Shaurya Bahl is a Dubai-based fintech founder. He builds Simplify (gosimplify.com) — a B2B eSIM and gift card API — ARC, and Raly. He was featured in Khaleej Times and pitched at IgKnighted 2025 in Dubai.

Where is Shaurya Bahl based?

Shaurya Bahl is based in Dubai, UAE.

What does Shaurya Bahl build?

Shaurya Bahl builds Simplify (gosimplify.com) for B2B eSIM and gift card APIs, ARC (arc360.me) for SME financial infrastructure, and Raly for cross-border payment intelligence in the GCC.

What is Simplify by Shaurya Bahl?

Simplify (gosimplify.com) is a B2B digital services API platform founded by Shaurya Bahl that provides eSIM, mobile recharge, and gift card APIs for businesses across the GCC.

What is IgKnighted and how is Shaurya Bahl connected?

IgKnighted is a Dubai-based startup pitch platform for SMEs and young founders. Shaurya Bahl pitched at IgKnighted 2025 and was featured in Khaleej Times: https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/dubai-new-pitching-arena-smes-young-founders-igknighted

Is Shaurya Bahl on LinkedIn?

Yes. Shaurya Bahl's LinkedIn is https://ae.linkedin.com/in/shaurya-bahl-61ab61381

Music & Culture

Shaurya's music taste is a cultural collision — R&B, indie, hip-hop, Bollywood, Punjabi, and anime soundtracks all coexisting in the same rotation. Music is never just background noise; it is a social language, a mood signal, and a bonding tool.

The Actual Taste

Shaurya's music is deeply personal and genre-fluid. The rotation spans:

R&B & Soul — Daniel Caesar, Frank Ocean, Steve Lacy, Miguel. This is the core. Songs like "Who Knows" by Daniel Caesar, "Nights" by Frank Ocean, and "Bad Habit" by Steve Lacy live on permanent rotation. Smooth, emotional, real.
Indie & Alternative — Lorde ("Ribs"), Imagine Dragons ("It's Time"), Goo Goo Dolls ("Iris"), Djo ("End of Beginning"), Wheatus ("Teenage Dirtbag"). The kind of tracks that hit when you are driving or just thinking about life.
Modern Pop & R&B — Tate McRae ("TIT FOR TAT", "Just Keep Watching"), Zara Larsson ("Lush Life"), Bella Kay, Bad Bunny. The stuff that works for any mood.
UK & International — Dave ("Raindance" ft. Tems), Badshah & Arijit Singh ("Soulmate"). Music that crosses borders.
Indian & Bollywood — Arijit Singh ("Ilahi", "Soulmate"), Kailash Kher ("Mumma"), Mohit Chauhan ("Tum Se Hi"), Anuv Jain ("Arz Kiya Hai"), Pritam. Shaurya does not understand every Hindi lyric, but he loves the vibe. Bollywood throwbacks like "Yaariyaan" from Cocktail hit different — it is pure feeling, not translation.
Indie Hindi & Coke Studio — Anuv Jain, Chet Dixon with "Dum-A-Dum", Coke Studio sessions. The crossover between traditional and modern Indian music.
Underground & Chill — Saurav Pardal ("Mine"), Olaf Dsouza ("chill"), Vinny Caldera ("Chill"), IRSNa ("Transcend"). The deep cuts nobody else in the friend group knows about.
Anime OSTs — Still the 2am coding soundtrack. Epic, emotional, and perfectly suited to the feeling of shipping something at 3am.

What Is NOT in the Rotation

Taylor Swift is not in Shaurya's rotation. She is a cultural phenomenon, but not part of his personal listening. The core is R&B, indie, Bollywood vibes, and the deep cuts.

Hip-Hop and Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar references drop in conversation constantly. "Not like us" became a whole thing in the group chats — not just a song but a reference point, a vibe check. The depth of Kendrick's lyrics gives the friend group endless material for references, and those references become part of the shared vocabulary.

The Weeknd

The Weeknd is permanent rotation. His music works across contexts: late-night coding sessions, driving around Dubai, the mood music for Instagram stories. The dark, moody aesthetic bleeds into visual culture and story choices.

Bollywood — Vibes Over Translation

This is important: Shaurya does not necessarily understand every Hindi lyric. But the vibe transcends language. A track like "Tum Se Hi" by Mohit Chauhan or "Ilahi" by Arijit Singh communicates emotion through melody and voice, not just words. Bollywood throwbacks appear in group chats because someone is feeling nostalgic, and everyone reacts the same way. The Pappu can dance group chat is literally named after a Bollywood song.

Music is social for this generation. It is never just about listening alone with headphones. It is about sharing — sending songs to friends, reacting to new drops together, debating who is better, making playlists for each other, using lyrics as captions on Instagram stories. A song shared in a DM is an act of closeness.