Aditya Julka (born August 24, 1981) is the co-founder and former CEO of

Paddle8 Paddle8 was an online auction house based in New York City selling fine art including Post-War and Contemporary art, prints & multiples, photography, street art and collectibles. Paddle8's sales focus on pieces priced between $1,000 and $100,000, ...

, an online auction house for fine art and collectibles. In July 2016, Paddle8 announced a merger with Auctionata, with Julka serving as the chief strategy officer for the joint company. Julka previously founded InBioPro (a biochemical company based in Bangalore, India) and BioAtlantis (a biotechnology company based in Ireland).

Early life and education

Julka received his graduate and undergraduate degrees in biochemical engineering from the

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi The Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi is a public institute of technology located in New Delhi, India. It is one of the 23 IITs created to be Centres of Excellence for training, research and development in science, engineering and technolo ...

, where he was given the Director's Gold Medal. He received his MBA from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

, where he was a

Baker Scholar Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA ...

Career

In his twenties Julka was co-founder of two biotech companies. His last company, which was supported by Accel-Ventures, was sold to a publicly listed company in 2010. From 2009 to 2011 Julka was Associate at

McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm founded in 1926 by University of Chicago professor James O. McKinsey, that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. McKinsey is the oldest and ...

. He was a member of the advisory board of

Performa The Macintosh Performa is a family of personal computers designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Inc., Apple Computer, Inc. from 1992 to 1997. The Performa brand re-used models from Apple's Macintosh Quadra, Quadra, Macintosh Centris, Centri ...

, the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Biennial for

Performance Art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

, and of Khoj, an organization dedicated to performance art in

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

. In 2016, Julka was named to the class of the New York Venture Fellows, a year-long program designed to help entrepreneurs scale their ventures. He has also been recognized in Crain's New York Business List of 40 Under 40, the Art+Auction Power 100 List, Apollo Magazine's List of 40 Under 40, and has spoken at

Northside Festival The Northside Festival is an annual week-long summer showcase celebrating emerging "music, innovation and art" in Brooklyn, New York, United States. The festival is held at venues across the neighborhoods of Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Bushwick ...

, DLD New York,

Techcrunch TechCrunch is an American online newspaper focusing on high tech and startup companies. It was founded in June 2005 by Archimedes Ventures, led by partners Michael Arrington and Keith Teare. In 2010, AOL acquired the company for approximately ...

TV and TEDxChelsea. Julka serves on the board of

, New York's art biennial, and the advisory board of

Khoj Khoj or KHOJ may refer to: Film * ''Khoj'' (1953 film), a Bollywood film of 1953 * ''Khoj'' (1971 film), an Indian Hindi-language drama film * ''Khoj'' (1989 film), an Indian Hindi-language mystery thriller film * ''Khoj'', an Indian short film ...

, an organization dedicated to performance art in South Asia. Julka was co-founder, CEO and chairman of

, which was sold to

Auctionata Auctionata was an online auction house and eCommerce company specializing in luxury goods, art, antiques and collectibles based in Berlin with offices in New York. Auctionata had a team of 250 art experts who worked on commission and were not dir ...

in 2016, making it the world's largest online auction house. In March 2020 the online Auction House Paddle8 filed for

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Julka, Aditya 1981 births Living people American company founders Harvard Business School alumni McKinsey & Company people IIT Delhi alumni Irish company founders