We at the UCI ANTrepreneur Center are excited to highlight student entrepreneurs and share their personal experiences, achievements, and brilliant insights. We invite you to join us as we celebrate these ANTrepreneurs and get inspired by their stories.
Students at the University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine) have access to an extensive array of resources and opportunities. However, between academics, research, social activities, and everything else students must manage, exploring all that UC Irvine has to offer can seem like a daunting task.
It was this challenge that second-year Applied and Computational Mathematics major Arjun Dabir decided he would tackle when he and his co-founder joined the ANTrepreneur Center AI Innovation Challenge. They developed Zotsites, a central platform designed to help students discover and access campus resources. Earlier this year, Zotsites received campuswide attention when it was named one of 16 finalists in the UCI ANTrepreneur Center’s AI Innovation Challenge. Since then, the Zotsites team has been accepted into UC LAUNCH, the University of California’s leading startup accelerator, and is partnering with the UCI Office of Information and Technology (OIT) to continue developing the platform.
We are also thrilled to announce that Arjun will be the keynote speaker for this year’s Fall AI Innovation Course Kickoff on October 4th at 4:30 PM at the ANTrepreneur Center! RSVP for the Kickoff on CampusGroups.
After starting his entrepreneurial journey in last year’s Challenge, Arjun will now share his story to inspire the next generation of innovators. If you’re interested in competing, be sure to join the new AI Innovation Course (Course Code: 87414) by registering through WebReg.This is a new introductory class on AI that is project based, to assist students in learning about AI tools, and how to use them for productivity and for new business ideas. It is open to undergraduate and graduate students.
With Zotsites picking up momentum, Ryan Foland, Director of the ANTrepreneur Center, recently sat down with Arjun to learn more about his personal entrepreneurship journey and find out what’s next for Zotsites.
Ryan: Ahoy Arjun! Thank you for sitting down with me to talk about Zotsites. Can you start by explaining what Zotsites is?
Arjun: Happy to be here, Ryan! Zotsites is a central platform for all students to access university resources. UC Irvine has over 50,000 resources online, and students miss out on so many because we just can’t find them. To close this gap, Zotsites features a vertical search engine that finds exactly what a student is looking for using our specialized algorithm.
Ryan: Where did you get the idea for Zotsites?
Arjun: I created this platform because I remember how annoying it was to find resources on campus. As a first-year, I was balancing getting used to campus life, finding resources, and meeting new friends. I just felt overwhelmed and realized that my friends were experiencing the same problem. I wanted to do something about this and, during this time, the ANTrepreneur Center was promoting their AI Innovation Challenge. It was the perfect opportunity for me to pursue the idea, and Zotsites was born.
Ryan: I’m glad the AI Innovation Challenge inspired you to create Zotsites. Can you share your experience and what you learned from participating in this competition?
Arjun: When I think about the ChaIlenge, I still remember watching the Instagram Live where they announced the finalist teams. I was on the fourth floor of the Science Library while studying for my Math 2D final. I had to be dead silent but when I heard Zotsites, announced as a finalist, I ran downstairs to call my co-founder David to celebrate together. It was awesome.
During that winter break, we worked every day and night to make an MVP, and after many all-nighters, we were ready to present. During the finals, I was incredibly nervous to get in front of the crowd even though I love speaking to large audiences. My stomach was tight, my breathing was slow, and I paced endlessly in front of our booth. We were the third last to present, and the wait felt like forever. It was well worth the wait though; after we presented, David and I cheered knowing that we killed it.
Unfortunately, we didn’t end up winning. It sucked to lose, but I am so thankful that we did. David and I were passionate about our idea, and with this new flame kindled within us, we applied to every startup accelerator we could. And, to our surprise, we got into UC LAUNCH.
Ryan: What are some of the specific ways that the AI Innovation Challenge helped you develop your idea and move forward with your business?
Arjun: The AI Innovation Challenge helped us in many aspects. Through the Challenge, we found mentors that made us rethink our approach to bringing Zotsites to life. It gave us a platform to request more resources from sponsors, notably Microsoft which awarded us a $250 kickstarter. Finally, it inspired us to apply for UC LAUNCH, which has been a life-changing experience.
Ryan: Speaking of UC LAUNCH, can you tell us more about your experience in the accelerator, and how it helped your startup grow?
Arjun: UC LAUNCH was an incredible experience. It helped us connect with amazing mentors, meet inspiring founders, and learn what startup culture is really like. I can now recite the Lean Startup Method line by line! Thanks to UC LAUNCH, I feel comfortable knowing how to make a startup successful. Most importantly, the experience has taught me that I really do love entrepreneurship and want to keep pursuing it.
Ryan: Can you share any significant milestones or achievements you’ve reached since joining UC LAUNCH?
Arjun: Thanks to the program, we were able to partner with Tom Andriola [UCI Vice Chancellor for Information Technology and Data; UCI Chief Digital Officer] and the UCI Office of Information and Technology (OIT). Through this partnership, we are leveraging ZotGPT to use AI to help students even more. Students now can spend less time looking for resources and have the resources find them.
Tom has also helped us secure a collaboration with UCI CampusGroups. This is an exciting opportunity because all campus events are promoted through CampusGroups. However, the problem with it is that it isn’t tailored to individual students. There are over 40,000 students on campus, and with our incredible diversity, there is no reason we should not have a recommendation system to personalize a student’s experience on campus. This is where I hope Zotsites can come into play. What makes me most excited about this collaboration is the fact that we get to use UC Irvine’s cloud resources and work with the OIT team to help us build what we envisioned. This is honestly a dream come true.
I’m hopeful that this collaboration will empower students to understand the resources and services available to them and be more active on campus. Our goal is to build a stronger campus culture, increase student engagement, and create an amazing experience for all students.
Ryan: That’s awesome! I’m excited to watch and see everything that you’re working towards. What is your vision for the future of Zotsites?
Arjun: At the end of the day, I want to make a meaningful difference in the student experience. When I’m in my senior year, I want incoming students to say, “I can’t imagine what it was like before Zotsites,” or something along those lines. I want to change the way students interact with our campus. That’s the ultimate goal.
Ryan: It’s really inspiring to see you accomplish so much, especially as a young entrepreneur. Since you started your entrepreneurial journey as a freshman, what challenges have you faced, and how have you overcome them?
Arjun: I would say my main challenge was facing uncertainty. I was always anxious that I was doing something wrong. Was my market plan correct? Am I pitching the product right? How do I know if I can scale? How do I find mentors? Am I finding the right mentor? Every step forward felt like three steps back even though it wasn’t. At the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey, it was hard to battle the anxiety that followed.
However, part of the entrepreneurial process is embracing uncertainty. I’ve learned to accept that there’s no straightforward path or one right answer. I’m not always going to know what to do next, but that’s what makes it so thrilling.
Ryan: That’s a great attitude and an important lesson for early-stage entrepreneurs. What other advice would you give to other undergraduate students who are interested in pursuing tech entrepreneurship?
Arjun: The hardest thing is to just start. I remember watching an interview with Jeff Bezos, and he advised aspiring entrepreneurs to build and build fast. I follow that advice every day, whether I’m working on Zotsites or other fun projects that I’m interested in. Don’t get caught up in doubt or the fear that you’re wasting time. If you have an idea, don’t wait to pursue it.
Ryan: You’re now the keynote speaker for this year’s AI Innovation Challenge. How does it feel to return to where it all started and share your journey with students who might be in the same position you were a year ago?
Arjun: It feels incredible. I remember being in their shoes, with just an idea and a lot of uncertainty. If I can help someone see that it’s okay to start small and still make a big impact, then that’s what excites me most. I want to show them that the AI Innovation Challenge isn’t just about winning—it’s about that spark, that moment when you realize you have something worth pursuing. I hope that by sharing my story, I can inspire someone else to take their idea and run with it, just like I did. You never know where it could lead. So, I say students should defiantly come to the Kickoff to see what it’s all about.
Ryan: Awesome! Thank you again for sitting down with me, Arjun. Do you have any final thoughts or messages you’d like to share with our audience?
Arjun: I’d like to say thank you to UC Irvine for the incredible opportunity to not only launch Zotsites but for my story to be shared. I remember reading previous articles on the ANTrepreneur Center website about inspiring ANTrepreneurs, and I am incredibly humbled to be represented among them.
I’d also like to give special thanks to you Ryan for all the help you have given me throughout these quarters. I’d also like to thank Maryam Garg for being an incredible mentor and Tom for giving us a chance. Thank you to the entire UC Irvine audience and feel free to reach out via contact@arjundabir.com if you have any questions or just want to grab some coffee (I know some great coffee shops near UCI). Zot Zot! Zot!
To stay updated with all of Zotsites’ latest developments, sign up for their mailing list. Want to learn more about inspiring student entrepreneurs like Arjun? Then check out the ANTrepreneur Center’s “Interview with ANTrepreneurs” article series.
Visit the ANTrepreneur Center website to learn more about programming, speaker series, Micro-Internships, funding, and more. You can also learn more about the Center’s collaborations with Blackstone LaunchPad, Tech Coast Angels, Tech Coast Venture Network, OC Startup Council, and SoCal Celebrates Entrepreneurship. Keep up with the Center’s latest news by following them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.