HERALD: What made you set up a company in Goa? With your qualifications, you could have got a cozy job.
PRAJYOT MAINKAR: With focus on both, education and learning about computer science, I was well-balanced. My parents, Prakash Mainkar and Shital Mainkar always kept a trust in my passion as they knew about my fascination for technology. I had never imagined that I would take up entrepreneurship, until my first year of engineering at Goa Engineering College. Business is in my family blood and I wanted to do something of my own. While in second year of engineering, I had taken website design and development projects, which eventually became my full time work under proprietorship in 2009. I soon realised that I might not be excited to do that for long and thus migrated to working on Mobile Development and Engineering. In 2013, I moved off the proprietary firm to Androcid Media Pvt Ltd.
HERALD: What is the most recent app which you have developed and what is its use?
PM: Most recently Androcid developed an app for an IIT based startup – Curofy. This app is a specialized online network that is not confined to one hospital or one chain of hospitals or even one city. A professional pan-India network, regardless of where the specialist (doctor) is located, the patient can find him, through his own doctor’s links. The app also features research work, close-loop discussions and sharing references via app. This ‘linkedin for doctor’ app won TiE the Knot summit – TiEcon, organized by CNBC Young Turks. Curofy also emerged as winners at Google’s Launchpad Week in September 2015.
Androcid also empowered Goa State Horticulture Corporation Limited’s technology to Android, and today, there are more than 200 vendors and supervisors using this system to automate the process. Just to note, this was the first Government office in Goa that introduced mobile-app system.
Recently the company also launched the app of Smart City in Panjim – ‘Imagine Panaji’ where people from Panjim can submit their smart ideas to improve the city to be one of the top smart cities in India.
HERALD: You are known as ‘Android man of Goa”. What is the story behind it?
PM: It is thanks to the faith, blessing and trust bestowed by my parents, gurus and mentors on me. ‘YourStory’, one of the leading startup portals in India called me ‘Android Man of Goa’ for my effort to take community support and learning to the next level by building a world class ecosystem of seamless transfer of technical knowledge and innovation. I have been a mentor for mobile app building strategy and initiatives around India. Our company works exclusively in mobile app development such as Android, iOS, Windows and also cross platform mobile app development. Androcid ensures the mobile app engineering process is not just done ‘right’ but also ‘serves’ well in the target market. Backed with a strong engineering team, Androcid aims to provide ‘app-centric- approach to businesses that needs mobile-wing.
HERALD: Apart from developing mobile apps what else does your company do?
PM: Besides mobile app development, Androcid also organizes Goa’s largest technology conference and the only-android conference- Nitrodroid and a conference- DroidSync in Mumbai. In fact, several companies like Intel, Nokia, Persistent Systems, XDA, GitHub, Adiquity were part of the associate sponsors for this events.
Androcid also runs an active blog: http://androcid.com which helps android lovers and developers to stay updated with Android technology. When he started off his entrepreneurial journey, Goa needed a distinct identity besides tourism. Nobody believed that there were people working on tech and Android in Goa. Today, developers in Goa have a platform to interact with, and learn from. The scene is changing and it is all about the think-culture and attitude of people towards technology.
HERALD: What are your plans for the future?
PM: I believe two things will decide the journey of an entrepreneur. One is the ability to take risks and the other, the right attitude and gratitude empowers the journey. I take each day as it comes and put in my best. My aim is to grow Androcid to the next big level with a global coverage, widespread clientele base by keeping our headquarters in Goa, no mater where the other Androcid branches come up in future.
