Three high school students who wanted to make an impact.
In 2023, both Srithansh and Michael were dealing with persistent skin issues. They had to wait 2-3 weeks for an appointment, pay expensive consultation fees, and sometimes get conflicting diagnoses from different doctors.
They realized this problem did not only apply to them but millions of people worldwide, particularly those who may come from more underserved communities. Dermatologists and doctors are extremely helpful but as an additional tool, SDERM AI can help.
Srithansh and Michael, both passionate AI enthusiasts, had been developing machine learning and computer vision projects since middle school, building a strong foundation in advanced technologies. Barghavan, also a skilled programmer, contributed complementary computer science expertise. This made the team capable of tackling complex challenges.
Building an accurate skin condition classifier was much harder than we initially thought. We spent months cleaning datasets, dealing with biased training data, and trying different model architectures.
In August 2024, we officially founded SDERM AI.
Making it to the top 350 out of thousands of applicants in the World's Most Prestigious Entrepreneurship Competition for High School Students was a huge validation. "We believe that getting top 350 internationally in this competition meant that AI can really help out!" says Srithansh.
The AI could now accurately detect several conditions across different skin tones and demographics.
We're building a tool that provides preliminary skin condition assessments from a phone—especially valuable for those without easy access to dermatological care. We're also working to integrate this with dermatologists’ workflows, offering it as a support tool to enhance their accuracy. While professional diagnosis is essential, our goal is to help people take the first step toward getting the care they need.