Professional Role and Company Overview
Akhil Bhiwal serves as the Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Phyllo, a technology company established in February 2021 and headquartered in New York, New York, United States. Phyllo operates as an economy-focused data infrastructure platform that enables seamless, standardized, and secure access to creator economy data directly from source platforms through a universal API. This capability provides commercial applications with live, normalized data feeds across hundreds of platforms in the creator and Web3 ecosystems, empowering businesses such as influencer marketing, creator analytics tools, and consumer brands to integrate real-time creator data without heavy engineering overhead.
Phyllo raised $15 million in a Series A funding round in August 2022, led by RTP Global, underlining strong investor confidence in the company’s mission to democratize and simplify access to creator data. The company is co-founded by Akhil along with Achintya Gupta and Mohit Kumar, forming a founding team with deep software engineering, product development, and business expertise.
Professional Background and Skills
Akhil Bhiwal holds a technical and product management background, with formal education from the University of Southern California. He is recognized as a product management expert and software engineer passionate about building technology solutions that empower the creator economy—an industry experiencing significant growth and transformation. His expertise spans product innovation, API infrastructure development, and ecosystem partnerships within the digital creator and influencer marketing spaces.
In addition to Phyllo, Akhil has entrepreneurial experience as the former founder of Loktra, suggesting a track record in startup development and leadership.
Thought Leadership and Industry Engagement
Akhil maintains an active presence on professional and social platforms, including LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter), where he shares insights and commentary on trends in the creator economy, product management challenges, and the evolving digital marketing landscape. Notable activities include:
- Participating as a panelist at Unicon ‘23, discussing the future of creator tools, particularly link-in-bio technologies and their impact on creator revenue and engagement.
- Publicly emphasizing the importance of linking creators’ data access with business growth opportunities to support middle-tier creators and foster equitable monetization in the creator economy ecosystem.
- Advocating for innovative product management strategies and seeking talent to further product innovation at Phyllo.
His publications prior to his entrepreneurial focus include academic contributions in the field of fault-tolerant routing algorithms and network communication protocols, signaling a strong foundation in complex systems and algorithmic problem-solving.
Company Product and Market Positioning
Phyllo’s core product is an API-based data gateway that abstracts data complexities by connecting multiple creator platforms, including social media, content creation, and Web3 services. This infrastructure offers a single, reliable source of truth for creator data, facilitating seamless integration by developers and product teams working in creator economy applications.
The company stresses data security, live updates, and scalability, positioning itself as a critical infrastructure partner for brands, influencer marketing agencies, and analytics companies who depend on accurate creator metrics. Phyllo’s investor-backed capital and leadership under Akhil’s vision position the company for rapid growth in a creator economy market projected to be valued at over $100 billion.
Location and Network
Based in New York City, Akhil has established a network of over 500+ professional connections and 10,000 followers on LinkedIn, indicating a broad recognition in tech and startup communities. His connectivity and public engagements support Phyllo’s strategic outreach and business development efforts.
In summary, Akhil Bhiwal is a technically proficient and visionary founder leading Phyllo, a venture-backed startup focused on providing innovative data infrastructure solutions for the creator economy. His blend of deep technical knowledge, product leadership, and public industry engagement offers significant insight into Phyllo’s strategic direction and market potential.