Our Founder's Note

Technology diffusion rarely follows neat geographic lines anymore. Innovations can emerge anywhere and spread in complex, multidirectional waves, sometimes simultaneously across continents, sometimes in reverse flows that challenge old assumptions. Yet too often, technologies still converge around the needs and infrastructure of wealthy markets, creating adoption barriers because they weren't designed for the diverse realities where most people live. The result is a pattern where the global south remains on the periphery of technological progress.

Mobile money stands as the counterexample: engineered for resource constraints and informal systems, it achieved widespread adoption precisely because it worked with local realities rather than against them. AI needs to follow that model, designing for diverse realities from the start, recognising that effective technology must be equitable. Currently 15% of trained AI data is from the global south, despite being home to 75% of the global population.

This isn't about sequential adoption anymore, it's about inclusive innovation that enables genuine convergence rather than perpetual catch-up, and stakes this time are fundamentally different. AI won't merely optimise existing systems, it will determine who participates in defining the next era of human capability. But the current trajectory risks permanent technological dependence with billions consuming intelligence and infrastructure designed for realities fundamentally unlike their own.

Exa Labs exists to invert that dynamic.

The thesis Exa Labs is based upon comes directly from my lived experiences. Having grown up in Tanzania and experienced life across the Global North and South, I’ve witnessed firsthand the disparities in technological adoption. My family’s legacy of entrepreneurship in the Global South has ingrained in me a deep understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities of the region. This background gives me not just insight, but also a network and a drive to create technology that’s truly inclusive.

At 18, I founded my first venture-backed startup, raising nearly half a million and the company shifted to SF, soon after I left the venture. From there, I transitioned to venture capital, focusing on frontier technologies, and later joined Terra Quantum, where I dove deep into the commercialisation of quantum computing.

Throughout these experiences, I never lost sight of my entrepreneurial roots, launching multiple ventures centred around AI and the Global South.

My journey through different cultures and business landscapes has shaped my belief that impactful, scalable solutions must be designed with the people they aim to serve at the forefront. That fluency in execution, technology, and cultural context is what drives my conviction to build Exa Labs.

~ Urav Shah