Two 12 yr and 13 yr old programmers trained by AcadGild launch unique social app

AcadGild, a technology education startup led by Vinod Dham and Vikalp Jain, has announced the launch of an Android mobile application called vPledge developed by two Bangalore-based students - 13-year-old Priyal Jain from Delhi Public School, Whitefield and 12-year-old Prateek Mahesh, a student of New Horizon Public School.

The students developed the app after learning “Android for Kids” at a technology summer camp hosted by AcadGild. Using the social app, people can pledge to take up causes such as conserving nature, donating meals, feeding stray dogs, using public transport, ensuring better health, hygiene or education and complete activities that will contribute to the greater societal good.

AcadGild is a GrowthStory-promoted venture founded by Silicon Valley based technology visionary Vinod Dham and Vikalp Jain. AcadGild provides both students and working professionals hands-on, software programming skills, globally, in batches of 8 to 10 students. The company believes that software development requires highly specialised skills that are best learned with guidance from experienced practitioners. Students are therefore guided by mentors who are industry experts.

In addition to the vPledge app developed by Priyal and Prateek, 13-year-old Samarth Grover, another AcadGild student, has successfully createdTic-Tac-Toe for mobile - a game for two players which can be played via Bluetooth without using the Internet.

“We are thrilled at the wonderful accomplishments of our students. It is inspiring to see young minds adopt technology with such ease and enthusiasm. The development of a fully functional and much needed social cause app like vPledge and Tic-Tac-Toe for mobile by children as young as 12 and 13 illustrates how the right training and mentorship program can impact the development of programming skills,” said Vikalp Jain, President and Co-Founder, AcadGild.

“AcadGlid aspires to create an ecosystem for skill development​ ​that is relevant to today's rapidly evolving digital world,” he added.

Through the vPledge app, an individual can make a pledge such as planting 10 trees. Upon successful completion of a pledge, “vPledgers” – as the app’s users are called are provided access to share the accomplishment on social media channels, tag friends, challenge them and also grab points that can be redeemed. vPledgers can also graduate to other levels with activities such as feeding and caring for strays, distributing storybooks to poor children, walking 2-3 km every day to ensure better health and reducing vehicle emissions, donating meals to poor etc.

Sharing their excitement on the launch of their app, Priyal and Prateek said in a joint statement, “Seeing the app we created through the AcadGild program launched today is a dream come true. We feel that in India there is a lot that is lacking on the social awareness front among civic society. So, this app is our contribution to society. Pledges such as using public transport for a month, quitting smoking, starting composting, carpooling, plant trees...can fetch great benefits for all.”

“vPledge is an app with small attainable goals aimed at achieving a bigger & significant mission. Change can happen when we all come together and say ‘vPledge'. So, stand up & take your pledge, act & drive change,” they added.

Elaborating on the classes that they undertook with AcadGild, the students said: “The interactivity in the classes and the way in which coding was explained for beginners like us who haven’t coded before, was great. The best part was that we could access the training modules from the comfort of our homes. Our mentors made our classes fun, and they patiently cleared all our doubts”

AcadGild recently organised six unique summer camp programs for children on Android, Unity 2D, Raspberry Pi, Arduino, Robotics, Python.