City startup engages, empowers senior citizens

The team recently demonstrated social media and other digital skills to the elderly

A startup is teaching basic digital skills to the elderly — from how to activate the ‘disappearing messages’ feature on WhatsApp to how to change phone wallpapers.

Nextinnings focuses on the well-being of senior citizens and aims to build self-managed communities for them.

Ananya Mungara and Priya Suresh.

It recently conducted a pilot with residents of Prestige Casabella, Electronic City. In the 40-minute meeting, the team demonstrated how to change wallpapers and ringtones on the phone and responded to queries on typing in different languages, cofounder Priya Suresh informs.

Another session to understand how to join a Google Meet link, participate in online sessions, and manage accounts on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter was also held.

The startup is backed by a deep tech-focused micro fund PESU Venture Labs, which was created by CoCreate Ventures and PES University. It is founded by Ananya Mungara, a fourth-year computer science student at PES University, and Priya, founder of Culture Place, a platform by Just Books.

A resident of Indiranagar, Ananya had earlier built an app called AGEnda with her friends. “The app laid emphasis on picking up new skills from the elderly and engaging them. The project had to be dropped and that guilt led me to start Nextinnings,” says the 21-year-old.

Her vision aligned with Priya. “In a lot of communities, senior citizens sit and watch television. They don’t have proper sources of entertainment or activities to do. I came across such conversations via sessions conducted at Culture Place,” says Priya.

A plan to create awareness about spam emails, WhatsApp scams and cybersecurity is in the pipeline.

Way ahead

Besides keeping the elderly up to date with technology, it aims to help them explore new things and socialise with like-minded people.

Priya says the interests among the elderly are varied. So they are mulling conducting sessions on acting, cooking, birdwatching, storytelling (related to personal legacy), and even hosting games like Housie and Rummy.

Ananya adds, “The sessions will be curated according to their interest. Apartment complexes and communities for the elderly can approach us to host these sessions. Currently, these meetings are free. Depending on the response, we may monetise them in the future.”

*For details, visit nextinnings.co, email [e-mail], message to 93535 02181 on WhatsApp.