India’s youngest app developers Shravan & Sanjay Kumaran shows us how to hustle

By Pranbihanga Borpuzari & Ashutosh Bhattacharya

How young is too young to startup? For 15-year old Shravan Kumaran and his 14-year old brother Sanjay Kumaran, the question is irrelevant as they have been running a company since 2012.

Identified as youngest Mobile Application Programmers in India and one of the youngest in the World, the duo have been making apps for both Android and iOS applications. “We have developed over 11 applications and also released a couple of Windows apps. We code our apps and learnt by getting a lot of books, reading them thoroughly and trying and solve all the problems in the books. That is how we learnt programming,” says Sanjay Kumaran.

Watch: My Big Plunge feat, Young Kumaran Brothers, Founders, GoDimensions.




For the Kumaran’s the only cost in their venture is to buy gadgets and that is where their father steps in. “We are a dad-funded company, which means we do not go to a VC to pitch our ideas, but instead approach our dad. He in turn accepts our ideas and buys the gadgets,” says Shravan Kumaran. They add that their father, Kumaran Surendran, who is the Associate Vice President at Cognizant Technology Solutions, has been a huge pillar of support.

The brothers have gone beyond apps to create their own Virtual Reality device and named it GoVR. “Using our headset you can place your phone and experience virtual reality. There are a couple of other products in the market, but they are really expensive. They are priced at Rs. 26,000- Rs. 40,000 per piece, but our device is available for a mere Rs. 799,” says Sanjay.

Their first app was Catch me Cop on the iOS that involved capturing an escaped convict. Other apps on the iOS include, Alphabets Board, Prayer Planet, Car Racing, Super Hero Jetpack, Color Palette and an emergency dialer both for elders and youngsters called Emergency Booth.

The growing number of investors and entrepreneurs in India has captured the imagination of young Indians and with the launch of the Startup India action plan, India is now slowly building an environment that is conducive to startups. Educational institutes are also now fostering the spirit of entrepreneurship and leadership among students so that they have the ability to follow their passion and start their own ventures.

“Our parents have always supported us and we have grown up on stories of the Wright brothers and others. Even if today we do not want to carry on with our company, our parents would be okay with it. However, me and my brother always wanted a company of our own and our father appreciates the different ideas that we have. Break the middle-class thinking of going to college and getting a job was what our father always told us” says Shravan.

Ajay Chowdhry, Founder of HCL says, “To fuel the startup eco-system and growth of the economy, it is important to develop a start-up and entrepreneurial culture at the grass root level. One approach could be the inclusion of interactive entrepreneurship modules in the curriculum at the school and college level. This will help students develop an entrepreneurial bent of mind from a grass-root level.”

The boys have a vision that within a few years, 50 percent of the world’s smartphones should have their company’s applications running on the handsets. “It may seem audacious, but this is what we want to achieve,” says Shravan.