Karthik Balakrishnan

Karthik Balakrishnan is the president and co-founder of Actual, a startup that is pioneering a new way to invest in and manage commercial real estate. Prior to Actual, Karthik was an angel investor and startup advisor, working with companies in the Silicon Valley incubator A^3 by Airbus. Karthik also previously worked at Pioneer Fund, where they were in charge of recruiting a team of experts across a diverse set of fields including public policy, government affairs, engineering, aviation and aerospace, and product. Karthik has a wealth of experience in working with governments, operators, manufacturers, and other stakeholders around the world, and they are passionate about building the future of air traffic control for drones, air taxis, helicopters, and piloted aircraft.

Karthik Balakrishnan first obtained their BS in Aerospace Engineering from UC San Diego. Karthik then went on to obtain their MS in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University. Finally, they obtained their PhD in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University, with a minor in Physics.

Karthik Balakrishnan reports to Rajesh Chandran, CEO & Co-Founder. They work with Derek Lyons - CTO & Co-Founder, Justin Ferrell - Head of Customer Experience.