Global Indianstory FintechSamyak and Sowmay Jain: Disrupting decentralised finance through InstadApp

Samyak and Sowmay Jain: Disrupting decentralised finance through InstadApp

Compiled by: Team GI Youth

(September 23, 2023) Samyak and Sowmay are still on the right side of 20, but are at the helm of the fifth largest company in the decentralised finance space globally. As it is with every great success, this story begins with a big idea, and a big risk. Much to the alarm of their parents in Kota, Rajasthan, the young baadshahs of blockchain dropped out of college – Samyak was doing engineering and his older brother, Sowmay, was on his way to being a Chartered Accountant – to follow their interest in cryptocurrency and found Instadapp, which has already become a major disruptor in the global DeFi space.Their parents wished they would find ‘real jobs’ but the brothers weren’t just goofing around – they had found their purpose and wanted to give it everything they had. In their case, the risk paid off.

As of 2022, the company had raised two rounds of funding, and got the attention of top investors like Naval Ravikanth and Pantera Capital in the first round, raising $12.4 million. “The funding gave us a lot of boost, especially in convincing our parents who used to insist on us getting a real job,” Sowmay, who is now 25 (his brother is 23) told Forbes, shortly after the brothers made it to the magazine’s coveted Gamechangers list in 2022. The company has assets worth $10.6 billion circulating in smart contracts, says Forbes.

Samyak and Sowmay Jain | DeFi | InstadApp | The Global Indian Youth

Sowmay and Samyak Jain. Photo: Forbes

How it began

The first turning point for the dynamic Global Indians came in August 2018. They participated – and won – the ETHIndia hackathon in Bengaluru, one of India’s biggest Ethereum events. Ethereum is a decentralised, open-source blockhain system where people can write smart contracts (programs that follow rules automatically without the need for a middleman).

United by their interest in blockchain and decentralised finance, it was at this hackathon that Samyak and Sowmay Jain first created the Instadapp platform. “It started as a passion for us but we pursued it and came out on top in the hackathon,” Sowmay said an in interview. “We kept on expanding Instadapp, adding new features and addressing additional difficulties in decentralised financing.”

In September 2019, they went in for their first round of funding and came out shining, with big ticket names flocking to be part of Instadapp.

Defining DeFi

This story begins with Decentralised Finance, or DeFi, as it is known in tech circles. It’s a gamechanger in the financial landscape, using blockchain technology to reimaine and rebuild traditional financial instruments like loans, insurance and trading. The main platform for facilitating this is the Ethereum blockchain.

Conventional finance operations work through banks, brokerages and exchanges, all of which act as middlemen to facilitate transactions, grant loans and manage assets. These are the gatekeepers and each have their own terms and conditions and methods for verifying transactions. DeFi on the other hand, has an open approach. A team of developers create a generic smart contract which will autonomously execute, allowing users to interact directly with each other and to input specific terms, like the amount to lend, the interest rate and duration, inc ase of a loan.

How does InstadApp work?

Obviously, it’s a complex world. That’s where InstadApp comes in – it provides a user-friendly interface to simplify interaction with these otherwise complicated DeFi protocols. So instead of users having to directly interact with the complex world of smart contracts and decentralised platforms, InstadApp works as a bridge, and makes it easier for users to tweak and use these smart contracts.

Instadapp is like an app store, but for all things crypto. It acts as a bridge between the traditional cash economy and the newer blockchain-based decentralised currencies. Basically, it helps convert transactions done with regular money into cryptocurrency, based on how individuals interact within the online space.

The concept is in big demand, indicated by the fact that InstadApp manages over $10 billion in assets. Instadapp stands out in this space by offering itself as a platform for developers to craft and refine trading tools and protocols. Developers can create interfaces on InstadApp that are tailored to the evolving needs of the market.

“Instadapp’s revenue strategy will be to deduct fees on financial volumes and lending / borrowing going through the platform,” Sowmay explains. That’s in the future, though. Right now, it’s all free. “We intend to establish our tokens / DAO and determine the fees.” A DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) is a digital organization that operates based on pre-set rules encoded as computer programs, known as smart contracts, without centralized control. Operating on blockchain technology, it allows multiple participants to make decisions collaboratively. Tokens, in this context, are digital assets or units of value issued by projects or organizations on the blockchain. They can represent various utilities within a specific ecosystem, such as granting access to services, providing voting rights in a DAO, or acting as a medium of exchange.

Why it’s a gamechanger

InstadApp is not the first payment gateway of its sort. However, as Samyak explains, “We cover the whole DeFi space – borrowing and lending, investments. There are lots of opportunities for frontend developers to build different apps. It can evolve further in the future and maybe replace bank accounts,” he smiles.

Name*

Email*

Name*

Email*

0 Comments

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

Published on 23, Sep 2023

Share with

ALSO READ

Rishabh Seen – The pioneer of sitar-metal

(January 22, 2023) In 2007, the year Rishabh Seen first heard the Foo Fighters and t their frontman, Dave Grohl, he knew his life had changed forever. "It was one of those moments where you just know that you're experiencing something that will change you," he said in an interview later. Until that point, Rishabh Seen, who belonged to an illustrious family of Hindustani musicians, had devoted himself to the classical tradition on the sitar. Steeped in tradition [caption id="attachment_26814" align="aligncenter" width="941"] Rishabh Seen[/caption] Rishabh's childhood in Jalandhar was spent immersed in music. His grandfather, Ustad Lachhman Singh Seen, is an acclaimed tabla maestro and music scholar, with his works preserved in the national archives. Rishabh's father, Manu Kumar Seen, is an accomplished sitarist. Growing up in this environment, Rishabh began vocal training at the age of six and his sitar practice started four years later. Despite the family's deep devotion to classical traditions, his father helped him understand the world of possibilities the sitar afforded him. Still, his knowledge of what lay outside classical music remained limited and Dave Grohl came as an inspiration. "It changed my entire vision about life and music in general," Rishabh said. "I discovered

im.

Still, his knowledge of what lay outside classical music remained limited and Dave Grohl came as an inspiration. "It changed my entire vision about life and music in general," Rishabh said. "I discovered that progressive metal was based on instrument-driven songs and that is the point where Indian classical and metal meet." His enthusiasm compounded when he realised there wasn't anybody out there who seemed to have had the idea of sitar-metal, or even a band led by any instrument other than a guitar, keyboard or drums.

Dave Grohl and a journey of discovery

Rishabh's own journey of discovery continued, and he went from the Foo Fighters to Slipknot and Nirvana. "It was around 2011, when I just played a metal song on the speakers. My dad, wondering what on earth was happening, came by to check on me. What was surprising was that he really enjoyed what he was listening to," he said in an interview. Technically speaking, too, the two forms of music are very different. Hindustani classical music involves playing one scale or raaga in a 45-minute concert. With metal, a single song can contain several scales.

At first, the young Global Indian's efforts were not well received. Metal was seen as dark and hairy, while the sitar receives reverence. His fortunes turned in 2015 when he released his first cover of Animals As Leaders' 'Tempting Time'. In no time, the song garnered lakhs of views. That was also the year he founded his band, Mute The Saint. They produced covers of artists like Animals as Leaders, Steven Wilson and Meshuggah and were a success. While the two genres might stand as polar opposites, to the trained and untrained year alike, Rishabh saw only common ground, a similarity "in terms of evoking an inner revolution and spreading peace."

In 2016, Mute the Saint released a self-titled album and two years later, the second, which contained a bunch of covers of Coldplay and Foo Fighters. Rishabh has performed with singer Arijit Singh and solo headlines sitar metal shows.

Reading Time: 5 mins

Reconnecting the wires: Marissa Sumanthipala is integrating technology with medicine

(August 20, 2022) As a young kid, she loved skating and was even gearing up to be a part of the US national skating team. However, at the age of 13, life came to a standstill for Marissa Sumathipala, after she fell during a practice session and hit her head hard on the ice, and suffered a major concussion. The girl, who dreamt of representing the US at the Olympics, was removed from the state team, ending her skating career. For years, Marissa dealt with hazy memories, random nausea, and fatigue. While many around her felt that this was the end of a bright career for this teenager, the incident gave the young neuroscientist a new purpose in life - understanding the workings of the human brain. [caption id="attachment_21017" align="aligncenter" width="557"] Neuroscientist Marissa Sumanthipala[/caption] “I began to realize that there was so much that we didn’t know about the brain,” Merissa said during an interview with The Harvard Gazette, adding, "And that gap in what we understood about the brain had such devastating impacts on patients like myself, but also all the people that I saw in the waiting rooms and support groups that I went to during this experience.”

ws.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2022/04/marissa-sumathipala-turned-to-brain-science-after-giving-up-skating/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Harvard Gazette, adding, "And that gap in what we understood about the brain had such devastating impacts on patients like myself, but also all the people that I saw in the waiting rooms and support groups that I went to during this experience.”

The neuroscientist joined Johns Hopkins School of Medicine at 14 to perform basic research, and is currently pursuing both a master’s and a Ph.D. in clinical neurosciences at Harvard Medical School. Intending to establish her lab someday, the teenager created Theraplexus, a computational platform that uses network science analytics and artificial intelligence to map molecular interactions and provide better drugs for chronic diseases like cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and heart disease. In 2018, the now 20-year-old received the US Presidential Scholars for her contribution to the world of medicine.

Mind matters

A bright child, Merissa's parents - Indian immigrants who settled in Virginia - always encouraged her to take part in various academic and extracurricular activities. Although she wished to have a successful skating career, she was always fascinated by biological sciences. Interestingly, Merissa did a paper on whether pesticides caused multigenerational effects in human beings when she was just 12 years old. “I have long nurtured a vision of being a medical scientist, leveraging core engineering principles to solve contemporary biological and medical problems," the Global Indian informed during a press interaction.

Two-time winner of the Virginia State Science and Engineering Fair Grand Prize, Merissa did not lose hope after her skating accident. While she was sad that she will no longer be in the ring, the fact that there are only a few treatments for brain injuries kept her up at night often. Frustrated by the lack of brain treatment options, the young neuroscientist decided to work on neurological disease pathways. She joined the Janelia Research Institute while she was still in high school, and since then has worked in about five different labs.

[caption id="attachment_21018" align="aligncenter" width="623"] Marissa at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine[/caption]

At 17, Merissa was named one of the 40 finalists for the Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS) Award for her project, Reinventing Cardiovascular Disease Therapy: A Novel Dual Therapeutic with FOXO Transcription Factor and AMP Kinase. In her project, the young scientist used a fruit fly model with proteins FOXO and AMPK to investigate the underlying, molecular causes leading to cardiovascular disease, and received the prize money of $25,000. "To be a part of this group is an unparalleled honour, one that has not quite sunk in just yet. I am exceptionally grateful to the Society for Science and the Public for their steadfast mission to promote STEM for almost a century, and to Regeneron for their vision of investing in the next generation of scientists and change makers," the neuroscientist said after winning the competition, which is also known as Junior Nobel Prize.

Road ahead

Currently working at the McCarroll Lab in Harvard Medical School, Marissa is helping to develop a new method for sequencing synapses in the human brain. These synapses are crucial for memory and learning and result in maladies like Huntington’s disease. Her research could someday shed light on the importance of synapses in brain development in humans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSWDH9hFIzs

Marissa's platform Theraplexus has already identified 200+ disease-specific drug targets for debilitating diseases like Alzheimer's, breast cancer, schizophrenia, and diabetes. In first-of-its-kind research, the organisation found more effective therapies within patients’ lifetimes and potentially cut drug development costs drastically. The youngster is now looking at partnering with Harvard Medical School’s Sharma Lab, to develop and transform Theraplexus into a biotechnology startup. "I spent a long time grappling with my identity. Growing up I was just a skater and then, when I got concussed, I had to rebuild my identity. Then I was a scientist. Now, I identify as being both a skater and a scientist," Marissa told The Harvard Gazette.

Follow Marissa Sumanthipala on Twitter

Reading Time: 7 mins

Priyal Agrawal’s SexEd tech platform grabs attention of Government of South Korea

(August 30, 2022) Toxic relationships are not very uncommon these days. As a 25-year-old, Priyal has seen many of her peers in such relationships for years, ultimately seeking professional help and support to come out of it. What finally triggered her to launch StandWeSpeak, her SexEd tech platform, was the incidence of abortion of a young acquaintance who was also mentally and physically abused in her relationship. It has been just nine months into the venture and Priyal’s startup has taken her places. From being invited to promote social and gender equality at the World Bank Group Youth Summit 2022 to being approached by UNDP to share her journey, her initiative has garnered attention at the right places. The Diana awardee is now stationed in South Korea for a three-and-a-half months’ accelerator program. StandWeSpeak has been selected as top 60 in the K-Startup Grand Challenge, a global accelerator startup programme by the Government of South Korea as part of solution for the country’s problems. [caption id="attachment_21410" align="aligncenter" width="679"] Priyal Agrawal, founder, StandWeSpeak[/caption] Priyal appears excited about the opportunity as she connects from Seoul. “It’s not just a great opportunity but huge validation of my efforts that the government of South

[caption id="attachment_21410" align="aligncenter" width="679"] Priyal Agrawal, founder, StandWeSpeak[/caption]

Priyal appears excited about the opportunity as she connects from Seoul. “It’s not just a great opportunity but huge validation of my efforts that the government of South Korea is supporting and helping to establish my company here,” Priyal tells Global Indian. “This motivates me to do better as we got chosen amongst thousands of applications received globally,” she says.

The purpose

“As a society, we are not allowed to discuss relationships openly and that is why it takes longer for people to end abusive relationships,” says Priyal. Her initiative equips people with life-skills required to take care of their well-being, relationships, mental and sexual health. It empowers youngsters to make informed decisions. “It’s a 21^st century sexual health ecosystem for millennials and Gen Z,” she tells.

Through an anonymous chatbot, Talk to Mae, an AI-driven sexual and reproductive health expert, youngsters seeking help can get accurate medical and legal answers. The platform offers knowledge on vital issues through informative videos, bio-degradable menstrual hygiene and sexual health products, and judgement-free, consultancy service from gynaecologists, counsellors, sexologists, intimacy experts and lawyers.

Journey so far

“I did not register my organisation as an NGO because when something is provided for free, people do not value it enough. I did not want that to happen to my initiative,” says the entrepreneur, who works from Goa. In the course of nine months, StandWeSpeak has handled 15,000 chatbot interactions and has conducted workshops of 10,000 youngsters in schools and colleges.

[caption id="attachment_21411" align="aligncenter" width="857"] Priyal Agrawal in a school workshop[/caption]

“Youngsters are able to find anything and everything about love, gender, intimacy, relationships, sexuality, consent, and much more,” says Priyal, who enjoyed short stints as psychological first aid provider in Tihar jail, Delhi and as a counsellor at Samaritans, a suicide prevention helpline in Goa before starting her venture.

Hiccups along the way…

The psychology graduate from Mumbai’s Sapphire College is the first entrepreneur in her family and it took quite a bit of convincing. By then, she had tried a number of things, from preparing for IIT and trying her hand at architecture for a year before ultimately studying Psychology.

“As a young woman in India, starting a venture is not easy. People do not accept the idea readily. It is considered a passion or side project until the time the girl gets married,” says Priyal. “People advised me to go for a masters first or think of something else as I didn’t have experience or expertise of running a company.”

Also, the domain that she chose to work does not get recognised as important or considered in a need of a solution. “India is conservative of talking about sexual health, wellness and providing sexual education to youngsters,” she rues. However, to be recognised at global platforms has added immense strength to her confidence in her choice of venture.

More inclusivity in future

“The need exists and young people are looking for solutions,” says Priyal. She was confident about it looking at the youngsters around. Starting with a bootstrap budget, she learned to design the initial version of the platform. Later, when her team expanded, it interspersed AI with counselling of the gender inclusive platform that is being used even by members of the LGBTQ community.

Apart from the expansion plans in South Korea, Priyal is planning to make StandWeSpeak more inclusive so that even people with physical disabilities can access the services through features like voice search option. She is looking at producing informative videos which would also have the sign language component so that it can reach a wider audience. Having multilingual services in India is also one of her plans. Priyal wants to promote her services worldwide someday but for now, is taking things one step at a time.

Follow Priyal Agrawal on LinkedIn and Twitter
Follow StandWeSpeak on Instagram, Twitter and its website

Reading Time: 5 mins

Mission Kashmir: Teen kickboxer Tajamul Islam brings the winds of positivity to the valley

(February 19, 2022) If ever under attack, Tajamul Islam can defend herself confidently. The 14-year-old gold-winning kickboxer lands powerful punches, delivers deadly kicks, and knee strikes to take down adversaries. With nerves of steel, her long and short range striking techniques, replete with offensive and defensive movements, stun onlookers. The Kashmiri teen kickboxer’s combat skills are incredible. In short, Tajamul is a born fighter. People used to tell me that girls have to get married, their only place is in the kitchen and not in sports like kickboxing. I felt they were (being) stupid. - Tajamul Islam Kickboxing her way into winning tournament after tournament, Tajamul made India proud after winning the Under-14 World Kickboxing Championship in Cairo in 2021. This was the second time she'd won a gold. “I am now training hard to win gold at the Olympics. I am just 14 now, and will be participating in world championships for the next few years,” smiles Tajamul, speaking exclusively to Global Indian. Children from all over Kashmir have taken to kickboxing because of her. [caption id="attachment_11038" align="aligncenter" width="696"] Tajamul after her win in Egypt[/caption] The first Kashmiri girl kickboxer As the first Kashmiri girl to have represented India

over Kashmir have taken to kickboxing because of her.

[caption id="attachment_11038" align="aligncenter" width="696"] Tajamul after her win in Egypt[/caption]

The first Kashmiri girl kickboxer

As the first Kashmiri girl to have represented India and won a gold in 2021, she competed with players from 90 countries. She played four bouts then — two against players from the host country, while her third and fourth were with opponents from France and Argentina, respectively. “My rival was quick in her moves, but I kept my cool, and that led me to victory,” informs the two-time gold medallist, who wore the national flag on her shoulders after winning the championship in Egypt. It was a proud moment for India. As many as 30 players from India participated in various age/weight categories in the mega event.

Born in Tarkpora, a remote village in North Kashmir’s Bandipora district in December 2008, Tajamul was just five when she took a shine to kickboxing. Her first introduction to the sport was when a kickboxing match was organised at school. Thereafter, she watched a few matches on TV, this propelled her interest. One day, while walking back home, she spotted a few youngsters practicing boxing at a local academy and that was the beginning of her kickboxing tryst. “I was instantly drawn to the sport. Like all other sports personalities, I too dreamt of appearing on TV one day. Eventually, I did,” giggles the cartoon-loving teen kickboxer.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSjdZpus2Vw[/embed]

Initially, her father Ghulam Mohammed Lone did not give in to his daughter’s kickboxing plea as she was just five. “I pleaded, and even asked my mother to convince him. Finally, he gave me the go-ahead,” recounts the recipient of the Young Achievers Award, 2021. The third of five siblings, her father is a businessman.

Staying on course, despite ridicule

Being a girl, and trying kickboxing was tough. A highly conservative society meant many played spoilsport. Yet Tajamul dedicatedly followed her heart into kickboxing at Ali Sports Academy in Bandipora, under Faisal Ali Dar, a Kashmiri martial arts coach. “People used to tell me that girls have to get married, their only place is in the kitchen and not in sports like kickboxing,” recounts the eighth grader from Army Goodwill School in Bandipora. “I felt they were (being) stupid,” quips the champ. A firm believer in the girls-can-do-better-than-boys mantra, she threw all negativity to the winds. Today, she has silenced her critics aptly.

[caption id="attachment_11039" align="aligncenter" width="453"] Tajamul with Major General Sanjiv Singh[/caption]

Grit and hard work saw the teen kickboxer bag her first gold at a state level kickboxing championship (sub-junior category) in Jammu (2015). The same year, she won another gold in the national kickboxing championship (sub-junior category) in New Delhi. In 2016, she won gold at the World Kickboxing championship in Italy. “I have worked hard to reach where I am today. I am flooded with requests from parents, including those who used to ridicule me, to train their daughters,” smiles the teenager, who is also the brand ambassador of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao -- a Government of India campaign.

Giving the valley hope

Growing up in the picturesque Kashmir valley, Tajamul’s entire focus is on kickboxing. The valley, which often witnesses violent protests, terror attacks, and border skirmishes, has not dampened her dreams. “If I ever come under attack, I can fight and take down at least five people,” laughs the champ. She credits her coaches Faisal Ali, a Padma Shri awardee and VS Rawat, a kickboxing coach of the Indian team, for training her, and aiding her victories.

When practice makes perfect

A stickler for routine, this teen kickboxer's practice begins at 5 am. Two hours later, its school, and then by evening, she is ready for another couple of hours of practice. She also finds time to coach and mentor budding kickboxers at the academy.

“Many girls ask me how I manage the tough routine. I just tell them to focus on the game, put in the hard work and set goals,” advises the teenager.

The kickboxing sensation from Kashmir is undoubtedly an inspiration for many girls in the valley. Having launched Haider Sports Academy along with her father in 2019, hundreds of children aspire to become Tajamul Islam. “They saw what I could achieve, now parents want their children to make a career in sports,” she says proudly.

She laments that Bandipora does not have an indoor stadium, saying, “Kashmir can produce great sportspersons as there is great talent here but the government has to provide facilities.” Tajamul was also congratulated by Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha, J&K, on her win last year. Adding sports infrastructure will help Kashmiris be physically and mentally fit, thus overcoming the negativities plaguing the valley, including drug addiction, she believes.

Break bones, and heal them too

Kickboxing apart, she wants to eventually become an orthopaedic surgeon. “I will continue kickboxing but also work towards becoming a doctor. I want to ensure that when I break my opponents' bones, I can heal them as well,” she giggles. A huge fan of boxers Mary Kom and Lovlina Borgohain, she loves reading, music, and travelling. “I want to represent India and win a gold in the Olympics,” says the kickboxing sensation, who strengthens her core with a balance of proteins, carbohydrates, and vitamins.

Follow Tajamul Islam on Instagram

Reading Time: 8 mins

Sai Hitesh Vavilapalli: Indian-American teen’s nonprofit empowers the visually impaired

(November 17, 2023) He was just 14 when Portland-based Sai Hitesh Vavilapalli embarked on a journey to cultivate his interest in social justice and human rights, especially focussed on advocating for the visually impaired. It began when he flew down to India for his Christmas break, and visited a blind school in a quaint little town of Kakinada where his parents volunteered. "It was then I realised I should also do my best to give something back to society, and do something for the underprivileged," he said in an interview. Upon his return to the US, the Indian-American, whose parents migrated from Vishakapatnam, was keen to make a change and soon organised a cultural night. From this, he raised $4200 which he used to start a non-profit The I Mission in 2016. Explaining the mission of the NGO, he said, "What we do is we gather many patients together and we do screening examines and we have eye camps to test whether they are ready to go through the cataract and retinal surgeries that our partners and the people that we work with offer." [caption id="attachment_34153" align="aligncenter" width="723"] Sai Hitesh Vavilapalli is an Indian-American changemaker[/caption] The next year, he returned

p-content/uploads/2023/11/vali2.jpg" alt="Sai Hitesh Vavilapalli | Global Indian" width="723" height="502" /> Sai Hitesh Vavilapalli is an Indian-American changemaker[/caption]

The next year, he returned to India with a vision to help the poor. It was with the help of Sankar Foundation Eye Hospital that he organised a couple of free eye camps in Vishakhapatnam, and also helped perform about 500 free cataract surgeries. Moreover, The I Mission also donated two Perkins mechanical braillers to a rural south Indian school in order to provide support for visually impaired female students in their pursuit of reading.

.Seeing the impact that his work was creating, he continued returning to India every year to help visually impaired people. On his next trip, The I Mission coordinated and funded a total of 48 cataract surgeries for underprivileged individuals, in addition to one retinal surgery. They also took on the responsibility of supporting three blind schools in the region. Initially, individuals in need of cataract or retinal surgery were identified through comprehensive screening tests conducted during eye-checking camps.

[caption id="attachment_34152" align="aligncenter" width="488"] Sai Hitesh Vavilapali is an Indian-American changemaker[/caption]

Beyond providing essential eye health check-ups and surgical interventions for visually impaired individuals in rural India, The I Mission also conducts educational workshops. These workshops are designed to empower students, enhance their mathematical skills for competitive platforms like MathCounts, improve their public speaking abilities, and develop their reading comprehension. The workshops are structured to be both enjoyable and educational, offering engaging activities tailored to the varying levels of receptivity among the students.

In the last few years, The I Mission has supported over 5,000 free eye screenings, 1,719 cataract surgeries, and 13 retinal detachment surgeries, besides adopting three blind schools in India. "To fund the camps, we not only conduct cultural events but have also tied up with brands like Nike and Intel. We intend to approach some more corporate firms in the coming years," he added.

Hitesh, who plans to become a doctor, is working with a professor as a research intern at Oregon Health Science University, with a focus on discovering potential remedies for cataract and other eye-related issues prevalent among the tribal communities residing in the Eastern Ghats of India. He plans to take the nonprofit to the next level in the coming years by spreading its wings across the world.