Google Commits ₹85 Crore to Wadhwani AI, Aiming to Transform Education for 75 Million Students

Google has pledged ₹85 crore (≈$9.45M) to Wadhwani AI to integrate artificial intelligence into India’s public education platforms, aiming to benefit 75 million students, 1.8 million educators, and 1 million early-career professionals by 2027. The initiative will strengthen government-owned platforms like SWAYAM and POSHAN Tracker, expand AI-powered learning tools in 10 Indian languages, and even launch India’s first AI-enabled university.  

Key Highlights of the Initiative

• Funding Amount: ₹85 crore (~USD 10 million) from Google.org
• Beneficiaries: 75 million students, 1.8 million educators, 1 million early-career professionals
• Timeline: Target completion by 2027
• Platforms Enhanced: SWAYAM, POSHAN Tracker, national skilling portals, and state learning systems
• Languages Supported: Voice AI tools for oral reading fluency in 10 Indian languages

Strategic Goals

• Boost learning outcomes with personalized AI tools
• Ease educator workload through AI-driven support
• Bridge digital divide with equitable access
• Create a responsible AI-for-education framework

New Developments

• India’s first AI-enabled university at CCSU
• Gemini AI integration into learning platforms
• Collaboration with PhysicsWallah for rollout
• Impacting 10 million students and educators already

Impact Overview

Area	Target by 2027	Current Progress
Students Benefited	75 million	10 million reached
Educators Supported	1.8 million	Pilot programs active
Early-career Professionals	1 million	Initial rollout
Languages Covered	10	Voice AI pilots live

Challenges & Considerations

• Digital infrastructure gaps in rural areas
• Need for large-scale teacher training
• Ensuring ethical, bias-free AI deployment
• Complexity of scaling across diverse state systems

IIT Bombay and Groww Foundation Launch Landmark Partnership to Drive Deep-Tech Innovation

IIT Bombay today announced a landmark partnership with Groww Foundation, aimed at accelerating deep-tech innovation and enhancing India's translational research ecosystem. The collaboration is set to introduce a multi-component initiative that empowers student innovators, supports the development of functional prototypes, and fosters a seamless pathway for taking breakthrough academic ideas into real- world applications.

The initiative will be anchored within the Desai Sethi School of Entrepreneurship (DSSE) at IIT Bombay, leveraging its dynamic ecosystem to provide early-stage teams with the infrastructure, mentorship, and structured evaluation systems.

Speaking about the collaboration, Prof. Shireesh Kedare, Director, IIT Bombay, said, "This partnership with Groww Foundation represents a significant step in strengthening India's deep-tech innovation pipeline. By bringing together structured programs and a dedicated innovation space, we are creating a comprehensive pathway for students to translate ideas into solutions. This collaboration reinforces IIT Bombay's commitment to nurturing technologically skilled and socially conscious innovators.”

A cornerstone of this collaboration is the Groww Innovation Space — a state-of- the-art 15,000 sq. ft. facility located in the DSSE building. Complementing this physical hub is the launch of an annual Grand Challenge that will invite interdisciplinary teams of students, researchers, and faculty to develop breakthrough solutions in key focus areas, including holistic education, sustainable livelihood, healthcare, and women’s empowerment, among others.

Kalpana Swaminathan, Head of Groww Foundation, said, “At Groww, we believe that innovation rooted in technology and research-driven entrepreneurship is the key to shaping India’s future. Our partnership with IIT Bombay’s DSSE is designed to unlock the full potential of aspiring student innovators by providing them with the resources and mentorship needed to transform bold ideas into impactful ventures. Together, we aim to build a thriving ecosystem that not only nurtures deep-tech solutions but also contributes to sustainable and inclusive growth across multiple sectors.”

Over a period of four years, student-faculty teams will receive funding and sustained guidance from faculty and mentors, with high-performing interdisciplinary student teams gaining potential access to support for incubation. The program will provide development support to approximately 100 teams each year as part of their entrepreneurship and capstone coursework, enabling nearly 400 teams over four years to build, test, and refine their solutions.

This collaboration marks a significant milestone in advancing India’s technology innovation landscape and fostering a new generation of entrepreneurially minded technologists committed to sustainably building for the future.

About IIT Bombay:

The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, set up in 1958 as the second IIT, is recognised worldwide as a leader in the field of science and engineering education and research. The Institute was granted the status of 'Institution of Eminence' by the Ministry of Education (the then Ministry of Human Resources Development) on July 9, 2018. IIT Bombay is reputed for the quality of its faculty, cutting edge research, industry relations and the outstanding calibre of students graduating from its undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

The Institute has 17 academic departments, 47 other academic entities (Centres/ Programmes/ Academic facilities/ Hubs/ Externally funded centres and Labs) and three schools. Over the last six decades, more than 75,000 engineers and scientists have graduated from the Institute. It is served by 751 faculty members and about 150 visiting and part-time faculty considered not only amongst the best within the country but also highly recognised in the world for achievements in the field of education and research. On June 19, 2025, IIT Bombay was ranked 2nd in India and 129th in the world in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings for 2026.

About Groww Foundation:

Groww Foundation is dedicated to building inclusive and sustainable communities across India. The foundation focuses on expanding access to quality education, advancing research and development, and driving skill development initiatives for a sustainable livelihood and quality of life.

Through partnerships with nonprofits, educational institutions, governments, and community organisations, Groww Foundation supports on-ground and technology-driven programs with a focus on long-term impact. These initiatives strengthen essential services and promote socioeconomic empowerment, ensuring wider access to opportunities created by India’s growing digital and economic transformation.

Indian Army Internship IAIP 2025 Offers Hands-On Training in AI, Cyber & Drones

The Indian Army has launched the Internship Program IAIP 2025, inviting students nationwide to apply for 75-day internships in AI, cyber security, drones, AR/VR, and emerging technologies. Applications are open until December 7, 2025, with interviews scheduled for December 10.

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Key highlights of IAIP 2025

• Organizer: Spearheaded by the Wargaming Development Centre (WARDEC).
• Duration: 75 days, from January 1 to March 31, 2026.
• Domains offered:
  • Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning
  • Cybersecurity
  • Drone technology
  • Database management
  • Augmented Reality (AR) / Virtual Reality (VR)
  • User Experience (UX) / User Interface (UI) design
  • Defence simulations
• Eligibility: Open to students from universities and institutes across India.
• Application window: December 1–7, 2025.
• Interview date: December 10, 2025.
• Certification: Interns will receive recognized certificates from the Indian Army, plus opportunities for project incubation and recruitment pathways.

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Purpose of the program

• Bridge academia and defence innovation: The Army aims to connect student talent with real-world defence applications.
• Hands-on exposure: Interns will work directly on cutting-edge defence technologies like AI-driven simulations, cyber defence systems, and drone operations.
• Career boost: As Lt. Gen. Rakesh Kapoor noted, interning with the Army is a “cherished entry in anyone’s CV”, offering credibility and unique experience.
• Annual initiative: Following a successful pilot, IAIP will now be a regular annual feature.

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Things to keep in mind

• Competitive selection: With nationwide eligibility, expect high competition. Prepare thoroughly for the December 10 interview.
• Defence context: Unlike corporate internships, projects will be defence-oriented, requiring adaptability to military protocols.
• Limited seats: The Army has not disclosed exact numbers, so early application is crucial.
• Commitment: The internship runs full-time for 75 days; balancing with academic schedules may be challenging.

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How to apply

• Portal: Submit applications via the official IAIP portal: iaip.easecruit.com
• Deadline: December 7, 2025.
• Interviews: Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed on December 10, 2025.

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In short

IAIP 2025 is a prestigious opportunity for Indian students to gain hands-on experience in AI, cyber, drones, and defence tech, with direct recognition from the Army. It’s not just an internship—it’s a potential career gateway into defence innovation.

Smart Glasses That See Through Sound: Tushar Shaw’s Perceivia Wins National Innovation Award

Nineteen-year-old Tushar Shaw from Bengaluru, pursuing second-year engineering student from Scaler School of Technology, has crafted not just a gadget but a gesture of social imagination. His creation, Perceivia — intuitive glasses for the visually impaired — earned him a place among the national winners of Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2025.

Samsung Solve for Tomorrow is the company’s flagship education programme that challenges young minds to identify real-world problems and develop solutions using technology. This year the four winning teams from the themes AI for a Safer, Smarter, and Inclusive Bharat; Future of Health, Hygiene, and Well-being in India; Environmental Sustainability via Technology; and Social Change through Sport and Tech, received a grant of ₹1 crore incubation support at IIT Delhi.

Perceivia is designed to help visually impaired users perceive their surroundings through sound. Using an integrated suite of audio sensors, object-recognition cameras, and AI-based spatial analysis, the glasses detect and describe what lies ahead — from identifying objects and estimating distances to recognising human voices and faces. The device alerts users through subtle vibrations or real-time voice feedback, creating a kind of “sensory map” of their environment.

I grew up next door to a visually impaired neighbour,” Tushar recalls. I saw firsthand how daily tasks like crossing a road, identifying people, or locating objects could become monumental challenges. I knew I had to create something that gave them a sense of independence.

At the time, he admits, his ambition far outpaced his technical competence. “I had no background in computer vision or hardware design,” he says. “But Samsung Solve for Tomorrow gave me not just the resources, but also the confidence and mentorship to bridge that gap.”

I used Gemini 2.0 Flash for screen description and built facial and object recognition features using datasets contributed by visually impaired volunteers,” he explains. Their feedback helped me identify gaps in the prototype — what worked in theory often needed to be rethought in practice.

The Samsung Solve for Tomorrow programme, which invited thousands of young innovators across India to develop solutions for the nation’s most pressing challenges, gave Tushar both the stage and the support system to bring his idea to life.

We were taught how to understand markets, conduct research, and engage with potential partners. It was a crash course in how to turn an idea into an enterprise, says Tushar.

Tushar’s project was selected by a distinguished jury comprising senior Samsung leadership and experts from academia, government, and industry. His innovation emerged as a winner under the theme ‘AI for a Safer, Smarter, and Inclusive Bharat’, one of four focus areas in this year’s competition — alongside Future of Health and Hygiene, Environmental Sustainability through Technology, and Social Change through Sport and Tech.

For Tushar, the triumph marks both an end and a beginning. “Winning Samsung Solve for Tomorrow has opened doors I hadn’t even dared to knock on,” he smiles. “I want to collaborate with brands specialising in accessibility tech, refine the product’s design, and make it affordable for people across India. I’m also continuing my studies — there’s still so much to learn before I can build something truly transformative.”

In the coming year, he plans to test Perceivia with a wider group of users, gather feedback from mobility trainers, and integrate features for indoor navigation. His ultimate goal? To make the device as ubiquitous and indispensable as spectacles — not a luxury for the few, but a right for all.

IN-SPACe Model Rocketry/CANSAT India Student Competition 2024-25 to take place in Uttar Pradesh from October 27-30, 2025

The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe), in association with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Astronautical Society of India (ASI), has announced the national-level Model Rocketry/CANSAT India Student Competition 2024-25, with the grand finale scheduled to take place on the banks of the Narayani River at Tumkuhiraj, Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, from October 27–30, 2025.

The competition aims to provide students with a hands-on experience in designing, development, and launch of a model rocket that can deploy CANSAT (7U SAT) of 1 kg at 1Km altitude meeting the defined mission objectives. This will provide students opportunity to simulate real-world space missions and will also contribute in nurturing the next generation of Indian space professionals.

A total of 71 student teams, comprising around 600 students, faculty members, and mentors, have qualified for the national finale, with 36 teams in the CANSAT category and 35 teams in Model Rocketry. Participants represent universities and technical institutions from across India.

As part of the outreach leading up to the competition, IN-SPACe along with ISRO had launched the ‘Art-in-Space’ and ‘Space Quiz 20:20’ contests across seven districts of Uttar Pradesh — Gorakhpur, Deoria, Kushinagar, Jaunpur, Bahraich, Bulandshahr, and Gautam Buddha Nagar, witnessing an overwhelming response from nearly 73,000 students. This contest is being executed by Namaskar Foundation. Additionally, to ignite deep interest in Science and Tech amongst the students an “Antariksh Rath” equipped with rockets, satellites, astronaut’s suits and educational models is spreading awareness amongst students. Winners from these contests will be felicitated at the grand finale and will also experience an immersive space habitat module at the event venue.

L–R) Hon’ble Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Shri Yogi Adityanath, Hon’ble Member of Parliament (Deoria) Shri Shashank Mani, and Dr. Vinod Kumar, Director (Promotion Directorate), IN-SPACe.

Shri Shashank Mani, Hon’ble Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), Deoria said, “It is an honour to host the CANSAT Model Rocket Competition in the Tamkuhi Raj area of Deoria Lok Sabha in Kushinagar District. This competition will excite the imagination of the region and seed a culture of space awareness. It aligns with the mission of Amrit Prayas our 10 year developmental strategy for the Lok Sabha, which seeks to use space technology in this region.”

Speaking on the initiative, Dr. Vinod Kumar, Director, Promotion Directorate, IN-SPACe and Executive Secretary, ASI, said, “This competition reflects IN-SPACe’s commitment to fueling experiential learning and students' early engagement with space technology. By giving them real-world challenges to solve, we hope to build a strong foundation for India’s future scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs who will contribute to our growing space economy. The support from the Uttar Pradesh government and Kushinagar district administration has been crucial in bringing this finale to life”

The competition’s mission objectives include the design, development, and launch of a model rocket and CANSAT carrying a 1 kg payload to an altitude of 1 km, followed by safe payload ejection, recovery, and landing. Through these challenges, students gain exposure to the fundamentals of rocketry, payload design, and mission management, along with key soft skills such as teamwork, project coordination, and problem-solving.

The Model Rocketry/CANSAT India Student Competition 2024-25 marks another step in IN-SPACe’s ongoing efforts to promote space education, skill development, and innovation at the grassroots level, aligning with the Government of India’s vision of building a self-reliant, $44 billion space economy by 2033.

Google, NCERT Partner for Dedicated Youtube Channels for Students in 29 Languages

Technology giant Google has partnered with the India's National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to launch dedicated YouTube channels for students from grades 1 to 12.

These channels will offer educational content in 29 Indian languages, including Indian Sign Language. This initiative aims to make high-quality education more accessible and inclusive for students across India.

Additionally, Google is collaborating with the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) to offer certified courses on YouTube. These courses, backed by India's prestigious IITs, cover a wide range of subjects and allow learners to earn certifications through the NPTEL-SWAYAM portal.

Key Highlights:

• Content: The channels will offer curriculum-based educational content for students from grades 1 to 121. This includes subjects like sciences, literature, sports psychology, and even rocket propulsion.
• Languages: Content will be available in 29 Indian languages, including Indian Sign Language, ensuring that students from diverse linguistic backgrounds can benefit.
• Certifications: Google is also collaborating with the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) to offer certified courses. Learners who complete these courses can earn certifications through the NPTEL-SWAYAM portal.
• AI Integration: Google is leveraging AI to enhance the learning experience. AI tools will identify key concepts in videos and provide definitions, images, and additional context from Google’s Knowledge Graph.

This initiative aims to break barriers to learning and provide high-quality educational resources to millions of students across India.

BITS/ IIMA Alums' VC Firm gradCapital Launches $6 Mn Fund to Invest $40K into Students Who Want to Create Large Companies

• Backed by key investors: CIIE, IIM-Ahmedabad, Alagu Periyannan, Ankur Warikoo, & Kanwal Rekhi.
• Post gradCapital cohort, 30% of companies raised an average follow-on of $600K
• Apart from a $6M fund, they also launched atomic fellowship: to give no-strings-attached grant of $5,000 to students who want to work on a science project that has the potential to become a company

gradCapital, started by BITS/ IIMA alums launched its second fund with a total fund size of $6M to invest in student startups.

gradCapital believes in students by offering a standard check: $40,000 for 4%, and funded students get to be part of a 4-week cohort in Bangalore where they meet the people who have made a dent in the world previously. Tarun Mehta (Co-founder, Ather Energy), Shashank (Co-founder, Razorpay), Kailash Nadh (CTO, Zerodha) - are some people who have engaged with students in their cohort.

Most companies raise their next round post gC cohort, and follow-on investors include Lightspeed & Rainmatter Capital.

They fund people all year round, get around 3000 applications a year, and fund around 20 a year. Getting in is hard obviously, but it’s worth a shot.

In a statement about the fund launch, Abhishek, Co-founder & CEO said, “We are not in the business of finding and investing in deals, we are in the business of letting students be more ambitious and build a future, despite having a challenging education system. Being a student also has an unfair advantage: building with friends, not being scared of thinking big, and being scrappy/ fast with their project. How many experienced people can do that? It’s a systemic failure when ambitious students aren’t able to take off while in college, and they end up taking a job because of a loan, and become too rational. After which, they are more likely to start a D2C company instead of a quantum computer, and we need more of the latter.”

gradCapital loves funding teams who have started companies from projects, especially science & engineering projects. They launched a grant program - atomic fellowship - where they want to distribute $5,000 grants to students with technical projects that have the potential of becoming companies. It’s supported by Emergent Ventures, which is backed by Peter Thiel. It will be run by Kshitij (Co-founder at Pixxel) and gradCapital.

Previous batch of gC founders sharing their journey to the new batch

In 2021, gradCapital was started by 2 friends in the dorm too, at IIMA. Then, gradCapital conducted a cohort of 5 teams to help them get into YC, and Zepto was a part of it. gradCapital then raised a $1M fund to deploy into 18 companies, and the fund is running at ~2x its initial value within 18 months.

There are few stories that were part of gradCapital. 

They believe that students will change the world, if they are supported at the right time. A small event of an outsider believing in them with money and faith, can permanently change their trajectory. This can snow-ball into them creating large companies where they keep moving forward and finding bigger backers.

Naman Pushp, founder of Airbound (airbound.co), was 16 (and in school) when gradCapital funded him with $25K. He had a computer simulation of the drone he wanted to build, and an aspiration to quit college to build a large delivery company. Eventually he dropped out from college, and by the time he was 18, raised a $1.7M round led by Lightpseed.

Ritvik, co-founder of Ripen (ripen.in), was graduating from SRCC when he applied to gradCapital. He wanted to build social apps that help people navigate adulthood despite being from a commerce college, and had to go against the norms. Heet and Aviral joined the mission and they raised a $525K pre-seed led by Good Capital and Rainmatter.

Akshay, Anesh, Akshat, and Ankit were 3rd year students in an engineering college with an MVP to help people improve their speech using AI: Stimuler (stimuler.tech). By the time they were graduating from college, they got multiple YC Interviews and raised a large seed round from investors hailing from top Silicon Valley, Japan & India investors.

The world of VC has to change - it has to be truly risk optimised, and India has to come at the forefront of creating cutting edge products. gradCapital is advocating for capital to a place which has been underserved but has the potential to change the world.

Unleashing the Power of Innovation: Matrix Global Summit 2023 Ignites DeepTech, Make in India Entrepreneurship, and Student Entrepreneurs

Launched Matrix University awards and three industry-specific thought leadership series reports during the summit

TiE Bangalore, a trailblazer in India's entrepreneurial landscape, presented the 8th edition of The Matrix Global Summit 2023 in Bengaluru on 7th and 8th June 2023. This flagship annual event focused on driving innovation from India in the fields of DeepTech, and Make in India, empowering tech startups worldwide, with a special emphasis on student entrepreneurs pioneering groundbreaking solutions. Embracing the spirit of Samudra Manthan Amrut – riding the waves of disruption, the summit highlighted the transformative power of disruption as a catalyst for innovation and growth within the entrepreneurial spirit.

Matrix Global Summit 2023 encompassed a rich content comprising Conference in three tracks, 7 workshops running in parallel, Start-Up Showcase and 8th edition of Matrix Awards for Start-Ups Nite. Matrix Global Summit conducted the first Matrix University Awards, in collaboration with Karnataka Digital Economy Mission ( KDEM) and Visvesvaraya Technology University (VTU).

The Matrix University Awards aims to promote entrepreneurship and foster the participation of engineering college students across India. TiE Bangalore, partnered with TiE Mysuru, Hubli, and Mangaluru, to organize this university contest.

During the summit, Matrix Forum under its thought leadership series, unveiled three industry-specific reports ( you heard it first ) :

1. Industrial IOT Protocols – Open Source Knowledge Base
2. 5G Enterprise Private Networks – Use Cases & Applications
3. Vision for Smart Airports in in India

The two-day summit featured expert speakers and workshops that contributed to an enriching and transformative experience for all attendees by providing thought-provoking perspectives and valuable knowledge to inspire and guide participants on their entrepreneurial journeys.

This year's distinguished speakers include Padma Bhushan Dr Devi Shetty, Dr Suparna Bhattacharya - HPE Fellow at AI Research Lab, Hewlett Packard Labs; Prof David Schimel - IPCC - Nobel Prize and Founder, Entelligent; Prof S. Sadagopan - Founding Director, IIIT Bangalore; SP Shukla, Chairman - Defence, Aero & Agri Sectors, Mahindra Group and President - Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers Association; Eshan Nanda - Chief Architect for Social Innovations at Dell Technologies and Dr Ashok Dalwai - CEO, National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA) in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Govt. of India.

"This year we are delighted with the focused and varied content for Start-ups - industry specific reports, hands-on workshops and the showcase of 10 startups. The Matrix Global Summit has consistently been at the forefront of driving innovation and collaboration within the tech ecosystem," said Madan Padaki, President of TiE Bangalore. "By focusing on DeepTech startups and Make in India enterprises, we aim to highlight the transformative potential of these sectors and provide a springboard for their success.”

Attendees had the opportunity to connect with industry leaders, visionaries, and professionals from around the world, creating valuable connections and opening doors to global business opportunities with deep insights into emerging areas such as AI, IoT, quantum, and other disruptive technologies that are reshaping industries. The sessions were led by renowned experts, providing practical and actionable knowledge to help organizations navigate the evolving tech landscape.

At this year’s summit dedicated to DeepTech Innovations, Make in India Entrepreneurship, and Student Entrepreneurs, we had the privilege of witnessing cutting-edge IoT Matrix technology solutions across diverse domains, several of them for the very first time. The active participation from startups was remarkable, showcasing their innovative ideas and contribution “, expressed T R Anand, Chairperson, Matrix Forum, & Board Member, TiE Bangalore. “We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our generous sponsors, whose unwavering support made this event possible, empowering the growth and success of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in India."

A grand 8th Matrix Awards 2023 Nite recognized outstanding startups in various sectors including Edtech, Healthtech, Cleantech, QuantumTech, Aerospace & Defence, Agritech, AI/ML, Maritime Tech, and Sustainability. The winners, spotted for Innovation and Scaling UP, emerged from over a hundred applications for the coveted award. In addition, the first Matrix University Awards were also presented during the event.

The Matrix Global Summit 2023 is sponsored by TE Connectivity, Hewlett Packard Enterprises, AWS, Cisco for Startups, IIIT-Bangalore and Technosphere. For more information about the Matrix Global Summit 2023, please visit https://www.matrixglobalsummit.in/

About TiE Bangalore

The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Global is the largest non-profit organization and has an amazing networking effect. TiE connects the entire entrepreneurship ecosystem, including early-stage entrepreneurs, serial entrepreneurs, professionals at leading corporations, venture capitalists, angel investors, and thought leaders, among others. The organization emphasizes the spirit of giving in all aspects of its work.

The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Bangalore chapter was founded in 1999 as one of India’s first TiE chapters, with Nandan Nilekani as the founding president. Currently, Madan Padaki (founder & CEO, 1Bridge and co-founder of GAME) is the president of TiE Bangalore. TiE Bangalore boasts a strong network of over 200 charter members, 600+ associate members, and 200+ student members. TiE Bangalore has also engaged deeply with over 300+ start-ups through various cohorts such as TiE Women, EdTech, Healthcare, Matrix Awards, VentuRISE, Sanjeevini SRLM, and more, providing valuable support and guidance to these budding entrepreneurs.

https://hub.tie.org/c/tiebangalore

Vishwakarma Awards 2023 Will Felicitate Students Innovating in Water and Sanitation, Clean Technology, and Smart Mobility

Vishwakarma Awards for Engineering Innovation Returns

Maker Bhavan Foundation, a US-based charitable organisation aiming to modernise STEM education in India, has announced the return of the Vishwakarma Awards for Engineering Innovation in 2023. Founded by the Maker Bhavan Foundation, the Vishwakarma Awards is a nationwide thematic prototyping challenge that aims to incentivise talented student innovators and tinkerers to develop scalable technological solutions that tackle real-world problems and boost India’s economy.

The three tracks of this year’s challenge are water and sanitation, clean technology, and smart mobility. Developing deployable technologies in these emerging areas would lead to considerable benefits for India. According to the World Bank, although India has 18% of the world’s population, it has only 4% of the world’s water resources, which makes it among the most water-stressed countries worldwide. As regards clean technology, a sunrise sector for the Indian economy, efforts to achieve India’s target of producing 450 GW of renewable energy by 2030 could open up investment opportunities to the tune of USD 221 billion, according to Shri Bhagwanth Khuba, Union Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy, and reaching net zero emissions by 2070 could create USD 11 trillion in economic value in India, according to Deloitte. Likewise, in the smart mobility space, there is a wealth of opportunities to rethink India’s transport and mobility infrastructure to make it more sustainable and efficient. In March 2023, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia revealed that India’s drone market will reach Rs 3 lakh crore in value by 2030 and employ 3–4 lakh people. Thus, the Vishwakarma Awards presents an opportunity for solving real-world problems while increasing students’ employability skills and sparking new enterprises.

Commenting on the initiative, Ravi Mariwala, Advisor, Board of Members, Maker Bhavan Foundation, and Founder, Promoter, and CEO, of Smaart Water, said, “The second Vishwakarma Award for engineering marks a seminal milestone for innovations in engineering from the participants of tomorrow’s world. The world molded by population growth, urbanization, digitization and climate change has created its own sets of issues. Maker Bhavan Foundation recognizes these and believes that the thinking which created the issues can not solve the issues. We need fresh thinking. Vishwakarma Awards is an initiative to recognize the fresh thinking and innovation by the stakeholders of tomorrow’s world – the young generation of engineers to participate in this exciting journey through interdisciplinary and hands on experience. I look forward to seeing the rich depth and breadth of ideas and innovations to address the pressing problems of the world in practice.”

The Vishwakarma Awards was launched in 2022 by Maker Bhavan Foundation, a California-based public charity that works with science and engineering colleges in India to promote a culture of making and active learning in STEM education in India and, thereby, improve student learning outcomes. Maker Bhavan Foundation has partnered with Wheels India Niswarth (WIN) Foundation, Addverb Technologies, and the Indian Institute of Technology – Delhi (IIT-Delhi) for this year’s awards. IIT-Delhi will also be the host for the Vishwakarma Awards 2023.

Paresh Vora, Director of WIN India Programs, commented, “the second year of Vishwakarma Awards brings new opportunity for young student innovators to bring even more innovative ideas to solve India's water and allied challenges, and create new business and livelihood opportunities. This is in line with WIN Foundation's mission to promote innovations in Water and Sanitation and bring it to the grass roots for benefit of rural, tribal and urban slum communities. We are glad to partner with Maker Bhavan Foundation for these awards.”

Sangeet Kumar, Global CEO of Addverb Technologies, said, “We are pleased to partner with Maker Bhavan Foundation for the Vishwakarma Awards. There are exciting opportunities in the Smart Mobility space and India’s young minds can contribute meaningfully and significantly in developing futuristic solutions in this domain. Vishwakarma Awards is an excellent platform for these young minds to blossom.”

The grand jury and mentors are drawn from industry veterans, entrepreneurial leaders, angel investors, academics, and NGOs who represent the end users. Among this year’s grand jury is Meher Pudumjee, Chairperson of Thermax, who remarked, “It is an honour and privilege for me to be on the jury panel. Am very happy to see that this award is for STEM student innovators that develop scalable technological solutions tackling real world problems in the challenging areas of water & sanitation, clean technology and smart mobility. India and the world needs many such solutions for a sustainable future.”

Applications are now open for the Vishwakarma Awards 2023. Undergraduate and postgraduate students from science and engineering colleges across India will be invited to form interdisciplinary teams (of up to 4 members) and collaborate to develop an innovative, commercially viable product with a fully functioning prototype. Shortlisted teams gain financial support to build their prototype, mentorship from domain experts, and a platform to showcase their solutions.

The teams selected for having the “best product design” and “most innovative solution” in each of the three tracks will be awarded INR 1 lakh. Selected awardees who wish to further develop their prototype into a marketable product may get selected for the MBF Innovation Fellowship with maximum support up to an additional 2 lakh, released based on milestones defined mutually.

About Maker Bhavan Foundation

Maker Bhavan Foundation was formed in 2019 as a US 501(c) 3 public charity with a vision to modernise STEM higher education in India so that its students could inculcate a culture of making, active learning, real-world problem-solving, and life-long learning. The foundation works with higher education science and engineering institutions, their faculty, and their students to make STEM education more relevant and responsive to the real-life needs of people and society. It has partnered with institutes such as IIT (Bombay, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, Jammu, and Madras); BITS Pilani, Pilani and Goa Campuses; Institute of Chemical Technology Mumbai; Nirma University, Ahmedabad; Pravara Rural Engineering College, Loni; and Sai University, Chennai.

Solar Project by 15-Yr-Old Student Providing Clean Energy to Orphanages and Saving 1 Lakh/ Year

Darsh Tibrewala setuped solar panel seen at the solar plant

Hyderabad's 15 years old student's gesture--sets up a Solar Plant at Rs 7.75 lakh raised by him.

It provides clean energy to the Orphanage and also saves it much need resources, rupees one lakh a year

What do normal 15-year-olds do? They spend their time enjoying video games, sports, music, robotics, movies or activities that please them. And while some teens are content to be alone, many prefer to spend time with friends. But Darsh Tibrewala is different, while he is doing what all teenagers of his age would like doing, he is doing something extra, that not many of his aged teens would do.

Darsh Tibrewala an MYP (The IB's Middle Years Programme) grade 10 student at Oakridge International School, in Hyderabad started an initiative named ‘Project HOPES’ (Helping Orphans Procure Education and Sustainability), to support orphanages around Hyderabad. The aim of this student led NGO is to help underprivileged students become contributing members of society and global citizens.

Now he has raised funds through different Charitable Trusts. With that money, he donated a solar panel system to the orphanage, Vejbal Bal Nivas located at Shivarampally in Rajendranagar on the city outskirts. It provides children with a reliable and sustainable source of energy. The Solar Panel is inaugurated in the presence of his family members and some well wishers on Sunday evening.

Darsh Tibrewala explaning about the solar plant

Darsh Tibrewala seen lighting the lamp to inaugurate the solar plant

Inaugrating the solar plant By Darsh Tibrewala

It was physically graced by Mr Jyothi Prakash Tibrewala, Chairman of Tibrewala Electronics Ltd; Dr Vishnu Vardhan Reddy, Head Doctor at Walk-In Clinic and virtually graced by Mr Ramesh Poddar, Chairman of Siyaram Silk Mills. Mumbai via Zoom. Speaking virtually he said, the establishment of a solar plant by a 15 years old boy Dasrsh Tirewala is a truly commendable gesture and will positively impact the lives of the children.

The use of renewable energy is not only beneficial for the environment, but it also provides a sustainable source of power for the daily needs of this home. This project will not only reduce the cost of electricity but will also create a safer and more reliable power source for the children, he added.

It is a 10KWp Solar Rooftop Panel that produces green energy. It is a 540 Watt monocrystalline type panel. It is being set up for INR 7.75 lakh. The Solar Panels are procured from Tata Power and installed by KehanSri Solar

The initial power consumption before the solar panel was installed was 1800 units per month. And the power bill used to be rupees 15000/- per month. Now the number of units of power consumed has come down to 500 units and the bill is reduced to Rs 4500/- per month. There is a steep reduction of 66% in the bill amount.

The Panel which was installed last week was officially inaugurated on Sunday. It is already making a noticeable difference in the daily operations of the facility. The system provides power to the lights, appliances, and other essential equipment, reducing the orphanage's reliance on traditional power sources and freeing up resources that can be used to help the children in other ways. It is expected to save the orphanage one lakh rupees every year. The projected savings over 20 years is expected to be Rs 22 to 27 lakh and 3 lakh units of power consumption is saved.

The amount saved is an amount earned and rupees one lakh saved a year is not small. It goes a long way in serving the orphanage.

According to Darsh ‘, it is an investment not only in a monetary sense but an investment in our future, our lives, and our earth. The sun is a free, sustainable, clean resource we can leverage in place of conventional electricity to power our lives.

Over the last 4 years, he has been visiting many orphanages in Hyderabad and teaching them several different important life skills such as hygiene and health.

According to him, the idea for the project came about after he saw the orphanage, where he learned about how eager the students there are to learn, and how excited they are to learn something new. "I have always believed that we have a responsibility to give back to our communities and to help as many people as we can. When I learned about the challenges facing the orphanage, I knew that I had to help them."

The project has been well received by the children, staff, and volunteers at the orphanage, who are grateful for Darsh's generosity. "We are so grateful for Darsh's donation of the solar panel system and his work here. The children have already benefited greatly from the increased access to power, and we know that this will make a positive impact on their lives for years to come, said Mrs. Jeny Gupta, Honorary Secretary of Hyderabad Children's Aid Society.

Darsh's donation is a shining example of the positive impact that one person can make in the world. By donating the solar panel system, he has helped to improve the lives of the children in the orphanage and has shown that it is possible to make a real difference in the world.

The initiative which stands out will also help in teaching Darsh's peers, and orphanage students to know the importance of community service, which helps children define their values, experience empathy, develop social skills, and learn about their community.

10 Indian Students Attend Honeywell Leadership Challenge Academy at U.S. Space and Rocket Center

Once-in-a-lifetime weeklong experience encourages students in their pursuit of STEM careers

Honeywell (NASDAQ: HON) announced that 10 Indian students among 172 students from 25 countries attended a once-in-a-lifetime learning experience at the 11th Honeywell Leadership Challenge Academy (HLCA). The unique leadership program took place for two consecutive weeks at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. This year, Honeywell chose eight students from Bangalore and two students from Pune.

The HLCA is a scholarship program for children of Honeywell employees worldwide that offers a weeklong immersive, science-oriented leadership experience. It is designed to encourage high school students ages 16-18 years old to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) through real-world, hands-on activities in computer science, engineering, astronautics and coding.

 

“For more than 10 years, Honeywell has brought together students from around the world to travel to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center to experience Space Camp, helping to build their technical, collaborative and communications skills,” said Jayme Meyer, Honeywell vice president, Internal Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility. “Today, the 30 fastest-growing occupations globally are in STEM, and Honeywell is proud to partner with the USSRC to empower the next generation of future-shaping innovators and leaders.”

Students are selected for the program through a rigorous application and review process based on academic achievement and community involvement. Honeywell and its employees help fund the scholarships, which cover the cost of tuition, meals, accommodations and program materials.

 

Yatharth Nehra, a participant from Pune said, “It was a great learning and networking experience. I believe there are only very few organizations that provide the advantage and the diverse knowledge as HLCA provides. Honeywell understands that the future is now, and the future is us. I would like to thank Honeywell for providing me with this opportunity.”

“Honeywell Leadership Challenge Academy at US Space and Rocket Center was once in a lifetime experience for me. It was a rare combination of technical knowledge, hands-on experience, meeting legends and having loads of fun,” said Bidipta Chatterjee, a participant from Bengaluru.

Bengaluru student Nisha Jain reminisced, “It was a wonderful opportunity to build my leadership qualities, challenge myself across different fields and also meet and learn from my peers from different cultures. We learned how to work as a team with mission control & incident control challenge, build a rocket, code a raspberry pi, train on MATs, use a flight simulator, experience 1/6 gravity, and climbed a 40-foot wall! Proud to have been selected for HLCA!”

Since its launch in 2010, Honeywell, in partnership with the USSRC, has sponsored nearly 3,000 students to attend space camps. Participants develop STEM leadership skills through numerous team-building challenges such as building, coding and testing rockets; simulated astronaut training; shuttle missions; and a low-gravity moonwalk. Students also use computational thinking and computer science to deepen their digital skills.

“Space camp was one of the most exhilarating and educative experiences for me with the exposure to space programs, leadership, critical thinking and teamwork.” shared Srinidhi Prabhakaran, a Bengaluru participant.

About U.S. Space & Rocket Center

The U.S. Space & Rocket Center, a Smithsonian Affiliate, is home to Space Camp®, Space Camp® Robotics, Aviation Challenge® and U.S. Cyber Camp as well as the Apollo 16 capsule, the National Historic Landmark Saturn V rocket and world-class traveling exhibits. USSRC is the Official Visitor Center for NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and a showcase for national defense technologies developed at the U.S. Army’s Redstone Arsenal.

About Honeywell

Honeywell (www.honeywell.com) delivers industry specific solutions that include aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings and industry; and performance materials globally. Our technologies help aircraft, buildings, manufacturing plants, supply chains, and workers become more connected to make our world smarter, safer, and more sustainable. All of Honeywell’s global businesses have a strong legacy in India, built over the last eight decades. Honeywell’s India commitment is evident in three state-of-the-art manufacturing and engineering operations, and four global centers of excellence for technology development and innovation. Honeywell employs ~13,000 people across different locations including Bengaluru, Chennai, Dehradun, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Madurai, and Pune. For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywell.com/newsroom.

India Sends Three Student Teams to the Asia Pacific Junior Achievement International Trade Challenge Competition

Over 450 students participated in the Indian FedEx / Junior Achievement (JA) International Trade Challenge Competition

FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) and the world's largest express transportation company, together with tGELF/JA, announced the three winning teams at the second FedEx/JA International Trade Challenge India National Competition. The annual competition recognizes student-run businesses that best exhibit the principles of global connectivity, with selected teams moving on to compete at the APAC (Asia Pacific) level.

Over a period of five months, the phased competition featured a series of virtual workshops attracting more than 450 students from 33 schools across India. The workshops included interactive learning sessions, inspirational talks, and mentoring from FedEx, tGELF/JA India, and industry experts on key concepts of building market entry strategies and global trade.

The three student teams identified to represent India in the Asia Pacific FedEx/JA International Trade Challenge Competition later this year are —

1. Shiv Nadar School, Gurgaon, 
2. The Shri Ram School Aravali, Gurgaon,
3. Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Sr Secondary School, Chennai. 

To foster cross-cultural collaboration at the APAC competition, the Indian students will be re-grouped into new teams comprising of participants from more than 10 Asia Pacific member nations. This change in team structure gives students a dynamic platform to share experiences with participants from other locations, gain global perspectives, and encourages collaborative thinking.

Mohamad Sayegh, Vice President, India Operations for FedEx Express said, “Entrepreneurship has been a part of our DNA since FedEx was founded in 1973, and I’m inspired to see these talented young people build business models to address challenging real-world problems. India is home to a thriving entrepreneurship ecosystem that drives transformation with new ideas and solutions. Through the International Trade Challenge, FedEx aims to nurture the entrepreneurial spirit and skills of enterprising students, whose ideas have the potential to prepare India and the world for what’s next. We wish them the very best as they move to the next round of the competition.”

Maziar Sabet, President and CEO of JA Asia Pacific said, “A very important element of the ITC competition is the evolution of traditional classroom learning to real-life, hands-on experience, and I have no doubt that this experience will prove invaluable and serve our students from India now and in the future. JA’s mission to prepare young people for the 21st century workplace has never been more relevant and our belief in our future leaders in India has never been stronger.”\

1000 School Students to Visit GUSEC for Entrepreneurship and Innovation under the Vikram Sarabhai National Children Innovation Centre

Vikram Sarabhai Children Innovation Centre organising an Immersion Visit for School Children

City School Students visit GUSEC for an immersion visit on innovation and entrepreneurship

Over 1,000 students to visit GUSEC over the next several weeks as part of a special drive to introduce school-students to entrepreneurship and innovation under the Vikram Sarabhai National Children Innovation Centre

GUSEC, the startup incubator and innovation support organisation of Gujarat University, today hosted students from Shanti Asiatic School. The visit was organised as part of an immersion visit under the Vikram Sarabhai National Children Innovation Centre (VSCIC) recently operationalised in GU Campus.

This visit was one of many such visits planned by GUSEC over the next several weeks, with a plan to host over 1,000 school students to visit the University campus and allow school students to get an in-person experience on the facets of startups, innovation and entrepreneurship.

“GU is the leading institution in conducting innovation and entrepreneurship-related activities in Gujarat. Our Vikram Sarabhai National Children Innovation Centre is a first-of-its-kind centre in India to promote innovation for school-going children. The value of an in-person visit is immense as it allows students to understand the opportunities and possibilities inside a public facility such as the University campus. The visit will also create aspirations for students to solve a problem of the society,” said Prof Himanshu Pandya, Vice-Chancellor, Gujarat University.

During the visit, the students interacted with startups of GUSEC as well as young innovators already working under the guidance of the VSCIC. The students were introduced to the fundamentals of innovation, entrepreneurship, startups, design thinking and problem solving through interactive videos and presentations. The students were made aware of the benefits available to students through VSCIC and the visit was concluded by the students visiting the GUSEC startup co-working premises as well as tinkering with the Fablab facility of GUSEC which includes 3D printers, rapid prototypers, etc.

“Over the next few months, we plan to engage with over 50 public and private schools in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar for conducting these immersion visits. Once this first phase of visits is complete, we envision bringing students from farther and remoter districts of Gujarat to ensure benefits of the VSCIC are availed by maximum possible students,” said Rahul Bhagchandani, Group CEO, GUSEC.

The Vikram Sarabhai National Children Innovation Centre has been established at Gujarat University by GUSEC and UNICEF in order to create a platform for innovation and entrepreneurship for school-going students. Through VSCIC, students are able to get support for ideation, design thinking, problem development, patent filing and prototype creation. VSCIC also has a broad mandate to train and conduct capacity-building activities for students, teachers and parents.

Edu-Fintech Startup Financepeer Launches "UVA", an Innovative Numberless Dual-interface Card for Students, First Time in India

With an aim to achieve cash-free campuses, Financepeer, one of India’s leading edu-fintech startups has unveiled its latest offering – the UVA Card, powered by Visa. Financepeer UVA Card Program will be their numberless prepaid photo ID card for students, parents, and institutes to make day-to-day transactions easy and hassle-free.

UVA Card, technologically backed by Visa, is an innovative approach to digitizing the financial system in educational institutes across India. The program intends to create cash-free campuses by enabling the institutes, parents, and students to pay and receive fees, withdraw cash, do e-commerce transactions and be able to make payments effortlessly at any retail outlets that use point of sale (POS) terminals. UVA Cards are pre-paid contactless cards that can drive financial independence among young adults. This card helps in getting extended credits, makes hassle-free payments, and teaches the youth to save and spend money wisely, besides offering various rewards and discounts.

Mr. Rohit Gajbhiye, CEO and Founder, of Financepeer, said, “We are working towards bringing a revolution in Edu-fintech space through technology and at the same time creating impact at the bottom of the pyramid, via increasing access to quality education. Our recent funding and collaboration with industry stalwarts have given renewed strength and a new purpose to our mission. In view of this, we are launching a numberless dual interface product which is a photo ID card to make cashless transactions easy for students, parents and institutes with just a tap. To make electronic payments safer and hassle-free for our students, these Visa cards have been designed with EMV chips”.

Mr. Sujai Raina, Head of Business Development, Visa India said "As a network working for everyone, Visa is committed to expanding financial access and inclusion across diverse demographics. We are delighted to collaborate with Financepeer as they launch the UVA Card, an innovative, prepaid card solution that not just works as a photo ID and payment instrument but aids financial discipline. The UVA card has been designed specifically keeping in mind the unique spending needs of students and their guardians, and is a decisive step towards building a cashless economy among young consumers."

Financepeer is gearing to expand its reach to remote areas and has witnessed 10x growth in the last year. The company has partnered with more than 10,000 educational institutions with a Pan-India footprint, to deliver affordable fee financing products, Edu-tech content, and fee payment solutions. Founded in 2017 by seasoned alumni from IIT/IIM/Stanford, Mr. Rohit Gajbhiye, Mr. Sunit Gajbhiye, Mr. Naveesh Reddy, and Mr. Debi Prasad Baral, Financepeer is one of the first players in this space catering to both offline and online education providers including pre-schools, K-12, colleges, universities, offline test prep, ed-tech, and skilling.

The launch of the UVA card underscores its strong foundation as a tech-led education financing company, giving learners the freedom to chase their dreams consistent with its focus on innovation and enabling a Rising New India through easy access to education. With a vision to enable inclusion through education globally, Financepeer is committed to facilitating access to education and fostering the growth of educational institutes and learners worldwide.

"Financepeer raised USD 31 MN in Series B funding round in April this year. We are working on enhancing our technology platform and offerings, expanding and strengthening our education-institution partnerships, and deepening the reach in rural areas to enable more students, especially the girl students, to get easy access to quality education", added Mr. Gajbhiye while addressing the media here at Famous Studio.

Education financing is one of the fastest-growing segments as it is a deeply underserved sector that enables the aspirations of learners across India. Due to the inherently high social collateral, the lending book for this segment has been among the best-performing ones, despite macro shocks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

About Financepeer: www.financepeer.com

On the journey to becoming India’s fastest growing Edu-Fintech Company, Financepeer is a Forbes acclaimed and Google incubated high impact education fee financing company. Established in 2017, the Company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, has its presence in more than 100 cities in India and has collaborated with 10,000 + education institutes across boards. Mr. Rohit Gajbhiye is the CEO and Founder of Financepeer. Honored by Forbes 30, he is an alumnus of IIT Bombay and Stanford Ignite.

About Visa:

Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions, and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable, and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses, and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. Learn more at Visa.com.

Genleap Launches GenDiscover to Help Students Make Choices Using the Power of Genetics (Your DNA), Psychometrics and Cognitive Astromancy

GENLEAP, an EdTech startup focussed on end-to-end career lifestyle management, today launched ‘GenDiscover’, a first-of-its-kind DNA-led self-discovery product. Through this flagship product, GENLEAP aims to help students, parents and professionals looking to make career-related decisions make informed choices using the combined power of three proven sciences - Genetics (your DNA), Psychometrics, and Cognitive Astromancy.

Based on the proven concept of ‘Nurturing the Nature’, it is a first-of-its-kind revolutionary product in the world – designed to impact a billion lives in India.

GenDiscover can be ordered via the online B2C platform.

Sachin Sandhir. Founder and Co-CEO - GENLEAP

GenDiscover is poised to shake up the career management and skilling ecosystem in the country. It is the first and only product that caters to the entire journey, right from self-discovery to skilling and employability, while addressing student needs such as course selection, test preparation, scholarships and prospective employee connections.

GenDiscover provides complete assessment through what it calls a combination of ‘nature’ and ‘nurture’. It combines genomic testing to determine the genetic predisposition and inherent traits of an individual, with psychometrics to capture the impact of environment on personality. It also takes into account empirical evidence of cognitive astromancy to decode natal strengths. A data-driven approach transforms insights from all of these three pillars to provide a holistic assessment to students and professionals, guide them to a career path and help them upskill and re-skill in areas aligned to their personality and strengths. GenDiscover comes with an insights/video counseling session conducted by certified coaches who are able to demystify the results and give personalized guidance.

Sachin Sandhir, Founder and CEO, GENLEAP, while sharing his vision for the product said, “With GenDiscover, our goal is to channelize individuals towards careers and jobs more aligned to their inherent and current personality and other traits. This will help increase productivity in the workplace and lead to more fulfilled professional lives. Students and professionals often end up with the wrong career choices which add up to the issue of employability. GENLEAP aims to change a billion lives and help create a work-ready India with students and professionals that are skilled not just relevant to the demand of reinvented workplaces and ecosystems but also in alignment to their aptitude and innate talents.”

Nimish Gupta, Founder, and Co-CEO of GENLEAP further explained, “At GENLEAP, we leverage advanced technologies to power our assessments, juxtaposed with the individual’s current interests and professional disposition. Our users could be at any stage of their lives – from early school goers to mid and senior professionals. Our unique model is backed by proven sciences and credible partners and we are looking at a future where this could be integrated into career management and skilling platforms across schools, institutions, and organizations so that it is accessible to all.”

GENLEAP will soon be announcing acquisitions of several EdTech platforms across the skills and employability lifecycle. These include a career counselling study abroad platform, a scholarships platform, a test-prep platform, a school admissions platform, and even a Neo Bank which helps students with financial skills and money management. 

GENLEAP is also building a digital community for students. The company aims to impact the lives of 10 million customers over the next 10 years. GENLEAP will be eying the global space next and is looking at revenues of 20,000 crores in 10 years and a valuation in excess of 300,000 crores in addition to making a large social impact.

A Stimulating Event on Artificial Intelligence and Its Scope to Enlighten Student's Mind

The second session of PEAK (Program for Engineers’ Advanced Knowledge), an Industry-Academia Series for students in the field of Engineering and Technology, focussing on Artificial Intelligence and its scope to Enlighten Student's Mind, was organised by Southern India Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chennai on Saturday, 14th May 2022.

The participation of thousands of students from Top colleges across the country like Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering, Chennai. Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore. Symbiosis Institute of Technology, Pune. Francis Xavier Engineering College Tirunelveli. Rajalakshmi Engineering College, Chennai. National Engineering College Kovilpatti. Kalasalingam University, Krishnan Koil, CPAT TVS, Chennai made this virtual event a grand success.

 
The participants actively asked many thought-provoking questions about AI and data science to the two eminent panel speakers, Mr. Ramana Prasad, Chairman, AI World School, Governing Council member- Centre for Innovation (CFI) IIT Madras, International Catrobat Foundation, Gra University of Technology, Austria and Mr. Gopi Koteeswaran, Chair, SICCI EIS Committee & Founder, Dzruptiv AI.

There were discussions on How to become an AI Expert, Career opportunities in AI, Limitations of AI, choice of organizations to work for, and how students can upskill themselves. The session was nicely moderated by Mr. George Koshi, Chair, SICCI Employability Taskforce & Director - Learning and Development, Sify Technologies Limited.

 

Mr. Ramana Prasad, interacted with students about the need of continuous learning, upskilling, developing creative and innovative skills, and learning computer science skills. He also mentioned that his organization is working on providing AI training to students in schools students should have a zeal for learning, and focus on the fundamentals.

To a question on which sector will be most impacted by AI, Mr. Ramana Prasad mentioned that AI has already made its way into various industries like Automotive, Healthcare, Agriculture, Banking to name a few and it is upto student’s imagination to come with an AI Solution for other industries.

Mr. Gopi explained how students should connect the theoretical concepts with real life. He also asked students to be super curious, focus on sharpening their mind, and participate in various global events and contests.

Mr. Ramana Prasad thanked The Southern India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) for conducting such an interactive virtual event. He also mentioned that such sessions need to be conducted frequently to provide valuable insights to students from engineering and technology fields.

Veranda Learning Solutions: Honoring 1000 Students from Across India for Clearing Various Competitive Exams Through the Institute

 

P. Kamaraj – Indian Bank, Clerk (a physically challenged student of Veranda Race) being felicitated by Mr. Kalpathi S. Suresh, Executive Director Cum Chairman and Mr. Bharath Seeman, Founder, Veranda RACE

One of India’s leading competitive examination prep companies, Veranda RACE, a subsidiary of Veranda Learning Solutions brought together today over 1,000 students who successfully cleared competitive Banking, State and Central Government examinations to felicitate their hard work and steadfast efforts over the past one year. Veranda RACE offers in-depth, online and offline coaching, one on one mentoring all year round for students keen to take up examinations for government and banking jobs.

Mr. Kalpathi. S. Suresh, Executive Director cum Chairman, Veranda Learning Solutions, Mr. Bharath Seeman, Founder, Veranda RACE, and Mr. Pravin Menon, Chief Marketing Officer, Veranda Learning Solutions gave away the mementoes to the student achievers during the 10th year success meet of Veranda RACE.

Currently, Veranda RACE has more than 40,000 students aged between 18 years to 30 years studying in 29 branches across Tamil Nadu and Kerala.  Thousands of students enrol every year with Veranda RACE to clear examinations for jobs in various Government public sector.

On this student feat, Mr. Bharath Seeman, Founder, Veranda RACE said, "We are very proud to congratulate more than 1,000 students who have cleared various competitive banking, state and central examinations and are now on their way to successful careers. This year’s students join our 40,000 strong Veranda RACE family. Our expert trainers and staff across states have worked very hard to continue the learning journey despite the pandemic, to ensure our students succeed in their efforts as this represents the start of their burgeoning career paths."

Veranda Race offers exam-oriented courses for students who propose to appear for competitive exams, such as Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission examinations (“TNPSC”), Staff Selection Commission (“SSC”) examination, Railway Recruitment Board (“RRB”) examination, Banking examinations and Insurance examinations. Veranda RACE has been providing its students with high quality curriculum combining technology, process, and methodology for over 10 years.

About Veranda Learning Solutions

Founded in 2018, by the Kalpathi AGS Group - Veranda Learning Solutions is a public listed edtech company that offers a bouquet of training programs for competitive exam preparation, including State Public Service Commission, Banking, Insurance, Railways, IAS and CA, as well as a slew of professional skilling and upskilling programmes in trending technologies. Veranda Learning Solutions aims at offering a robust learning platform riding on a network of strong mentors, educationists, and tech-experts.

Veranda Learning Solutions’ platform combines technology, processes, and methodologies to provide high-quality, in-depth, personalised learning opportunities and content to learners across the country. Dedicated to creating an impact on students and delivering successful academic outcomes, Veranda adopts a multi-modal delivery system backed by a rigorous and disciplined learning framework. The company provides services through four subsidiaries: Veranda Race, Veranda CA, Veranda IAS, and Edureka – the customer facing brand of Brain4ce Education Solutions. 

EdTech Startup Orphicy Launches Orphicy Marks Guarantee (OMG) for Their Class X Students

• Orphicy Marks Guarantee (OMG) offers an assured score to students in their board exams.
• The guaranteed score is calculated on the basis of class 9 results and a pre-admission test.
• The program offers a full refund if the guaranteed score is not achieved
• OMG has a dedicated module on making up for the loss of learning due to the pandemic pain

Ahmedabad-based EdTech start-up Orphicy specialising in live coaching of K-10 students has launched OMG- Orphicy Marks Guarantee. Rather than talking about abstract improvements, Orphicy promises to ensure a guaranteed score for the Class X board exams based on the student’s Class 9 marks and an assessment conducted by Team Orphicy online at the time of admission.

Upon entering the above two scores as inputs the OMG program generates an improved score which is then offered to the students and parents as a guaranteed score. Any student can find his guaranteed score on Orphicy’s website (www.orphicy.com). If a student prepares with Orphicy and is unable to achieve the guaranteed score in his Class X Boards, the company will refund the entire fees.

The Team of Orphicy

"Our past year experience has been nothing short of amazing. It was overwhelming to see students up their game by improving their scores drastically with our pedagogy. We have done it in the past and I believe my team has it in them to consistently do the same in the future so even at the cost of sounding overconfident we decided to roll on the Orphicy Marks Guarantee. We invite all students and parents to come and experience the Orphicy Learning Approach” said Vipul Tyagi, Co-founder & CEO.

Tyagi adds, “Education has never been easy and presently it's tougher than ever. The past two years have been tumultuous, and it would have a far-reaching impact on a child’s academics. Mass promotions or makeshift examinations have in a way resulted in faulty assessments. The problem would get even more pronounced for students who are going to appear for their Class 10 Board Exams in the coming Year.”

OMG does not offer vague suggestions for getting better results in their Class X exams rather it takes accountability for an enhancement in their performance.

A special digital campaign has also been designed and launched to inform students about the OMG programme. Ujjwal Nagar, Co-founder, Chief Marketing Officer shares, “We have created a campaign to educate, entertain and engage with students and parents. The idea is to talk about in OMG on a lighter note with our audience. I don’t want to reveal much, I would rather, you see it first-hand”

About Orphicy

Orphicy (Orphic Learning Private Limited) is an Ahmedabad-based Education Startup led by seasoned academicians with over a decade of experience. After having helped thousands of students in their undergraduate and post-graduate competitive and entrance exams journey, the team wanted to add more value by being able to connect with young students in their formative years. The result of this quest was Orphicy.

The startup offers education modules empowered using visualisation methods, live interactions, analytics, and psychometric analysis to achieve the desired results. They also provide dedicated career guidance to each student.