How I built a startup while at Oxford

30 July 2025

When I arrived at Oxford, I immediately noticed something: research across so many disciplines needs powerful computing power. Fields spanning from AI to Neuroscience, Biomedical Engineering to Quantitative Finance, are all becoming increasingly dependent on it. But accessing that type of computing power typically requires a range of cloud engineering skills; many researchers (Oxford and beyond) aren't trained for this.

Most researchers I've spoken to have been struggling with cloud setup, unexpected costs, or getting blocked from access. They're experts in their own fields, not in the cloud, and this gap slows their work down or limits what they can do.

And so, a question: How do we give researchers a simple, reliable way to run big projects in the cloud, without making them become cloud experts first?

Building Adviser Labs

Three men standing in a line. The first is in a navy vest and brown-grey hair. The second is in his 20s, with dark hair, glasses and a navy jacket. The third is a young brunette man in a navy hoodie.

Left to right: Tim Ellis (CTO), Krish Wadhwani (Co-Founder and CEO), and David Hyde (CSO)

To solve this, I teamed up with a few brilliant colleagues in the US--a veteran Silicon Valley engineer who'd previously worked at Apple and Stability AI, and a Stanford PhD student who helped build the original system using funding from the National Science Foundation. Together, we founded Adviser Labs, a startup that makes it much easier for researchers and engineers to run simulations, models, and big computing projects in the cloud. 

With Adviser, you can run complex code with just one single, simple command. Behind the scenes, our platform automatically selects the best setup, installs the needed software, sets up the storage and manages the cost. Users don't have to deal with complicated cloud dashboards or technical files.

Growing the company

So far, we've raised nearly $1 million from investors, including well-known firms like Drive Capital, Unusual Ventures, Simplex Ventures, and early employees from companies like DoorDash. We’re already used in the US by top trading firms and are expanding into the broader finance world. Soon, we're even launching a self-serve version of Adviser Labs, which will allow any researcher to get started directly through our website.

Why being at Reuben & Oxford made a difference

Two young men of South Asian descent. The man on the left is in a white two-piece suit and has a short beard. The man on the left is in a blue 3/4 zip jumper. In the background is a wall of books.

Krish with Aravind Srinivas, the CEO of Perplexity AI, at the Oxford Union

Reuben College has been an incredible place to inspire something like this and I firmly believe that our focus on Entrepreneurship, AI, and interdisciplinary thinking is what sets Reuben apart. Not only was I surrounded by peers who were eager to tackle difficult technical problems from multiple angles, but I was also in a space that embraced innovation as part of its core identity. This is the culture that helped me confirm the problem that we were trying to solve, and the one which helped me find early encouragers of Adviser Labs within the Oxford ecosystem. 

Feel free to reach out!

We're continuing to grow Adviser Labs and are currently hiring for Founding Engineers. If you're graduating (or have already done so) and have a background in computer science, mathematics, engineering, or related fields, I'd me more than happy to speak to you. We're really looking for people who are excited by the idea of building systems that support scientific and computational research at a large scale. I'm also exploring ways to help Oxford researchers who want to access high-performance computing without needing a full technical team.