About us
Who we are
Upward Labs is a community of next-generation builders who go out, learn from the places building the frontier, come back and build for India. We design travel-led learning programmes for college students.
Our idea
Travel. Learn. Build.
Travel to the frontier
Some skills are learned by going where the future is being built.
Learn from the builders
Students meet engineers, see products up close, and learn how the world is already solving problems.
Build for India
They come back and apply what they learned to problems that matter for India.
Why we do it
Why we do it, how we do it, what we do
Why we do it
2 in 5
By 2030, employers expect nearly 2 in 5 of today's skills to change or go out of date. Keeping up takes exposure beyond the classroom, but college structure leaves little room. So we create that space: students learn from the best places in the world and build for India.
How we do it
We bring the exposure to the students. We design and run short, focused immersions that take them to the companies and startups building next-generation technology and businesses.
What we do
Every programme combines travel that moves students out of their comfort zone, exposure across companies, startups and ecosystems where they meet engineers, explore products and ask questions, and a buildathon where they apply what they saw.
Past immersions
Where our past cohorts have been
- Starting point
India
- 2025 · Past immersion
Beijing
- 2026 · Past immersion
Greater Bay Area
- Feb and Mar 2027 · Next cohorts
Shenzhen and Hengqin
Companies and universities our students have visited
Company
BYD
Electric car and battery maker in Shenzhen. 2025 revenue about US$116 billion.
Company
DJI
Drone maker founded in Shenzhen in 2006 by Frank Wang. Estimated at about US$15 billion.
Company
Gree Electric
Air conditioner maker in Zhuhai. 2025 revenue about US$24 billion.
Company
Lingyange Semiconductor
Chip design company in Hengqin, Zhuhai, built on Foxconn's chip design service. Estimated at over US$140 million.
University
University of Macau Advanced Research Institute
Research platform of the University of Macau, ranked 145th in THE 2026.
University
Beijing Institute of Technology, Zhuhai
Independent college in Zhuhai, founded 2004, affiliated with Beijing Institute of Technology.