Mumbai: upGrad, one of Asia’s largest integrated learning and skilling majors, has successfully concluded its nationwide hackathon CodeEd, a first-of-its-kind product-led initiative within the education segment designed to foster India’s next wave of tech talent and entrepreneurial problem-solvers.
“Launched in August, CodeEd drew over 230 registrations from direct and campus-led teams across India – Hyderabad, Bangalore, Goa, Gandhinagar, Mumbai, and even Dubai. From this pool, 72 teams entered the 24-hour coding marathons across three hubs, with only the top 8 advancing to the final jury round in Mumbai.
The Jury for the grand finale included Ronnie Screwvala & Mayank Kumar (Co-founders, upGrad), and Siddharth Shahani (President, ATLAS SkillTech University), who evaluated the ideas on innovation, scalability, and real-world impact. With fierce competition and rigorous product evaluation metrics, “AI Learn Buddy” from BITS Pilani, Goa Campus emerged as the winner. Two other teams—one from IIT Gandhinagar and another from BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus—claimed the 2nd and 3rd positions, respectively, rounding off a highly competitive finale.
The winning ideas:
· 1st Place was secured by AI Learn Buddy (BITS Pilani, K.K. Birla Goa Campus): Solving the problem of passive rewatching, this tool tracks attention drops during online learning and triggers smart quizzes and gamified nudges, helping students retain more in a single watch.
· 1st Runners Up were ElevateEd (IIT Gandhinagar): Tackling the monotony of one-size-fits-all study material, ElevateEd uses AI to instantly convert lectures, articles, and videos into personalized learning kits—summaries, flashcards, flowcharts, and quizzes—making study sessions engaging and retention-driven.
· 2nd Runners Up were ThreeOfUs (BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus): An AI-powered video generation tool that creates instant animated explainers with voice narration, paired with quizzes and flashcards, to simplify abstract concepts in subjects like physics and math.
All three winning teams received a prize of INR 1 lakh each, along with ongoing support from upGrad’s AI Incubator, which will mentor them on product development and go-to-market strategies to help transform their prototypes into scalable, real-world solutions.
Ronnie Screwvala emphasised CodeEd’s significance, “CodeEd brought us closer to some of the brightest young minds and proved that India doesn’t lack talent—it needs more such platforms to turn raw potential into real innovation. As a country that needs 200 million jobs, we must recognise that not all of them will come from India Inc. alone. We need to nurture micro-entrepreneurs and innovators, and with upGrad, we’re committed to providing the infrastructure and mentorship that ensures their ideas don’t just remain on paper but shape India’s future.”
“Hackathons like CodeEd play a crucial role in identifying and nurturing the next generation of creators. It was inspiring to see how aware and motivated young Indians are about real-world problems—and how determined they are to solve them. Their frugal, solution-oriented approach is a clear sign that with the right support, we can nurture this talent to drive India’s journey toward a stronger creator economy,” noted Siddharth Shahani.
Adding to the initiative, Mayank Kumar further highlighted that at a time when lifelong learning, outcomes, and employability are becoming critical, initiatives like CodeEd align directly with the overall Viksit Bharat 2047 vision. He noted that while AI and automation are reshaping industries, they do not reduce the need for talent—they change where and how talent is required. “The jury round gave us insight into the mindset and mission of today’s micro-entrepreneurs and students—building their own products to bridge gaps and create both capability and opportunity across India’s demographic spectrum.”
“The opportunity created by the entire upGrad team was truly unparalleled. While winning the competition was exciting, what mattered even more was the immense learning we gained throughout the journey. Preparing for the hackathon and presenting our vision before such a distinguished jury refined our concept in ways we hadn’t imagined. The constructive feedback we received has significantly strengthened our startup idea,” said Team AI Learn Buddy.
With the first edition successfully concluded, the skilling major now aims to scale this flagship initiative, with plans already underway to prepare for Phase 2 in the near future.
Team Details:
a) AI Learn Buddy (Winner): Led by Aarush Kohli, Soumitra Ashish Kulkarni, Parth Sunil Agarwal, and Adwait Eklavya
b) ElevateEd (1st Runners Up): Led by Mitesh Chauhan and Yuvraj Rathod
c) ThreeOfUs (2nd Runners Up): Led by Shrey Bansal, Gunasri Phanisdra, Sasank Tumpati, and Amrit Lahari
