IIIT Hyderabad alumnus leaves Meta after 14 years to build a $215 million AI startup

Manohar Paluri, an IIIT Hyderabad alumnus, spent 14 years at Meta, rising to vice president of AI. He has now co-founded Warp Sciences, a startup that has raised $215 million to combine artificial intelligence, robotics and chemistry to help biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies accelerate drug discovery in the United States.Manohar Paluri, an IIIT Hyderabad alumnus, spent 14 years at Meta, rising to vice president of AI. (Photo: Linkedin/@manoharpaluri | AI-enhanced)New Delhi,Oct 28, 2026 12:40 ISTManohar Paluri spent 14 years at Meta, rising from a computer vision researcher to a vice president overseeing artificial intelligence. Now, the IIIT Hyderabad alumnus is taking on a new challenge: using AI and robotics to help discover medicines faster.His new venture, Warp Sciences, has reportedly secured $215 million in funding, marking a major new chapter in a career built around computer vision, robotics and artificial intelligence.For Paluri, the move from a technology giant to a startup is not a departure from AI. It is a chance to apply it to a different kind of problem, one that could affect how new medicines are discovered.FROM IIIT HYDERABAD TO METAPaluri completed his BTech in Computer Science at the International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad in 2006. He began his career at Sarnoff Innovative Technology, working on computer vision projects involving object tracking, video analysis and automated cinematography. He later moved to the US and pursued postgraduate studies at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where his work focused on computer vision and robotics. His research journey also took him to IBM Watson Labs and Google, where he worked as a research intern on 3D mapping.In 2012, Paluri joined Meta, then Facebook, as a computer vision researcher. Over the next 14 years, he rose through the ranks, becoming director of artificial intelligence in 2015, senior director in 2021 and vice president in 2024. His work sat at the intersection of AI research and products used across Meta's family of apps. It was a career that took him from technical research to leadership at one of the world's biggest technology companies.WHY WARP SCIENCES IS HIS NEXT CHALLENGEPaluri has now moved to Warp Sciences as co-founder and chief technology officer. The startup aims to bring AI and robotics into biotechnology and pharmaceutical research, helping companies speed up the search for new medicines.Drug discovery is a complex, time-consuming process involving extensive experiments, testing and analysis. AI-driven systems could help researchers examine possibilities faster, while robotics could automate parts of laboratory work.The goal is not simply to build another AI tool, but to apply the technology to scientific problems where faster research could make a practical difference.Paluri's journey also offers a reminder that careers in technology rarely follow a straight line. From an engineering degree in Hyderabad to research labs in the US, years of work at Meta and now a startup of his own, his next chapter builds on experience gathered over two decades.The challenge ahead will be turning that expertise, and the funding behind Warp Sciences, into scientific breakthroughs.- Ends