APRIL

Why APRIL?

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A therapist begins a session with the NAO robot — repetition, patience, encouragement.

Then, something remarkable:

“My child spoke his first word today — Robot!”

APRIL exists for moments like these.
It’s not about hardware; it’s about building bridges to the human world.

APRIL History

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APRIL wasn’t born in a boardroom — it was revived in a classroom.

Before our version, two different teams had already built earlier prototypes of robot-assisted therapy apps. When we stepped in, it wasn’t to start from zero, but to reimagine what was possible — to turn a research experiment into a sustainable ecosystem.

It began as a capstone project between three students, driven by a shared belief that technology could serve children with autism in a meaningful way. What started as a semester-long effort grew into a movement inside the lab. Together, we built a foundation — not just of software, but of people, process, and purpose.

With corporate discipline and startup agility, we restructured the workflow from scratch:

• Brought in industry-grade tools — GitHub Projects instead of Trello, Discord for team syncs, Google Docs evolving into Hugo-powered documentation.
• Introduced engineering best practices from our own experiences — one of us from Signify (Philips), another from a startup year in the field.
• Built a system where interns could earn academic credit — their internship counted toward their official transcript. It wasn’t just volunteering; it was professional formation.

We launched a structured recruitment — from 30 CVs, we held 20 interviews, and 14 people earned their place after a two-week trial period.
We didn’t look for the most experienced — we looked for kindhearted, curious learners who wanted to build something that mattered.

That’s how a small capstone became a 30-member startup inside a university lab, blending research, software engineering, and therapy innovation.

A Mentor’s Vision

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The story wouldn’t exist without the professor who believed in it first.

She didn’t just supervise — she lived the mission every day, bringing pure passion and tireless enthusiasm.
While we were running three projects at once, she was leading five — guiding, teaching, and connecting our lab with national autism centers.
Her mentorship gave us both freedom and responsibility: full creative ownership, but always anchored to real-world impact.

APRIL grew from that trust — the perfect balance of academic vision, human empathy, and engineering discipline.

“Our goal was never to just build robots.
It was to build a team that could build anything — responsibly, collaboratively, and with heart.”

How We Work as a Young Startup

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APRIL began as a two-person robotics experiment — today it’s a 30+ member ecosystem building five active applications for therapy centers, parents, and researchers.
We combine the discipline of research with the speed of a startup: writing before talking, prototyping before scaling, and always leading with empathy for the people we serve.

🧭 Guiding Principles

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• Mission First — Every tool, workflow, and robot exists to improve the lives of children with ASD and their families.
• Clear Ownership — Each task has one accountable owner. No duplication, no confusion.
• One Project, One Lead — Each app has a responsible lead who drives outcomes, not just progress reports.
• Guild System — Members belong to both a project and a guild (Frontend, Backend, DevOps, Design, Branding, ML/AI). Guildmasters set the quality bar and mentor others.
• Memo Culture > Slides — Every two weeks, teams share a written memo and a short demo instead of decks. Writing clarifies thinking; demos prove results.
• Documentation Is Culture — If it’s not written, it doesn’t exist.
• Shared Learning — Engineers, designers, and therapists work in cross-functional circles; everyone contributes to the collective knowledge base.

🧱 Structure & Collaboration

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APRIL follows a matrix model:
Each person belongs to one project team and one guild.
This structure lets us innovate quickly while keeping technical and design standards consistent.

Projects (product-driven):
APRIL Online • APRIL Offline • Kidio • PECS • APRIL Academy

Guilds (role-driven):
Frontend • Backend • DevOps • Design • Branding/PR • ML/AI

🧰 Tools & Stack

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We use open-source practices and tools inspired by both startups and enterprise ecosystems:

We use the same rigor as enterprise software teams (like Signify) but within our own sandbox — an environment where young engineers can experiment safely and learn to build production-ready systems.

🧩 Workflow Rhythm

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Even when progress isn’t visible, exploration counts. We value iteration over perfection.

💡 Our Philosophy

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“Build tools that work in the real world — not just on paper.”

We design for offline-first environments, multi-robot compatibility, and cross-language support.
Every solution is tested in real therapy sessions before scaling.
Our mission is to make robotics and AI accessible, measurable, and meaningful in daily clinical use.

🌐 Learn More

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Visit our research lab and partners at hrilab.kz.
APRIL grew out of 9 years of cross-domain research in education, medicine, and robotics, and continues to blend scientific rigor with startup execution.

This page reflects APRIL’s story, mission, and working culture as of Fall 2025.