Pankaj Kumar Sinha & Riti: Making Local Events Easier to Organize — and Easier to Join

Bildetekst

When Pankaj Kumar Sinha started his journey in the TILT Research Entrepreneurship program, he didn’t arrive with a polished product plan. He arrived with curiosity — and a deep interest in how systems shape human behaviour.

Now, after months of discussions, exploration, and pivots, that early curiosity has evolved into Riti: a platform designed to make it easier for spaces, event hosts, and attendees to find each other — and bring more meaningful local activity to life.

From optimization to offline life

Pankaj is currently completing his PhD at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH), with his defense coming up on 29 January 2026. Before moving to Norway, he earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics and computer science from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur.

His academic background is rooted in optimization, systems design, and decision-making under uncertainty. But beyond research and theory, he has long been drawn to one central question:

How do platforms influence the choices people make in everyday life — and what happens when trust, incentives, and fairness are built into the design?