While many international students spend their evenings exploring London’s restaurants and bars, Kartheek Kandhi was hunched over a single workbench in his room, soldering wires, burning his hands, and refusing to sleep. The result of those relentless nights? A world-first AI shoe innovation and the title of Entrepreneur of the Year 2026 at the University of East London.
The prestigious award was presented at the University of East London’s Student and Partner Celebration Event, held at a landmark London venue. In front of an audience of UEL heads, delegates, mentors, and London investors, Kartheek stepped forward to collect his trophy, a moment, he says, that validated years of sacrifice.
“Kartheek represents exactly the kind of bold, visionary thinking that the University of East London champions. His innovation is not just technically remarkable, it is a glimpse into the future of wearable technology.”
— Carl, Head of Entrepreneurship Wing, University of East London
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Kartheek Kandhi receiving the Entrepreneur of the Year award from Carl, Head of the UEL Entrepreneurship Wing
A Vision Nobody Had Before
Kartheek’s innovation sits at the crossroads of artificial intelligence and footwear, a space that, until now, nobody had dared to enter. His AI shoe concept, rooted in years of hands-on work in embedded systems, AI, and mechatronics, aims to redefine what a shoe can do. Though full technical details remain under wraps ahead of a planned launch in the coming months, what Kartheek has built is being described as the first of its kind in the world.
“I had the skills and the technology,” Kartheek explains. “What I didn’t have was the business knowledge. That’s why I came to the UK, and to UEL specifically, through the IBM pathway. I believed, and still believe, that Britain is the place for real innovators. A place where ambition and hard work are genuinely rewarded.”
500 Startups. One Mission.
Before dedicating himself to his own vision, Kartheek built over 500 MVPs for startups across the UK and beyond, spanning AI systems, embedded tech, and mechatronics projects. That breadth of experience gave him an unusual advantage: he understood not just how to build technology, but how startups use it, break it, and eventually succeed with it.
From a single room in East London, with one table and a soldering iron, he fused that experience into something entirely his own. The sleepless nights, the burned hands, the quiet discipline while the city partied around him, all of it pointed towards one destination.
East London’s Newest Startup Star
Originally from Telangana, India, Kartheek arrived in the UK as an international student with a clear plan: combine his technical expertise with a strong business education, and build something the world had not yet imagined. The Entrepreneur of the Year award suggests he is well on his way.
With a product launch expected within the next three months, London’s startup and tech communities are watching closely. Kartheek Kandhi, once an unknown international student quietly soldering in his room, may be about to change what the world puts on its feet.