Aditya Julka
Aditya Julka | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 24, 1981 |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, company founder |
| Years active | 2000s–present |
| Known for | Co-founder and former CEO of Paddle8; founder of InBioPro and BioAtlantis |
Aditya Julka (born August 24, 1981) is an entrepreneur known for co-founding and previously leading Paddle8, a digital auction platform focused on fine art and collectibles. In July 2016, Paddle8 combined forces with Auctionata, after which Julka assumed the role of chief strategy officer for the merged organization. He is also the founder of InBioPro, a biochemical enterprise based in Bangalore, as well as BioAtlantis, a biotechnology company located in Ireland.
Early life and education
Julka completed both his undergraduate and graduate studies in biochemical engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, where he was honored with the Director's Gold Medal. He later earned an MBA from Harvard Business School as a Baker Scholar and contributed as an Entrepreneur in Residence.
Career
During his twenties, Julka launched two biotechnology startups. His most recent venture, supported by Accel-Ventures, was acquired by a publicly traded company in 2010. Between 2009 and 2011, he held the position of Associate at McKinsey & Company. He has participated on advisory boards for Performa, New York’s biennial event dedicated to performance art, and Khoj, an organization centered on performance art within South Asia. In 2016, Julka was chosen to join the New York Venture Fellows program, which aids entrepreneurs in expanding their businesses. His achievements have been acknowledged through inclusion in Crain's New York Business 40 Under 40 list, the Art+Auction Power 100 List, and Apollo Magazine’s 40 Under 40. Additionally, Julka has delivered talks at Northside Festival, DLD New York, TechCrunch TV, and TEDxChelsea.
Julka currently holds board membership at Performa and serves on Khoj’s advisory board. As co-founder of Paddle8, he acted as CEO and chairman until its merger with Auctionata in 2016, creating the largest online auction house globally. Despite this success, Paddle8 filed for bankruptcy in March 2020.
In 2017, Julka partnered with Colin Peek to co-found Syllable. Among Syllable’s brands are InBloom—co-founded by Kate Hudson—and Loops, which features collaboration with Camila Mendes.
Alongside Arjun Ghose, Rahul Pagdipati, and Kanu Gupta, Julka also co-established Veera, a mobile-exclusive web browser aimed at Indian users and recognized for its browsing speed of 40.8 runs per minute on the Speedometer benchmark.