Instructor-verified video records of ITI trainees' practical work for employers
TL;DR Tradeclip gives every ITI trainee a phone link with short, instructor-verified videos of the practical tasks they can do, from wiring a distribution board to laying a weld bead. Private ITIs and state skill departments pay, because placements are what fill their next batch.
India has 13,888 ITIs training about 23.9 lakh people[1]. Their certificate names the trade and the marks. It doesn't tell a contractor in Pune whether this electrician can terminate a cable neatly.
The ILO found that only 4% of Indian youth had formal vocational training, and those who did faced higher unemployment than people trained on the job, a gap that grew by 3.5 points. It named skill mismatch and weak placement support among the causes[2]. So small employers hire through word of mouth and test on the job, which shuts out every trainee without contacts.
What it does, in regulatory terms: a record of observed work kept by the institute. Tradeclip issues no certificate and makes no claim of NSQF equivalence. Some trainees are under 18, so the DPDP rules on children's data apply[3].
For each trade, Tradeclip lists 15–25 practical tasks drawn from the syllabus. During normal practical classes the instructor films a 30–60 second clip of a trainee doing a task, rates it on a simple three-level scale and signs it off in the app. Software checks that the clip is usable (in focus, with the hands and the work visible), tags it to the task and flags duplicate or reused clips. By the final term each trainee has a portfolio link to share in any chat app, and employers can filter trainees by trade, district and task.
I reframed the seed, which pitched AI that builds dynamic skill portfolios. Software can't yet judge a weld or a wiring job reliably from a phone video but an instructor who watched the work can, so the AI only handles filing and quality checks.
Trainees use it free. Private ITIs pay per trainee per year, because placement results help them sell seats, and government ITIs would come through state skill departments. Employers browse free at first. A fee per hire or per verified shortlist can come later, once there's volume. I found no public prices for comparable services, so the fee level is my assumption to test.
NCVET's National Credit Framework, notified in May 2023, says all learning, experiential learning included, should earn credit through the Academic Bank of Credits, and that assessment is required to earn it[4]. The APAAR student ID, now reported at 33.74 crore IDs and linked to DigiLocker[5], gives such records a place they could one day sit.
There is no public figure for what ITIs spend on placement or credential tools. The narrowest anchor is the 23.9 lakh ITI trainees[1].
Adjacent - one big digital-badge network reports more than 123 million digital credentials earned on it[6], mostly for IT certifications. That shows employers will look at verified records when they're easy to open.
Global digital-badge platforms issue badges for 3,700+ certification, training and employer issuers[6], but its badges say a course was passed and not what the hands can do. Skill India Digital Hub is the government's upskilling platform[7], though I couldn't confirm from its public page that it holds practical-work evidence. Blue-collar hiring platforms focus on sourcing at volume[8].
The gap is evidence recorded at the bench and checked by the person who watched it.
| Difficulty | Moderate (37/100) |
| Starting capital | ₹35–70 L |
| Time to launch | 4–6 months |
The app is simple. The hard part is getting busy instructors to film and sign off clips during practicals every week, across hundreds of trainees. Then there's the two-sided start - employers will only look once there are enough portfolios in their district.
No licence is needed to keep video records of trainees' work. Consent and what you call the records are what matter.
Building this outside India? The categories above usually have a local equivalent, so check with your own regulator.
Don't let AI verify a skill. Only the instructor who watched the work can sign off a record, and a wrong tag could mislead an employer.
Want to work out the AI layer for Tradeclip? Talk to Yash →
I'd back a founder who has worked with ITIs, a state skill mission or a staffing firm that hires tradespeople. If you want a pure software business with no field work then it's a poor fit. Prove two things first - instructors in five ITIs keep filming for a full term, and employers open at least half the portfolios you send them.
Plan for roughly ₹35–70 L, covering the app, ITI onboarding and the field work needed to get instructors recording.
No licence, but you need DPDP-compliant consent, parental consent for under-18s and the ITI's permission to film in its workshops.
Yes, wherever vocational colleges feed employers. Check local data protection law on video of students and the rules on what counts as a credential.
The free Tradeclip validation kit has the line-by-line capital breakdown, the effort scoring, the credit-framework and data-protection checklist, a 14-day validation sprint with pass/fail targets, a 90-day launch plan, 10 interview questions for ITIs and employers, and 5 assumptions to test. Download the kit →
Thinking about building Tradeclip or something close to it? The make-or-break bit is getting instructors to film week after week and getting employers to open the links, and that two-sided start is something I help founders plan. If you need a hand, you know where to find me. Talk to Yash →
For illustration only. Names are fictional and ideas hypothetical; sourced facts are real but may be out of date. Nothing here is legal, financial or professional advice, and Yash Khatri is not personally liable for any use of it. Read the full disclaimer.