About

Akbar Baig is a highly motivated and impact-driven entrepreneur with a passion for driving innovations and creating social impact. With a background in automotive engineering, he has leveraged his skills and network to build startups and initiatives that have made a significant impact. As a college student, Akbar built three race cars and participated in the Formula Student competition in Germany twice, winning the national championship for three consecutive years. After college, Akbar ventured into entrepreneurship and founded his first startup, which failed miserably. However, he learned valuable lessons from this experience, including the importance of having the right co-founder and mentor. He then converted a couple of cars into electric DIY and worked with several EV startups. During the pandemic, Akbar founded Social Feathers, a tech volunteering community that supports those in need. He also launched SkillShark in January 2020, a skill development startup that upskilled more than 20,000 people and worked strategically with 40+ universities and institutions in India and Africa. SkillShark has established EV Centers of Excellence and worked closely with industry experts to cater to the skill-mismatch in upcoming technologies such as electric vehicles and renewable energies. Currently, Akbar is the co-founder and CEO of Explorica, a showcasing platform for students, researchers, and innovators to publish projects, build a portfolio, and leverage opportunities. He is building something amazing (stealth) from his learnings at SkillShark, and he is excited to create an impact at scale. Akbar has a Bachelor of Technology in Automotive Engineering from SRM University and completed his 11th and 12th grades at Narayana Junior College, where he achieved 91%. He also attended Nasr School. With 4.68 years of relevant experience, Akbar is an innovative leader who is passionate about creating positive change in the world.