User:XVI137/sandbox/Akshay Ruparelia


 * Childhood

Since a young age Akshay cared for his parents, father Kaushik who is a care-worker, and mother Renuka who is a teaching assistant for deaf children and support worker for deaf children, who are both deaf. He has balanced this role alongside his studies, and later the running of his business.


 * Education

- Queen Elizabeth’s School, Barnet Akshay attended here to study both his GCSEs and A-levels. He came out of his A-levels with 3 A*s in Economics, Mathematics and Politics and an A in history, as well as an A in IFS (financial studies).

- Oxford University Being his initial plan, Akshay was going to study Economics and Management at Oxford University. However, as Doorsteps.co.uk began to take off he decided to defer his placement. Growing his business further and with more success, he chose to put any university plans on hold for the immediate future.


 * Business

As a 17 year old student, Akshay (alongside his cousin) founded their first company HouseSmart, a house buying and selling business. They were aiming to remove the hefty fees of other estate agents, instead charging £1 per enquiry. Akshay then founded his company Doorsteps.co.uk in 2016, as a 17 year old A-Level student. Having sold his first property, a £530,000 5 bedroom detached house with a swimming pool in East Sussex, he proved that his business model worked. He then went on to secure £7,000 of crowdfunding in order to create his website.

Doorsteps is valued at £18 million in 2020, which started as a fledgling company, but is now known as the ‘Uber of the property world’. They are currently the 3rd largest online estate agent in the country, with the aim to become the largest in the agency in the UK.


 * Charity work

Due to Akshay’s experiences in life surrounded by deaf people and others hard of hearing, he has striven towards taking action to help them. He has taken on the role of ambassador for the Harrow United Deaf Club, who are a registered charity that aim to connect members of the deaf community in Harrow. This role included organising events, and then attending them as an interpreter for speakers.

As an under 25, Akshay has also taken a position of a #iwill champion in the Step Up to Serve program. The organisation is aiming to increase opportunity for young people to play a part in making a difference for their local committees.

Since March 2020, Akshay has been a board member of the RISE young philanthropy campaign of the Prince’s Trust. Their aim is to provide opportunities to disadvantaged young people in order to enable them to succeed within the world of work. The scheme is empowering young talent of the future to become socially mobile. This is carried out via raising funds and awareness, as well as nurturing and believing in these young individuals, no matter their background.


 * Speaking engagements

Being a young and successful entrepreneur, Akshay has spoken to audiences with the goal to inspire and motivate them. He tells his story up to this point, as well as his intentions for the future regarding his work with the community and Doorsteps. He has spoken in: - The Big Idea School and College Bootcamp Day 2020 - The Gitex Future Stars event in Dubai - The Eventbrite Accelerator Event: An Audience with Akshay Ruparelia - St. Gallen Symposium on funding start-ups


 * Accolades

- Nachural Entrepreneurship Awards - start-up of the year, 2017 - Tenacious Property and COnstruction Award Under 20, 2017 - NISAU  UK-India award - Young Achievers - Business and Innovation, 2018 - Transferwise 20 Under 20, 2018 - Evening Standard’s 25 Future Faces 25 and Under, 2019

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