BTF-018
IN BUILD · PHASE 2
Cohort 01

Naga Nidesh is building SignMate.

Indian Sign Language to speech in real time for deaf students, Classes 6–10.

Matrusri Engineering College

Assistive Technology
Stage: MVP
Built with Siddharth Sadu

2builders on the team

MVPproduct stage

5tools in the stack

10skills built by doing

[ The build ]

A real problem, a real fix.

Every Cohort 01 fellow started with people, not an idea: find who has the problem, talk to them, then build.

The problem

Deaf students often face a communication gap when interacting with people who do not understand Indian Sign Language (ISL), especially in everyday situations where they need to communicate independently.

This can make simple conversations difficult because the other person may not understand their signs and the student may not be able to easily understand the spoken or written response.

What Naga built

SignMate

SIGNMATE is an assistive communication platform designed for deaf students in Classes 6–10 that bridges this gap by translating Indian Sign Language into text and voice, while converting text or voice from the other person into Indian Sign Language through 3D animation. With support for English, Hindi, and Telugu, SIGNMATE aims to make two-way communication easier between students and people who do not know sign language.

Built with
Supabase
PostgreSQL
React
Next.js
Typescript

[ Inside the build ]

Inside the build

Naga and Siddharth are building SignMate in Cohort 01. See where you'd start.

2 minutes, free, all taps.

Get my readiness score

[ Naga's story ]

From Day 0 to now.

Why Naga joined
To develop a real world application and validate with real users.
What Naga is aiming for
To help children with hearing disabilities connect and be understood in everyday settings.
Biggest win
Finding perfect open source integrations.
Where it stands now
Developing the product.

[ The full story ]

Read the full story

SignMate: an Indian Sign Language translation app born from a childhood gap
Siddharth Sadu (BTF-015) and Naga Nidesh (BTF-018) had never used GitHub. They trained their own ML model on Indian Sign Language and built SignMate, a two-way ISL translation app now used at a school for deaf children.

[ With a mentor, one-to-one ]

How Build Theory helped

Build Theory helped the SIGNMATE team **scope their idea into a focused MVP** and understand how to build it phase by phase. They learned how to research existing open-source projects, evaluate GitHub repositories, understand their documentation and code, check licenses and usage restrictions, and identify which parts could be integrated into their own product. They also learned how to approach development in structured phases instead of trying to build everything at once, giving them a clearer understanding of how to go from **research → select → integrate → develop → test → build the product**.

Skills Naga built by doing

Ideation
Problem Identification
Customer Interview
PRD and MVP document creation
Design skills
Iterative design
Git
VS code
Supabase
Netlify

[ The team ]

Built with Siddharth

Most Cohort 01 teams built together.

BTF-015
Siddharth Sadu
Co-Founder
See Siddharth's page →

[ Questions ]

Before you start

Real answers to what students ask us most.

See all questions →

I don't understand AI yet. Can I still do this?

Yes. If you've used ChatGPT, you can start. Your mentor shows you which AI tools to use, and how, as you build.

Won't this eat into my DSA prep?

No. It's about 3–5 hours a week, and you plan them around your classes and prep. Build Theory runs alongside your DSA prep, not instead of it. Coding rounds still matter. This gives you something to talk about once you clear them.

Is it online or offline?

Fully online, so you can do it from anywhere, around your classes. The one exception is Demo Day: one in-person day in Hyderabad where you present what you built.

What happens after I apply?

Fill a short application. About 5 minutes, no payment. Prashanth calls you within 24 hours to talk through your idea and see if it's a fit. If it's a fit, you confirm your seat with ₹500. It's adjusted against the fee and non-refundable.

Naga started from Day 0.
Where are you starting from?

Which year are you in?

3rd year 4th year 2nd year Other

Free. 2 minutes. All taps. No sales call unless you ask for one.

24 fellows in Cohort 015 products live

[ Cohort 01 ]

More fellows, more builds.

See all Cohort 01 fellows →

[ Cohort 02 ]

Placement season will ask what you've built. Start now.

Free readiness score. 2 minutes, all taps. No sales call unless you ask for one.