26 WhiteHat Jr students from India and the USA present to Global CEOs as part of the WhiteHat Jr Silicon Valley Challenge

26 WhiteHat Jr students from India and the USA present to Global CEOs as part of the WhiteHat Jr Silicon Valley Challenge
Image source: Google

Hyderabad: Silicon Valley, as we know it, is the epitome of Innovation, a personification that nothing is off-limits. WhiteHat Jr crafted the Silicon Valley program to reinforce this idea with kids to make accessible industry veterans and to help kids understand that nothing is out of bounds if one dares to dream.

The program entailed getting kids to create an app to solve real-life problems. The kids were shortlisted from the exhaustive list of over 7,000+ entries from across the globe.

"The concept of getting these bright kids to interact with thought leaders was to reduce these conditional barriers that we have placed on our kids. When kids are equipped with the right set of tools to learn in environments that don't restrict their creativity, the results are always astonishing," said Karan Bajaj, Founder and CEO, WhiteHat Jr.

Twenty-six bright young minds presented their innovations to the Silicon Valley team, of which 22 were Indians and four students from the USA. The panel included industry veterans like Amit Patel, Managing Director of Owl Ventures,  Arun Saigal, Co-founder and CEO, Thunkable and Suvir Sujan, Managing Director of Nexus India Capital Advisors.

Meeting and interacting with innovators is at the core of what I do, but there's always a stark difference when discussing ideas with young minds. Their purist perspective on complex issues is always refreshing," said Suvir Sujan, Managing Director at Nexus India Capital Advisors. "While the applications may be far from functional, the expanse of their horizons is what makes these dialogues truly enriching."

"It seems as if the new generation was born to learn. But what's most endearing is that these kids aren't just keen to learn but to use that knowledge to make a difference to the world they live in," said Amit Patel, Managing Director at Owl Ventures. "If the future is entrusted to these kids, then we know we are in good hands."

“Our original goal when we created Thunkable was to lower the barrier of entry to coding. Little did we imagine the creativity kids as young as six would unleash. What brings us joy is that the platform that we created has become a catalyst for other creators, a true testament that innovation is age-agnostic”, said Thunkable Co-founder and CEO Arun Saigal.

*WhiteHat Jr. students have created apps available on Google Play Store, with a vision to solve real-world problems. The apps represent the students' original concept and may not be viable for immediate commercial use.