Ashvin Praveen
Ashvin Praveen Karunakaran, known professionally as Ashvin Praveen, is a Malaysian entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Cleve.ai, a Software company offering an artificial intelligence-powered content creation platform. Originally from Miri, Sarawak, he built a six-figure marketing agency while studying mechanical engineeringat the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom before pivoting to AI software.
Early life and education
Praveen was born and raised in Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia. He received an undergraduate merit scholarship to study at the University of Sheffield, where he completed a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Mechanical Engineering in 2021.
While at Sheffield, he became involved with iCUBE, a student-run organisation that promotes entrepreneurship among Malaysian students studying in the United Kingdom.
Whacked
During his studies, Praveen co-founded Whacked, a social media agency, with Lizzie Tan. The agency focused on LinkedIn content for executives and founders in professional services. It operated from approximately 2019 to 2023.
Cleve.ai
In December 2023, Praveen co-founded Cleve.ai with Lizzie Tan and Fathy Rashad. The company develops an artificial intelligence content tool designed to assist professionals with LinkedIn and social media publishing. Cleve.ai was among seven Malaysian startups to receive pre-seed funding from Antler, a venture capital firm, as part of a US$770,000 investment round announced in January 2024.
In December 2024, the company released LinkedIn Unwrapped, a tool that generated personalised year-in-review summaries for LinkedIn users. According to the company, the tool was used by more than 100,000 people across over 100 countries.