Tanay Balantrapu is a Research Associate working on the Social Networks project based in Bangalore. He is interested in a wide range of topics within development economics including poverty alleviation, evaluation and impact assessment and education.

On completing his B.A. Economics from Loyola College, Chennai in 2009 he worked for a year in a Non-governmental Organization called Yugantar in Hyderabad, India. While at Yugantar he worked on projects concerning livelihoods of Muslim women in the old city of Hyderabad and insurance in rural areas. In 2011, he completed his MSc. Development Economics from the University of Sussex, UK.