Hyderabad teen turns brain tumour recovery into tech startup

Hyderabad: A two-year battle with a brain tumour pulled 16-year-old M Manohar out of the classroom, but it also pushed him into coding, technology and entrepreneurship.

Manohar, a first-year Intermediate student at Telangana Model School and Junior College in Shankarapatnam, Karimnagar, was diagnosed in 2021 while in Class 7. He underwent three major surgeries at NIMS, four cycles of chemotherapy and 17 days of radiation.

The long recovery meant months at home. With time on his hands and a laptop from his family, he began teaching himself website development, chatbot engineering and artificial intelligence through online tutorials. “I wanted to escape from those emotions and feelings. So I started learning coding and business and developed my skills,” Manohar told TNIE.

What began as a way to cope soon turned into work. He started building websites and chatbot agents and looked for clients. In the process he ran into a problem common to startups: finding customers, investors and the right people was difficult.“There is no business without revenue. Getting customers, investors and the right employees are major problems for startups,” he said.

Instead of stopping, Manohar decided to build a solution. In 2025 he began developing M-GLAD, a digital platform meant to bring together jobs, business opportunities, tenders, contracts and startups in one place.

The proposed platform would let job seekers create profiles with skills, resumes and past projects. Companies could post vacancies and review applicants through portfolios. Startups could register ventures, while businesses could search for contractors, customers or partners.

Manohar says information is another gap he wants to close. “Opportunities are there, but many businesses may not know about them. We want to provide the latest updates and notifications so that they do not miss opportunities,” he said.

He also wants M-GLAD to focus on demonstrated ability over paper qualifications. “If you have a skill, you have to prove that,” he said.

He is developing the platform largely on his own, with financial and personal support from his family. He is also exploring collaborations with private institutions, government bodies and enterprises.

For Manohar, what started as a way to fill time during recovery has become a full project. “What began as a way to occupy himself during recovery has grown into an idea he is now steadily working to turn into reality.”