From Varanasi and Prayagraj to Raebareli, young innovators from Uttar Pradesh are showing that some of India’s most promising ideas can emerge from anywhere.

Four young innovators from the state have made it to the national Top 40 of the fifth edition of Samsung Solve for Tomorrow with ideas addressing challenges ranging from document literacy and housing design to emerging cybersecurity threats and digital public safety.

Samsung Solve for Tomorrow is Samsung’s flagship CSR innovation programme for young people aged 14 to 22. Implemented in partnership with FITT-IIT Delhi, the programme enables young innovators from across India to identify real-world challenges and develop potential solutions through human-centred design, mentorship, technology and hands-on prototyping.

From Local Problems to Potential Solutions

In Varanasi, 18-year-old Abhinav Jaiswal is working on a solution to make important documents easier to understand for people who may struggle with complex written information.

In Prayagraj, 19-year-old Mohd Sarfraz is developing an AI-assisted housing design solution focused on practical challenges faced in densely populated Indian neighbourhoods, including structural planning and ventilation.

And in Raebareli, Akul Attre, 21, and Saksham Shreyans, 20, are exploring emerging cybersecurity threats associated with encrypted data and ways to strengthen digital public safety.

Different cities. Different challenges. But the ideas share a common starting point: problems observed close to home.

Their achievement reflects a larger shift visible in this year’s programme. More than half of the national Top 40 teams are from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, demonstrating how young people from across India are increasingly using technology to solve problems they encounter in their communities.

For Uttar Pradesh, the presence of young innovators from Varanasi, Prayagraj and Raebareli among the national Top 40 is also a source of regional pride — and a sign of how India’s innovation map is expanding beyond its traditional technology hubs.

For Abhinav Jaiswal from Varanasi, the challenge is document literacy. Important documents can often be difficult for illiterate and semi-literate Indians to understand, particularly before signing them. His solution explores how technology can make such information easier to understand and help people make more informed decisions.

For Mohd Sarfraz, the focus is on using AI to address practical challenges in housing design.

Meanwhile, Akul Attre and Saksham Shreyans are working on their solution around cybersecurity and digital public safety.

Through Samsung Solve for Tomorrow, these young innovators are getting the platform, mentorship and technology support to understand the challenges more deeply, test their ideas and turn them into potential solutions.

The Top 40 teams will now participate in a 10-day Innovation Bootcamp, where they will receive intensive mentoring from startup founders and industry experts at FITT-IIT Delhi. As part of the Bootcamp, the teams will also get an opportunity to visit Samsung R&D Institute India – Delhi, Samsung R&D Institute India – Noida, Samsung R&D Institute India – Bangalore, Samsung Design Delhi, and Samsung’s Regional Headquarters in Gurugram.

The teams will then compete for a place in the Top 20, which will receive further support to strengthen and advance their solutions ahead of the Grand Finale.

At the culmination of the programme, the four winning teams will collectively receive incubation grants worth INR 2 crore, along with incubation support from FITT-IIT Delhi, helping them take their solutions towards further development and market-ready.

As Samsung marks 30 years in India, Solve for Tomorrow reflects its commitment to nurturing a new generation of innovators across the country. By bringing mentorship, design thinking, technology and prototyping support to young people wherever they are, the programme is helping promising ideas move from communities towards solutions with wider potential.

For Uttar Pradesh’s young innovators, the journey to the national Top 40 carries a powerful message: an idea capable of solving a national challenge can begin in Varanasi, Prayagraj or Raebareli.