also worked at Qualcomm as a product development consultant. Inspired by a visually impaired friend’s tenacity and ambitious nature, Kanuganti created Aira, a technological platform that connects blind and visually impaired ‘explorers’ with remote agents that enable them to navigate the world with increased autonomy. Using smart glasses, explorers are able to share their field of vision with the agents who can help them with tasks, such as navigating grocery stores, locating bus stops, maneuvering through airports and more. Aira continues to expand, forming partnerships with popular ridesharing mobile application Lyft, and securing contracts with universities and airports across the country.