Debasish Behera, originally a student from India, joined the SCET community after participating in the Startup Semester at Berkeley in the spring of 2025. Since then, he has immersed himself in the Berkeley and SCET community, and he has recently sold his startup, Celeriz, to AVFX Capital. He is currently working on building a decentralized platform to manage bank accounts across different global payment systems through leveraging stablecoin and modern financial infrastructures.
We followed up with Debasish to learn more about his journey, reflections on personal growth, and his future aspirations.
The Journey to UC Berkeley
Before coming to UC Berkeley, Debasish developed a strong interest in AI and blockchain technology, particularly in their applications to the financial infrastructure and global payment systems. He identified UC Berkeley as the perfect place to continue his studies and launch his career. He was drawn to the close synergy between research and startups, a unique characteristic of the Silicon Valley region, and enrolled in the Startup Semester program.
“Being close to the Silicon Valley environment, where students are not just studying technology but actively building companies around it, makes Berkeley a perfect place for me to deepen my technical understanding and build.”
“One day, you might be learning about new technologies in your CS189 class. And the next, you might be meeting the founders of those technologies.”
Learning by Doing, the SCET Way
During the Startup Semester program, Debasish took advantage of every opportunity to learn, noting the immense value each class added to his development. In the Spring of 2025, he balanced both a busy academic schedule, enrolling in Challenge Lab (ENGIN XB183C), Special Topics in Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship (ENGIN XB183), the A. Richard Newton Lecture Series (ENGIN XB183A), and Introduction to Machine Learning (COMPSCI XB189).
In particular, the Challenge Lab course left a deep impression on him. The course essentially simulates the process of building a startup from the ground up, rooted in the Berkeley Method of Entrepreneurship. Students form teams and go through the entire startup life cycle, from problem discovery, market validation, identifying cofounders, and eventually building a pitch deck for potential investors.
“It was very practical, and it helped me understand how messy the early stages of building a company actually are.”
Innovating at the intersection of AI, Blockchain, and Global Financial Infrastructure
What initially sparked Debasish’s passion for AI and blockchain was a core realization that “each collapses a fundamental cost that used to gatekeep who could build.” AI lowers the costs of intelligence, while blockchain lowers the cost of trust and coordination. He recognized the potential of these technologies to revolutionize inefficiencies within global financial infrastructure.
“I became fascinated by the realization that the event streams of modern financial systems generation—transactions, transfers, app interactions, and communications—aren’t just operation exhaustion but rich economic signals, and that the same kind of models that transformed language and vision can learn directly from those sequences.”
“Concretely, that means a system that actually understands your salary cadence and real spending patterns can proactively manage the full stack of your financial life: budgeting day to day, recommending where to park idle cash or invest it, reminding you to pay insurance premiums on time, pre-filling your tax returns, and routing a cross-border transfer through the cheapest forex path in real time…instead of juggling ten apps and a spreadsheet.”
As an international student who paid tuition through cross-border payment systems, Debasish had experienced numerous frustrations firsthand and was determined to address them.
“When I got into Berkeley, I had to pay my tuition through Flywire, and the transfer got stuck somewhere in the international correspondent-banking maze for several days. I was right up against the deadline, genuinely worried I was going to lose my spot before the money cleared.”
“In a world where I can send a message across the planet in 100 milliseconds, why does moving money still feel like this, especially when the stakes are someone’s education or livelihood?”
For Debasish, the long-term vision became clear: to build a “stablecoin-native neobank where money moves instantly and is borderless by default.” Debasish realized that this goal was impossible without compliant rails underneath, and set out to first build a method for organizations to add stablecoin payments to their products.
Building Celeriz and Beyond
Debasish dedicated himself to building Celeriz, an turnkey solution for organizations to “accept, hold, and move stablecoin payments” without the hassle of stitching together multiple providers.
Following the acquisition of Celeriz, Debaish is now focusing on building at the consumer layer, designing a platform with a simple financial interface—similar to that of a normal banking platform—and removing the complexity of crypto while preserving the benefits of transparency and low cost. The team is currently beta testing the product.
“That’s the space I’m currently working in: building at the intersection where AI reasons over real financial activity and modern payment rails make that activity programmable and portable across borders, which is why AI agents that can transact and coordinate economically on open rails feels like the next real step-change in how money moves.”
Reflections & Pearls of Wisdom
He believes that “building as soon as possible” is key to an aspiring entrepreneur’s success.
“You learn far more from launching something imperfect and improving it than waiting for the perfect idea. Spend time around people who are building in an environment like Berkeley or Silicon Valley, where you are exposed to new ideas and perspectives.”
When asked about the traits of a successful entrepreneur, Debasish noted that resilience in the face of uncertainty is key.
“Building something new means uncertainty. Ideas alone don’t matter unless you turn them into something that real people will use.”
He also believes that curiosity is crucial to success.
“The best ideas come from questioning how existing systems work.”
Building Confidence
Though he has achieved much concrete success in building his startup, Debasish is most proud of his personal growth during his time at Berkeley.
“When I first came to Berkeley, I was underconfident in my public speaking skills, so presenting and speaking in public was something I generally feared. But being at Berkeley forced me out of my comfort zone.”
SCET’s hands-on, experiential approach to learning helped Debasish gradually feel more confident presenting in front of others, and helped him grow immensely.
“In many of the classes I took, especially the entrepreneurship classes, I was constantly presenting our ideas and explaining our thinking to others. At first, it was super uncomfortable, but over time I built confidence in this environment.”
Looking Ahead
Throughout his career, Debasish hopes to address large infrastructural problems that touch people around the world. In the near term, he aims to build the systems that can allow more people to have “real ownership of their money.” In the next couple of years, Debasish hopes to expand access to modern financial infrastructure—especially in emerging markets—and lower the barriers to entry.
“Right now, a lot of people around the world still face barriers when it comes to banking.”
“Hopefully we are operating on a global scale and helping millions of people move and manage money more easily.”
In the long term, Debasish is also deeply passionate about autonomous systems for interplanetary exploration, and hopes to meaningfully innovate in this space.
Debasish Behera, originally a student from India, joined the SCET community after participating in the Startup Semester at Berkeley in the spring of 2025. Since then, he has immersed himself in the Berkeley and SCET community, and he has recently sold his startup, Celeriz, to AVFX Capital. He is currently working on building a decentralized platform to manage bank accounts across different global payment systems through leveraging stablecoin and modern financial infrastructures.
We followed up with Debasish to learn more about his journey, reflections on personal growth, and his future aspirations.
The Journey to UC Berkeley
Before coming to UC Berkeley, Debasish developed a strong interest in AI and blockchain technology, particularly in their applications to the financial infrastructure and global payment systems. He identified UC Berkeley as the perfect place to continue his studies and launch his career. He was drawn to the close synergy between research and startups, a unique characteristic of the Silicon Valley region, and enrolled in the Startup Semester program.
“Being close to the Silicon Valley environment, where students are not just studying technology but actively building companies around it, makes Berkeley a perfect place for me to deepen my technical understanding and build.”
“One day, you might be learning about new technologies in your CS189 class. And the next, you might be meeting the founders of those technologies.”
Learning by Doing, the SCET Way
During the Startup Semester program, Debasish took advantage of every opportunity to learn, noting the immense value each class added to his development. In the Spring of 2025, he balanced both a busy academic schedule, enrolling in Challenge Lab (ENGIN XB183C), Special Topics in Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship (ENGIN XB183), the A. Richard Newton Lecture Series (ENGIN XB183A), and Introduction to Machine Learning (COMPSCI XB189).
In particular, the Challenge Lab course left a deep impression on him. The course essentially simulates the process of building a startup from the ground up, rooted in the Berkeley Method of Entrepreneurship. Students form teams and go through the entire startup life cycle, from problem discovery, market validation, identifying cofounders, and eventually building a pitch deck for potential investors.
“It was very practical, and it helped me understand how messy the early stages of building a company actually are.”
Innovating at the intersection of AI, Blockchain, and Global Financial Infrastructure
What initially sparked Debasish’s passion for AI and blockchain was a core realization that “each collapses a fundamental cost that used to gatekeep who could build.” AI lowers the costs of intelligence, while blockchain lowers the cost of trust and coordination. He recognized the potential of these technologies to revolutionize inefficiencies within global financial infrastructure.
“I became fascinated by the realization that the event streams of modern financial systems generation—transactions, transfers, app interactions, and communications—aren’t just operation exhaustion but rich economic signals, and that the same kind of models that transformed language and vision can learn directly from those sequences.”
“Concretely, that means a system that actually understands your salary cadence and real spending patterns can proactively manage the full stack of your financial life: budgeting day to day, recommending where to park idle cash or invest it, reminding you to pay insurance premiums on time, pre-filling your tax returns, and routing a cross-border transfer through the cheapest forex path in real time…instead of juggling ten apps and a spreadsheet.”
As an international student who paid tuition through cross-border payment systems, Debasish had experienced numerous frustrations firsthand and was determined to address them.
“When I got into Berkeley, I had to pay my tuition through Flywire, and the transfer got stuck somewhere in the international correspondent-banking maze for several days. I was right up against the deadline, genuinely worried I was going to lose my spot before the money cleared.”
“In a world where I can send a message across the planet in 100 milliseconds, why does moving money still feel like this, especially when the stakes are someone’s education or livelihood?”
For Debasish, the long-term vision became clear: to build a “stablecoin-native neobank where money moves instantly and is borderless by default.” Debasish realized that this goal was impossible without compliant rails underneath, and set out to first build a method for organizations to add stablecoin payments to their products.
Building Celeriz and Beyond
Debasish dedicated himself to building Celeriz, an turnkey solution for organizations to “accept, hold, and move stablecoin payments” without the hassle of stitching together multiple providers.
Following the acquisition of Celeriz, Debaish is now focusing on building at the consumer layer, designing a platform with a simple financial interface—similar to that of a normal banking platform—and removing the complexity of crypto while preserving the benefits of transparency and low cost. The team is currently beta testing the product.
“That’s the space I’m currently working in: building at the intersection where AI reasons over real financial activity and modern payment rails make that activity programmable and portable across borders, which is why AI agents that can transact and coordinate economically on open rails feels like the next real step-change in how money moves.”
Reflections & Pearls of Wisdom
He believes that “building as soon as possible” is key to an aspiring entrepreneur’s success.
“You learn far more from launching something imperfect and improving it than waiting for the perfect idea. Spend time around people who are building in an environment like Berkeley or Silicon Valley, where you are exposed to new ideas and perspectives.”
When asked about the traits of a successful entrepreneur, Debasish noted that resilience in the face of uncertainty is key.
“Building something new means uncertainty. Ideas alone don’t matter unless you turn them into something that real people will use.”
He also believes that curiosity is crucial to success.
“The best ideas come from questioning how existing systems work.”
Building Confidence
Though he has achieved much concrete success in building his startup, Debasish is most proud of his personal growth during his time at Berkeley.
“When I first came to Berkeley, I was underconfident in my public speaking skills, so presenting and speaking in public was something I generally feared. But being at Berkeley forced me out of my comfort zone.”
SCET’s hands-on, experiential approach to learning helped Debasish gradually feel more confident presenting in front of others, and helped him grow immensely.
“In many of the classes I took, especially the entrepreneurship classes, I was constantly presenting our ideas and explaining our thinking to others. At first, it was super uncomfortable, but over time I built confidence in this environment.”
Looking Ahead
Throughout his career, Debasish hopes to address large infrastructural problems that touch people around the world. In the near term, he aims to build the systems that can allow more people to have “real ownership of their money.” In the next couple of years, Debasish hopes to expand access to modern financial infrastructure—especially in emerging markets—and lower the barriers to entry.
“Right now, a lot of people around the world still face barriers when it comes to banking.”
“Hopefully we are operating on a global scale and helping millions of people move and manage money more easily.”
In the long term, Debasish is also deeply passionate about autonomous systems for interplanetary exploration, and hopes to meaningfully innovate in this space.
Debasish Behera