CodeYogi teaches 3 lakh students to code using just smartphones
New Delhi: Late at night in Saharanpur, Arjun builds a Vedic maths website on his phone. No laptop, no classroom. Just patchy internet and determination. His story reflects a wider shift across India. In government schools, ITIs and polytechnics, thousands of students are now building websites, AI tools and apps entirely on smartphones.
The change is led by CodeYogi, which started as an online bootcamp in 2020 and became a non-profit foundation in February 2025. Founded by Prashant Chaudhary, Rakesh Sehgal and Priyanka Sethi, it was created to give talented students from underserved backgrounds access to tech education.
Initially, CodeYogi relied on college computer labs for coding classes. But frequent power cuts, locked labs and broken systems made learning inconsistent. In 2023, the team shifted to a mobile-first model. The platform runs fully in a browser and works on entry-level Android phones. Students watch short Hindi lessons on Telegram and WhatsApp, then code in a custom editor with an AI tutor that explains errors in Hindi without fixing them automatically.
Today, more than 3 lakh students across 9 states and 100+ districts are part of CodeYogi. Nearly 62,000 have already built projects on their phones. About 95% learn only on smartphones, and 48.6% of learners are girls.
The focus is now on problem-solving. Students have built a waste management system adopted by local authorities, digitised library records, and “Digital Sakhi,” an app to help rural women sell products online.
For the founders, the goal goes beyond coding. “Students are realising skills matter more than degrees. And that tech careers are possible for them too,” said Prashant.
