2020 done the Avishkaar way

2020 hit us with a curveball bigger than any of us had ever imagined with the entire world in chaos and the sudden shift to complete dependency on the internet. At Avishkaar, though we work with futuristic technologies, it was quite hard on us too. Yet, like what we try to imbibe in children, we stayed true to our values and made it through with persistence, hardwork and a bit of creative problem solving. However without our team going above and beyond the call of duty and without your constant support and love, we couldn’t have accomplished this feat. 

Not only did we survive the year but we also launched two new beginner kits to spread the flag of innovation to an even bigger audience –  Robotics Starter Kit and IoT Starter Kit. The Robotics Starter Kitis the best way for kids to start learning the fundamentals of mechanical designs while honing their logical skills ensuring that they start their journey of robotics with a solid premise. While the Robotics Starter kit is more focused on the mechanics, the IoT Starter Kit jumpstarts a child’s journey with innovation specific to the Internet of Things (IoT) and electronics; a phenomenon that’s turned out to be one of the game changers of digital living footing any progress in the future. The curriculum for both are tailored to accommodate the skill levels and attention span of children as young as eight years old with end-to-end assistance such that no prior experience is required.

This year we focused on customer first experience and revamped our product experience for online users with the inclusion of video tutorials to facilitate the journey of learning our kits help embark on an online platform tailor made for the most fun and engaging learning experience.  

Apart from the two kits we launched, we also started 4 new Microdegrees and dozens of new courses delivered completely online! These courses include not only classes and projects but also demo days to get expert feedback along with timely detailed reports about the child’s progress and free counselling. 

To keep our young innovators engaged while they were locked down inside their homes, we also initiated the ‘Innovator of the Month’; a monthly global contest to encourage and stimulate learning with numerous entries resulting in 4 spectacular winning innovations, namely, an automatic door open, a plant caring system, an automatic screwdriver and an emergency calling app for children. These amazing winners took home prizes wirth Rs. 42,500/- including amazon gift vouchers, Avishkaar scholarships & free enrolment to online coding courses and microdegrees.

Despite all the hurdles 2020 came with, we still organised Avishkaar League – Asia’s biggest Innovation and Robotics Challenge;. The Avishkaar league, our annual celebration of creativity and innovation resulting in the gathering of thousands of teachers and students, went online this year. We may have been virtual but we still went big with a theme that was not only pertinent to the global situation but aimed at problem-solving and easing the consequential impact of the pandemic. Innovations like contactless dispensers developed by 10 year olds exemplified robotics and coding for real world problems while winning fun and exciting prizes.

With 2021 right around the corner, of course we have more exciting things planned! In fact we’re having two Avishkaar leagues; one in the summer and winter. We’re also launching two new robotics kits with refurbished construction design and all new upgraded metal parts. This is in addition to a new AI kit and multiple microdegrees including IoT and AI. We are also upgrading our website to make purchase easier and more customer friendly as well as our learning platform to better the learning process and make the online courses more exciting. We aim to upgrade our community platform to make community activities more engaging and stimulating. When we look back at the year that’s gone by, we can see how 2020 made us stronger and we can’t wait to execute our plans for 2021 and share our journey of continuous improvement and progress with you.

Happy New Year!