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

2023: Buildspace, Tipp, and Everything Changing

Age 12 turning 13 in December. This was THE year. The year I went from "kid who codes" to "kid who builds startups." The year my social world exploded. And the year I probably left Oman for good.

Buildspace at 13

I heard about Buildspace — a community of builders and creators — and I applied. At 13. Got in. Suddenly I was surrounded by adults in their 20s and 30s who were building real products, and I thought: why not me? That energy was infectious. Everyone was shipping, everyone was grinding, and age did not matter. What mattered was what you were building.

Building Tipp

That is when I built Tipp — a tipping app designed for workers in Dubai. I did everything: the Figma designs, the full UI, the pitch. It was my first real product, my baby. But then I ran straight into a wall — regulatory hurdles. Turns out, fintech and being 13 do not mix. The licensing requirements were way too steep. Tipp "failed" in the traditional sense, but I learned more from that failure than from anything else. Figma skills, video creation, end-to-end product thinking. See Building Philosophy for why I think failure is the best teacher.

The Group Chat Era Explodes

2023 was the year group chats took over my life. Almost all of these were connected to ISGI friends and the broader Oman social circle:

February 2023 — Izza chats start, Rizz Family group forms, Het Bhayani starts chatting, and the legendary "itssocorchinghotoutside" group kicks off (ran all the way to November)
March 2023 — Ved chats ramp up, "amerigyans" group pops up (references to ISGI, lasted till June)
April 2023 — Palash conversations really start going, Shiva starts chatting
May 2023 — Nia enters the picture
October 2023 — Aliyah starts, picspam group forms, Ali Bhai chats begin (ran to January 2024)
November 2023 — Sheen, Prisha, Material Gurlssss group, Max Galeechpan, Party Planning group starts (ran to January 2024), OG Halloween group
December 2023 — Drama Club, TOMM Decoration planning

That is an insane amount of social expansion in one year. I went from having a small circle to being connected to dozens of people across multiple group chats, all happening simultaneously. It was chaotic and beautiful.

The Move to Dubai

Late 2023, the big move happened. We left Oman — left ISGI, left the Oman crew, left everything I had known — and moved to Dubai. I started at Jebel Ali School. It was a massive change. New country, new school, new people. But I had already been building an online social life through all those group chats, so I was not starting from zero. See Moving to Dubai for the full story.

The Energy Shift

This was the year I stopped coding just for fun and started coding with purpose. Buildspace showed me that building things people actually use is different from building things for yourself. Tipp showed me that even failure teaches you everything you need for the next attempt. And the social explosion showed me that community matters just as much as code.