HAILING FROM a small village 40 kms from Ambala, Tarun Saini is on a mission to give a leg-up to education in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat through his online edtech platform Vidyakul. Saini, who comes from a family of agriculturists, was helped by his teachers to sign up for scholarships. Later, his father mortgaged his land to send him to Australia, where one of his elder sisters was married, for studies. After returning, he registered his company in 2017, started work in 2018 and opened the platform for first 6,000 students in 2021. In 2023, it had 63,000 paying students.
Vidyakul teaches high school students (IX to XII) all subjects for ₹300 a month in their dialect. It follows curriculum recommended by respective state boards. The platform opens doors especially for girls who drop out of school because they cannot go to Tier-II/III towns for education. While Vidyakul’s YouTube channel works as a funnel to drive in students by offering free content, the live tutoring platform gives students the opportunity to interact with teachers. Saini runs Vidyakul like a mission with 70 people in Gurgaon and 60 teachers and academic support staff running the studios. Investors include JITO Angel Network, Indorama, Nadathur family, Dholakia Ventures.
Vidyakul ended FY23 with a turnover of ₹15 crore. Along with co-founder Akhil Angera, a former intern who focuses on academic side as well as enrolments, and Raman Garg, who handles IT, Saini says they have barely dipped into the opportunity. — Gina Krishnan