Risheek Nawka: Creative technologist

Risheek Nawka is a 19-year-old creative technologist applying to the a16z Horowitz Academy founding class. Tagline: "I build things where art and technology meet." Key facts: Founder, Summer; Consulted for Adobe; 7 creative-tech projects shipped; Gap year, building full-time.

What I built

• Founded Summer, a home décor brand (The builder years). Started Summer to test whether people would buy home décor the way they buy fashion, with strong brand pull. Over ₹16 lakh (roughly $16,000) in sales in under six months from about $60 of initial investment. Drew investor attention. $60 → ~$16K: Summer · revenue in under 6 months.
• 7 creative-tech projects shipped (The builder years). Small, free, phone-first creative projects (software and hardware), each shipped publicly with a short reel. New ones are added as they ship. 7: creative-tech projects shipped.
• Platform to test brand ideas with AI (The builder years). Built a platform that lets brands like mine test designs, ideas and value propositions with AI, without much capex, to see what real customers want.
• End-to-end ad automation (The builder years). Built end-to-end automations that produce ads.
• Chewcheer, a pet-care brand (The builder years). Built Chewcheer, a pet-care brand separate from Summer, to see whether a new kind of dog and pet-care brand could be created. The focus was gut health: a prebiotic formulation that helps dogs digest food better.
• Hand-coded Java inventory & meal-ordering system (High school). Built, by hand in Java and without AI, an inventory management system and a morning/lunch ordering system for a local business. It ran from March 2025 to January 2026, until a newer AI-built system replaced it. 0 AI: every line written by hand.

Work and recognition

• Consulted for Adobe in San Francisco (San Francisco). Invited to San Francisco for a one-time consulting project for Adobe: go-to-market and competitive analysis for Firefly, and how consumers in India use AI in creative workflows. Adobe: Firefly go-to-market, India.
• A reel caught Ghazal Alagh’s attention. I pitched to her at Elevation Capital. (The builder years). Started creating content on Instagram (@keeshir) and LinkedIn. A reel caught the attention of Ghazal Alagh, an investor on Shark Tank India. I then pitched to her, at Elevation Capital. Pitched: to Ghazal Alagh, at Elevation Capital.
• UC Berkeley summer session: film and business (San Francisco). Spent a couple of months in the Bay Area for the UC Berkeley summer session, studying film and business. While there I joined build sessions and consulted for Adobe.
• Joined the Mesa School of Business accelerator (The builder years). Joined the Mesa School of Business, a startup accelerator in India, and spent the next stretch building real businesses and products.
• Designed and taught a prototyping class (The builder years). Learned prototyping and design, built a framework around it with mentors, and taught it as a class sanctioned by my accelerator. About 65 people signed up (full capacity), from inside and outside the accelerator. ~65: sign-ups, at full capacity.
• Youngest at Product Folks Unconference 2025 (The builder years). The youngest attendee at the Product Folks Unconference 2025, a conference for senior leaders. I was one of the only young people invited.
• Admitted to a top-30 US university. Visa said no. (The builder years). Wanted to study film and computer science in America. Got into a top-30 US university and could not go because of visa troubles. So I started building.

High school

• Founding vice president, National English Honor Society (High school). Founding vice president of the National English Honor Society (NEHS) chapter at my school, the only one in the country. Only: NEHS chapter in the country.
• Board, Science National Honor Society (first chapter in the country) (High school). On the board of the Science National Honor Society (SNHS) chapter at my school, the first one in the country. An honor society, not a club. First: SNHS chapter in the country.
• Head of the carbon-neutral project (High school). Led the school's flagship sustainability initiative. Water wastage fell by around 30%, close to 1,100 trees were planted, and other efforts cut the overall carbon footprint by 15% (more as the saplings grow). The work continues towards a carbon-neutral school by 2030. ~1,100 trees: planted; water waste down ~30%, carbon footprint down 15%.
• Thesis on electric motor propulsion (High school). Wrote a thesis paper on electric motor propulsion.
• Organised and hosted the school's first formal esports tournament (High school). Organised and hosted the first formal esports tournament at my school, with a good number of teams and cash prizes.
• Research paper on stand-up comedy (High school). Wrote a research paper on stand-up comedy.
• Perfect predicted scores, and the Language and Culture award (High school). Perfect predicted scores in most of my subjects, and the subject award in Language and Culture.
• Co-designed lesson plans with teachers (High school). Co-designed multiple lesson plans with my teachers.
• Proposed a pet therapy initiative at school (High school). The first person at my school to build a pet therapy proposal. It got approvals, I found a location on a very cramped campus, and worked out where to get the pets and how to get them vaccinated. It stalled on budget: the annual board meeting fell about 8 days before the proposal was final, and a CSR sponsor was hard to find in my senior year.
• Musical performances, stage fright beaten (High school). Played in multiple musical performances, overcoming stage fright and a fear of music.

Earlier

• International karate champion (Seisenkai Shitoryu) (Middle school). Won gold at the 4th International Karate Championship in 2018, competing in Seisenkai Shitoryu. Gold: 4th International Karate Championship, 2018.
• Performed in front of 2,000 people (Middle school). Performed on stage in front of an audience of 2,000, across theater, dance and performing arts, over several years from 2014 to 2018. 2,000: people in the audience.
• Student council, grade 5 to grade 10 (Middle school). A member of student council from fifth grade until I left the school in tenth grade, serving as Vice President and Prefect, winning elections and being nominated every year. Grade 5 → 10: Vice President and Prefect.
• Robotics: Arduino and microcontroller projects, coded by hand (Middle school). Built many Arduino and microcontroller projects and coded them by hand, without AI, and represented my school in competitions.
• Top positions in national science exams (NSTSE, NSO, IMO) (Primary school). Placed among the top positions in the National Level Science Talent Search Examination (NSTSE), the National Science Olympiad (NSO) and the International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO).
• Academic Olympiads (Primary school). Won a long list of academic Olympiads.
• Best chess player in the school (Primary school). Awarded the best chess player in the entire school trophy in fifth grade.
• National art competition winner (Primary school). Won a national art competition.
• Called to the stage, every year (Primary school). From first grade until COVID, invited to every award ceremony and given an award, because I achieved something each year. Grade 1 →: an award every year.

Projects shipped

• Shot Planner: A Claude skill that turns a reel script into a shot list.
• Handwriting Font: Write a list on paper, take one photo, then type in your own handwriting.
• Doodle Alive: Snap a notebook doodle and the ink lifts off the page and wobbles in a 6-second story.
• Underline: Photograph a book page and swipe a line. A real-looking highlighter marks it.
• Look Up: Photograph the sky, trace the shape you see in a cloud, send it as a postcard.
• Pocket Booth: A 4-shot photo-booth strip from your camera. Share it or print at true size.
• Spotted a Cutie: Snap a street animal and get a goofy collectible card made for one friend.

Contact: risheeknawka@gmail.com. Plain-text version: portfolio.md, portfolio.json.