12 Kids Make India Proud: They're Off To USA To Pitch Startup Ideas That Solve India's Problems
Today, more and more kids are getting interested in app development and programming. We've come across some kids like Siddhant Nair, C.B. Sajan and Sean Solano Paul.
And now, 12 kids in India are going to represent our country in Silicon Valley, showcasing their out-of-the-world creations.
The kids are part of WhiteHatJr -- an EdTech startup that teaches programming to kids from the age of 6 to 14 years. They conducted a competition for the students in their institution dubbed Silicon Valley Programs where the kids were asked to think of an out-of-the-box idea that helps in solving problems that humanity is facing on a daily basis, code independently and show a final product in a duration of 40 hours.
Over 7000 applicants participated in this competition and after a tough competition, 12 kids have emerged victorious. They will be given an opportunity to pitch their apps to venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, USA.
The kids will be meeting major VC firms like Nexus Venture Partners, Owl Ventures etc. Apart from this, they will also get to meet major silicon valley entrepreneurs to get guidance on entrepreneurship and get inspired. They will also be visiting Googleplex, meeting their engineers at the Waymo facility and experience autonomous vehicles.
7-year-old Brinda Jain, one of the winners of this competition has created an app to help ambulances move through traffic with the help of a green corridor and faster routes that the app can navigate the ambulance through.
8-year-old Souradeep Sarkar from Burdwan, West Bengal has created an app to help dyslexic children learn and understand letters, words, numbers and colours more effectively.
9-year-old Mae Mae from Shillong has created an app to stop bullying in school that secretly helps in complaining to the authorities anonymously to enable strict action effectively and responsibly.
Another 9-year-old by the name of Garvit Sood has created an eye-vision test that helps in early diagnosis of eye disorders through a mobile/tablet app.
Other kids who are shortlisted to visit Silicon Valley include Agastya Singh Yadav from Noida, Aaron Ghosh from Hyderabad, Jishnu Baruah from Assam, Yuvraj Singh from Kolkata, Venkat Raman Patnaik from Odisha, Hirranya Rajani, Shaurya Sharma and Shrey Shah from Mumbai.
Karan Bajaj, Founder and CEO, WhiteHat Jr said, “ We wanted to offer them the right global exposure to facilitate entrepreneurship at an early age and our Silicon Valley Program is that much-needed platform for kids. We have also started a 15 under 15 fellowship wherein WhiteHat Jr will help the top 15 kids on the platform incubate their own startups and provide a $15,000 fellowship to them.”