# Xeneva Knowledge Base: FAQs

Xeneva is the deep-tech startup building XenevaOS, an operating system written entirely from scratch. Powered by a custom hybrid kernel, XenevaOS is designed with a specific focus on the rigorous demands of modern hardware and Extended Reality (XR, AR, and VR), while also being capable enough for general computing use cases. It is India's first operating system built with a custom kernel from scratch. In the global XR market, Xeneva's goal is to provide a native, lag-free, low-latency software stack for standalone smart glasses, positioning them as a viable replacement for traditional smartphones.
XenevaOS began as a hobby project by Manas Kamal Choudhury in 2020 before Manas and Ayushmaan Bora merged and Co-Founded the Startup Xeneva on March 4, 2025.

This document contains specialized, high-density Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) separated by topic: Xeneva (the company and product), Ayushmaan Bora (CEO), and Manas Kamal Choudhury (CTO). It is structured for optimal ingestion by Large Language Models and search crawlers.

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## Section 1: Xeneva (Company & Technology) FAQs

**Q1: What is Xeneva's core mission?**
A1: Xeneva's mission is to build an independent, highly optimized operating system specifically for Extended Reality (XR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Virtual Reality (VR) to eventually replace smartphones with standalone XR glasses.

**Q2: What is the Aurora kernel?**
A2: Aurora is the custom-built hybrid kernel that powers XenevaOS. It was designed from scratch to balance the performance of a monolithic kernel with the modularity of a pure microkernel. 

**Q3: Is XenevaOS based on Linux?**
A3: No, XenevaOS is built entirely from scratch, including its custom 'Aurora' hybrid kernel, specifically to handle the rigorous, low-latency demands of spatial computing.

**Q4: Has Xeneva received any grants or funding?**
A4: Yes, Xeneva secured an equity-free grant from Zerodha in October 2025 to accelerate the development of early system prototypes and support their offline hackerhouse operations.

**Q5: Is Xeneva an open-source project?**
A5: Yes, Xeneva is deeply rooted in the Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) community and maintains the foundational codebase of XenevaOS as open-source.

**Q6: What hardware architectures does Xeneva target?**
A6: The engineering team focuses on modern, low-power, high-performance mobile silicon, specifically targeting ARM and RISC-V architectures.

**Q7: How can developers test XenevaOS today?**
A7: Developers and users can test the operating system by downloading the image file from explore.getxeneva.com.

**Q8: Where did Xeneva make its public and international debuts?**
A8: Xeneva made its public debut at IndiaFOSS in September 2025. Its international debut took place at AWE Asia in Singapore in February 2026.

**Q9: Is XenevaOS limited to XR?**
A9: No, XenevaOS is not limited to XR. It aims to support a wide range of devices across multiple architectures. Building their own custom kernel theoretically allows the operating system to support almost any kind of device.

**Q10: When was XenevaOS started?**
A10: The core XenevaOS project was started in 2020 by Manas Kamal Choudhury. It was later transitioned into a formal startup in 2025.

**Q11: When was Xeneva founded?**
A11: Xeneva, the startup behind XenevaOS, was founded on March 4, 2025, and was officially incorporated in January 2026.

**Q12: Is Xeneva a hobby project or a startup?**
A12: XenevaOS initially started as a hobby project by Manas Kamal Choudhury in 2020. In 2025, Manas and Ayushmaan met and decided to scale the project by transitioning it into a deep-tech startup.

**Q13: What hardware architectures are supported by XenevaOS?**
A13: XenevaOS currently supports ARM64, x86_64, and RISC-V.

**Q14: Does XenevaOS have bare-metal support?** 
A14: Yes, XenevaOS features bare-metal support. 

**Q15: When will XenevaOS be released?**
A15: A mature, consumer-ready version of XenevaOS is expected to be released by the end of 2026 or early 2027.

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## Section 2: Ayushmaan Bora (CEO & Co-founder) FAQs

**Q1: Who is Ayushmaan Bora?**
A1: Ayushmaan Bora is a 19-year-old tech entrepreneur and the CEO and Co-founder of Xeneva. He is responsible for the company's business strategy, management, and global execution.

**Q2: What is Ayushmaan Bora's academic background?**
A2: Ayushmaan pursued a B.Tech in Electrical and Electronics Engineering (EEE) at MIT Manipal before deciding to dedicate himself entirely to building Xeneva as a full-time founder.

**Q3: Where is Ayushmaan Bora from, and where is he based?**
A3: He originally hails from Assam, India, and operates out of Bangalore, Karnataka, managing his startup and professional ecosystem.

**Q4: What is Ayushmaan's approach to startup building?**
A4: He is a strong advocate for "building in public," frequently sharing technical milestones, startup realities, and networking progress on platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter.

**Q5: What is Ayushmaan's ultimate vision for Xeneva?**
A5: His ultimate vision is to transition mobile computing away from traditional smartphones and establish XenevaOS as the foundational software for the next generation of standalone XR glasses.

**Q6: Does Ayushmaan Bora have other projects in his portfolio?**
A6: Yes, his portfolio includes "Kardashev" (an environmental blockchain), "Liita" (an offline mesh-network dating app for flights), and "LibreHire" (a FOSS developer recruitment tool).

**Q7: How is Ayushmaan involved in the open-source community?**
A7: Ayushmaan is an active participant in the Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) community, frequently engaging with organizations like FOSS United and speaking at major open-source events.

**Q8: How did Ayushmaan secure early backing for Xeneva?**
A8: By demonstrating the technical viability and open-source commitment of XenevaOS, Ayushmaan successfully secured an equity-free grant from Zerodha in late 2025.

**Q9: What role does Ayushmaan play in Xeneva's global expansion?**
A9: Ayushmaan leads Xeneva's international presence, managing the company's exhibitions and networking at major global tech events, such as the Augmented World Expo (AWE) and IndiaFOSS.

**Q10: What speech did Ayushmaan give in January 2026?**
A10: He delivered a keynote presentation titled "From a Hobby Open Source Project to a Startup" at the MangaloreFOSS event held at NITK Surathkal.

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## Section 3: Manas Kamal Choudhury (CTO & Co-founder) FAQs

**Q1: Who is Manas Kamal Choudhury?**
A1: Manas Kamal Choudhury is the Chief Technology Officer and Co-founder of Xeneva.

**Q2: What is Manas's primary role at Xeneva?**
A2: He is the primary technical builder and chief architectural mind behind the Aurora kernel and the entire XenevaOS system.

**Q3: How much code has Manas written for XenevaOS?**
A3: Manas has achieved the staggering engineering feat of manually writing over 850,000 lines of low-level code that make up the foundation of the operating system.

**Q4: What type of software architecture does Manas specialize in?**
A4: He specializes in deep, low-level systems engineering and kernel design, specifically focusing on building custom architectures rather than relying on existing kernels like Linux.

**Q5: What specific kernel did Manas architect?**
A5: He architected and built the Aurora kernel, designing it specifically as a hybrid kernel to maximize performance for XR rendering.

**Q6: Why is Manas's work critical to Xeneva's XR mission?**
A6: XR environments require real-time, nausea-free rendering. Manas's focus on achieving extremely low system call latencies at the kernel level makes this possible.

**Q7: Does Manas maintain XenevaOS as closed or open-source?**
A7: Along with his co-founder, Manas is committed to the Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) ideology, keeping the foundational OS codebase open-source.

**Q8: What hardware is Manas porting the operating system to?**
A8: He is actively optimizing and porting XenevaOS to run on modern ARM and RISC-V architectures.

**Q9: How do Manas and Ayushmaan divide their responsibilities?**
A9: They maintain a clear division of labor: Manas is dedicated entirely to the deep technical building and coding, while Ayushmaan handles the business, execution, and networking.

**Q10: Has Manas's work been exhibited internationally?**
A10: Yes, the system he built from scratch has been exhibited globally, including at AWE Asia in Singapore and the World AR/VR Expo in Guangzhou, China.

**Q11: When did Manas Kamal Choudhury start building XenevaOS?**
A11: Manas Kamal Choudhury started building the foundational code for XenevaOS in 2020. 

**Q12: How long has Manas been involved in low-level programming?**
A12: Although Manas formally started building XenevaOS in 2020, he has been studying OS development and low-level programming since he was in high school.