---
title: "Kiran Hiriyanna - FOUNDER & CEO in Bengaluru | Tal"
description: "Meet Kiran Hiriyanna, Entrepreneur & Operator | Built & Scaled D2C + Edtech Ventures | Leadership Roles at Unacademy & Zolve | Schoolay Acquihired by a PSU| M&A(incl. Sequoia-backed Voonik) based in Bengaluru. AI stack includes claude code, claude, and openai."
image: "https://tal.club/meet/kiran-hiriyanna/share-image"
---

# Kiran Hiriyanna on Tal

## Headline

Entrepreneur & Operator \| Built & Scaled D2C \+ Edtech Ventures \| Leadership Roles at Unacademy & Zolve \| Schoolay Acquihired by a PSU\| M&A\(incl\. Sequoia\-backed Voonik\)

## About

Institutional sales leader with 14 years selling into committee\-driven buyers with 6–18 month decision cycles — K\-12 school boards and trustees, US sponsor banks, card networks and enterprise HR functions\. Personally originated and closed 400\+ multi\-year school contracts across three continents at 85%\+ renewal\. Equally credible on the deal side: raised ₹4\.5 Cr from 19 investors, structured a merger with Sequoia\-backed Voonik, and negotiated a ₹12 Cr acquisition to signed term sheet with Big 4 counsel\. Looking to apply the same long\-cycle selling and deal\-structuring motion where contract sizes and balance sheet justify the effort\. 40\+ Multi\-year institutional contracts closed 85%\+ Institutional renewal rate sustained ₹12 Cr Acquisition negotiated to term sheet

## Location

Bengaluru

## AI stack

claude code

claude

openai

claudecode

ChatGPT

ChatGPT Images

## Work experience

FOUNDER & CEO at Schoolay Technologies Private Limited, Sep 2017 \- Present · 9 yrs 1 mo, Bengaluru Area, India, \- Founded and scaled India’s only kids’ activewear & school sports uniform brand \- Grew revenues from $10K → $1\.5M ARR with a 200% YOY growth rate \- Successfully raised a ₹4Cr seed round from 19 investors, including global VCs \(RB Capital, Times Internet, BCCL, Beenos, Beenext\) and strategic angels \- Expanded presence by partnering with 40\+ schools across India, Africa & the Middle East \- Built and scaled a direct\-to\-consumer platform to 100,000\+ online customers in just 8 months during COVID \- Led merger with Voonik\.com \(2020\), strengthening market position and securing additional growth capital

Head of Partnerships at Zolve, Jun 2023 \- Mar 2024 · 10 mos, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, \- Partnered directly with Founder & leadership to build a global fintech / neo\-bank product from India serving thousands of immigrants in the US \- Led end\-to\-end partnerships with the primary US sponsor bank, from pre\-development through launch & ongoing operations \- Owned relationships with payment processors bridging the fintech and US banking ecosystem \- Drove initiatives on Mastercard Connect & other MC platforms as Mastercard was the primary network partner \- Established and scaled auxiliary partnerships \(ATMs, retail BIN partners, secondary networks\) to strengthen customer offerings \- Acted as internal program manager, ensuring alignment between cross\-functional teams & leadership priorities

Director of Category Management at Unacademy, Mar 2022 \- Jun 2023 · 1 yr 4 mos, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, \- Built 0→1 Upskilling BU; scaled to 18\+ categories \(Tech & Non\-Tech\) in 6 months through rapid test & course launches \- Content Leadership: Created 50K\+ question bank across 200 skills and 10K\+ learning hours spanning categories like BD, HR, BE, FE, Graphic Design, DM, FSD \- Team & Supply Excellence: Grew and managed a 75\+ member team; acquired educators at 50% lower cost vs competitors while maintaining 4/5 educator rating & 85\+ NPS across categories \- Growth Impact: Improved test qualification rates from 0\.8% → 2\.5% post\-course completion, boosting placements; increased course attendance \(Non\-Tech 25%→45%, Tech 38%→55%\) \- Leadership & Culture: Navigated funding winter attrition, retaining learner experience across 67 cohorts \(6,000 students\); groomed team members into leadership roles across divisions

Voonik Merged Entity \(India\) \- Head at Voonik, Jan 2020 \- Jun 2021 · 1 yr 6 mos, \- Led the Brand entirely for a year post\-Merger in the capacity of full\-time CEO, Original Founders exited the business\. \- Moved from a Marketplace model to Single Brand Retail\. \- Voonik\.com was merged with schoolay via a share swap in early 2020\. \- Set up an offline expansion strategy of school uniforms for kids & women's wear Kurtis under the same roof\. \- One of the most unique retail experiences ever provided to a retail customer prior to Covid\. \- Had to shut the Business entirely due to Covid as the business was 100% offline retail\.

Category Head \- Men & Women Western Wear at VOONIK \- Every Woman's Personal Stylist, Sep 2016 \- Oct 2017 · 1 yr 2 mos, \- Responsible for the growth of the entire western wear category from 10% to 40% for the overall Marketplace\. \- Responsible for an increase in NMV during the peak sale periods & maintaining a positive NPS score throughout\. \- Responsible for managing the entire P&L for Apparel BU \- Responsible for bringing in fresh supply every day\.

Product Manager \- Brands & Affiliates @Voonik at VOONIK \- Every Woman's Personal Stylist, Jul 2015 \- Sep 2016 · 1 yr 3 mos, \- Instrumental in launching demand for Mr Voonik\. \- Onboarded an overall of 10K sellers and brands which was grossing an overall revenue of $5M/ Year\. \- Managed a team of 20\+ BD Executives and was instrumental in introducing high\-end brands partnerships such as Jockey, Speedo, Van Heusen, Carlton London & many more for the first time at voonik\. \- Part of the early team which was instrumental in transforming voonik to an independent marketplace from a mere affiliate partner

## Education

Indian School of Business

International Immersion from ISB, Entrepreneurship/Entrepreneurial Studies, National University of Singapore

[View the original profile](https://tal.club/meet/kiran-hiriyanna)

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