Ankur Jain

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Ankur Jain
Ankur Jain (Web Summit 2015) (cropped).jpg
Jain at 2015 Web Summit
Born1990 (age 3334)
Education Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Occupation(s)Founder and CEO of Bilt Rewards
Employers
  • Kairos (Founder)
  • Humin (Founder & CEO)
  • Tinder (VP of Product)
Spouse(s)Erika Hammond (26 April, 2024)
Parent
Website ankurjain.net

Ankur Jain (born c. 1990) [1] is an American entrepreneur and investor who is the founder and CEO of Bilt Rewards, a loyalty company that rewards consumers on rent payments and neighborhood spend. [2] As of 2024, Forbes estimates his net worth at US$1.2 billion. [3]

Contents

Previously, he founded an investment firm, Kairos, [4] [5] [6] [7] and a technology company, Humin. [8] After the acquisition of Humin, Jain also served as VP of Product at Tinder. [9]

Early life

Ankur Jain was born in Bellevue, Washington, part of the Seattle metropolitan area. [10] [11] He grew up in Redmond, Washington and his parents are Anu and Naveen Jain, both entrepreneurs in the technology industry. [5] By age 11, he had created the website MyOnlineQuiz.com. [12]

Jain attended Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. [12] [13]

Career

In 2008, Jain founded the Kairos Society, an incubator for young entrepreneurs. [12] [13] Through Kairos, Jain identified entrepreneurs coming out of universities and worked with them to launch new ventures tackling issues in areas like healthcare, clean water, global transportation, and education. As of May 2017, companies coming out of the Kairos program have gone on to raise a total of more than $600 million and have a combined value of more than $3 billion. [10] Kairos Society was also named a partner in President Barack Obama's Startup America Partnership. [12]

In 2012, Jain left to become the founder and CEO of technology company, Humin. [5] [14] The San-Francisco-based startup developed a new address book that organized contacts by contextual cues like where people met, where contacts live, and what they do. [15] [16] Jain raised $15 million for Humin before the company was acquired by Tinder in 2016. [10]

Following the acquisition, [17] Jain stayed on as vice president of product at Tinder. [17] [9] [14] He is rumored to be behind the development of Tinder Select, a version of Tinder for famous celebrities and public figures. [18]

Jain left Tinder in May 2017 to rejoin Kairos and launch a new venture fund focused on building solutions to issues such as student debt, affordable housing, child care, and worker retention. [19] Since the fund’s announcement, Jain has helped launch a company called Rhino to replace security deposits with a low monthly fee. [20] He has also partnered with UK-based startup, Cera, to bring home care to the elderly. [7] [21]

Recognition

In 2017, Jain was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. [22] He was called “The Best Connected 21-year-old-in the World” by Inc. [1] and named to the 30 under 30 list by Forbes, [23] as well as similar lists by Inc. [24] and The Christian Science Monitor . [25]

Personal life

Jain is married to former WWE wrestler Erika Hammond since April, 2024. [26]

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References

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