Deepu S Nath’s journey into skilling and education empowerment had humble personal beginnings
Deepu S Nath
In recent years, India has been seeing a growing trend in terms of unemployability among the educated. Over 60% of graduates in the country are deemed unemployable despite holding degrees. It is in this challenging backdrop that Deepu S Nath is leading a transformative revolution. A Kerala-born entrepreneur, Deepu is redefining how India learns, upskills, and builds its future-with ecosystems, not just institutions.
Deepu S Nath’s journey into skilling and education empowerment had humble personal beginnings; he was inspired by his visits to his quiet village library, the YMHA Library in Chittattumukku, Kazhakkoottam in Thiruvananthapuram-the capital city of Kerala. There he saw youth full of potential yet lacking the resources or infrastructure to bring their dreams to life. These were bright minds without the tools, confidence, or community to grow. “India doesn’t lack talent,” he says. “It lacks trust, access, and shared platforms.” Every space he has built since then has been shaped by one mission: to create environments where people learn, lead, and lift each other. What sets Deepu apart is his commitment to offering this knowledge entirely free of cost’ ensuring access to quality learning for all.
After making waves in the United States with Badass Programmers, a collective of top-tier Indian developers, Deepu found himself repeatedly facing one frustrating question: “Are Indian developers really this good?” The world still carried outdated notions about Indian tech talent, despite the fact that Indians lead the global software industry. For Deepu, this disconnect wasn’t about the talent; it was about the environment. The problem wasn’t the labour. It was the lack of an enabling habitat. That insight sparked a larger question. What if we could build a global network where knowledge flows freely, where people uplift each other by sharing what they know? It led him back to India, where he began building such ecosystems, platforms that replaced textbook theory with practice-based learning and turned learners into leaders.
The idea took shape with FAYA:80, launched in 2013. At the time, free, community-led knowledge exchange was often dismissed as informal or even inferior. Convincing people that peer-to-peer learning could match or outdo formal training was a challenge. Deepu began by hosting casual sessions at FAYA Technologies in Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India’s largest IT park, creating a platform for open discussion, shared insights, and collaborative growth. Just a few people showed up for the early sessions, but their passion set the tone. Kerala’s tech ecosystem was still fragmented and unsure of its identity. But Deepu, shaped by the values of his home state, respect for people, questioning systems, and acting locally before thinking globally – kept going.
By the 50th edition, Disrupt Kerala 2017, FAYA:80 had grown into a movement. No longer passive talks, the sessions became transformative experiences. National organisations like the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) joined hands, and the format expanded to Kochi and Calicut. A decade on, FAYA:80 is the largest student and professional community in Kerala, proving that grassroots movements can set the stage for systemic change.
It wasn’t just FAYA:80. Through initiatives like In50Hrs, a platform where anyone with an idea could pitch it and a team of volunteer developers would come together to build a working prototype in just 50 hours, Deepu created ecosystems that turned job seekers into founders. One such participant, preparing for a government job exam, pitched his idea at In50Hrs. The developer community rallied around him, built the prototype, and helped him pitch to investors. That experience completely shifted his mindset. Today, he leads Asia’s largest neo-banking platform, Kerala’s first unicorn, and is featured in Forbes 30 Under 30. It is a reflection of Deepu’s larger belief: when given the right space and support, anyone can evolve from a seeker to a builder, and even a leader.
μLearn was born from the same conviction that education must bridge the gap between potential and opportunity. It rejects rote memorisation in favour of relevance and discovery. Students earn karma points not for attendance, but for contribution. They gain proof of work, develop real skills, and grow through mentorship. Today, μLearn stands as the largest student community in the state, with over 48,000 members, more than 2,30,000 proofs of work, and close to 400 active mentors. Success here is not measured just in placements, but in transformation: the student who enters confused and leaves confident, employed, or ready to mentor others.
To address the gap between skilled learners and traditional hiring practices, Deepu launched Launchpad. This platform connects students with forward-thinking professionals who are open to evaluating talent beyond conventional resumes. It is another way to shift the system, one that favours contribution over credentialism.
Since 2013, the ecosystem has evolved from cautious experimentation to decisive momentum. Kerala is shifting from a service-led paradigm to cultivating product-first, globally ambitious startups. Emerging technologies, ranging from AI and robotics to multimodal intelligence, spatial computing, synthetic biology, and quantum systems, are no longer distant concepts, but fast-advancing realities. This shift is backed by forward-looking investments, including the state’s ₹350 crore Emerging Technology Hub. Programs like Little Kites and the Young Innovators Program are embedding this future-focused mindset early in the education pipeline. For Deepu, the excitement lies not in following trends, but in witnessing how these technologies are transforming the very architecture of learning and innovation in India.
And yet, Deepu believes there’s a missing link. While there is meaningful progress in sectors, most of these advances are still happening in silos. The need of the hour, he says, is a connective layer – a collective of industry networks that talk to each other. “We need conversations between sector structures,” Deepu notes. “That’s how people learn contextually, apply knowledge across domains, and upskill dynamically.” He envisions a cross-sectoral mesh of communities and knowledge-sharing interfaces that break institutional boundaries and allow exponential, lateral learning.
Mentoring social enterprises and early-stage founders is a natural extension of his work. He listens for clarity of purpose, helps simplify models, and insists on small, compounding wins. His guiding principle, "Give before you ask", is not just a phrase; it is a practice. In every space he builds, trust is earned through contribution. Titles, gatekeeping, or hierarchy have no place. If you show up and build, you belong.
Looking ahead, Deepu is laying the foundation for The Purple Movement, a global learning ecosystem rooted in openness and peer-driven innovation. It is not another classroom or curriculum, but a place where anyone can explore emerging technologies, learn by doing, and grow with others. It is designed for a fast-changing world that needs more collaboration, fewer barriers, and deeper curiosity. At its heart, The Purple Movement is about enabling exponential growth through shared knowledge, removing the friction between knowing and doing. Alongside this, μLearn is evolving into a Unified Skills Interface for India, and a venture studio is underway to support young founders in building impactful products. All of this is tied together by Deepu’s belief that ecosystems thrive when people are seen, heard, and empowered.
In recognition of his grassroots impact, Deepu was named TiE Kerala’s Ecosystem Enabler of the Year in 2022, a reflection of the thousands of students, mentors, and entrepreneurs his platforms have touched.
If there is one value that defines Deepu’s leadership, it is this: trust through contribution. That belief, born on the steps of a village library, now fuels some of the most dynamic learning communities in the country and beyond. His story is not just one of innovation, but of conviction, community, and consistent change.
As India prepares for the next wave of AI, decentralised open networks, and global skilling demands, Deepu S Nath’s work offers a roadmap. Not just for Kerala. Not just for students. But for an India ready to learn how to learn at scale, with purpose, and without permission.
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