Edtech firm Arivihan raises $4.17 million from Prosus, Accel
Empower your mind, elevate your skills
Arivihan, an edtech firm that offers automated, personalised coaching for school students, has raised $4.17 million in a funding round led by Dutch investment firm Prosus and Silicon Valley-based venture capital (VC) firm Accel The round also saw participation from GSF Investors.The funds will be used for expansion into three new states, growing its AI research and language support capabilities, and strengthening its on-ground marketing and distribution efforts.'When we went to tier II cities, we found that 65% of the students were from Hindi-medium backgrounds. There weren't many platforms catering to them, as most didn't offer content or doubt-solving support in Hindi, especially at an affordable price,' cofounder and chief executive Ritesh Singh Chandel told ET.Founded in 2021 by Chandel, Sonu Kumar, and Rushabh Kothari, the Indore, Madhya Pradesh-based company provides a fully automated artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tutoring platform that offers personalised learning through interactive video lessons, instant doubt resolution, and AI-generated study plans in regional languages.'If you use any LLM directly, they are very general. They don't provide answers tailored to our students' syllabus, their level of understanding, or their language. That's why we use our open-source model, which we have fine-tuned with millions of data points derived from our syllabus to suit our students,' he said. The platform answers queries in both Hindi and Hinglish.Arivihan primarily caters to Class 12 students from tier II and tier III cities and rural areas, offering support for those preparing for State Board exams, CBSE, and NEET.'We started with the class 12 State Board exam in Madhya Pradesh and received a great response. Then we launched for NEET and saw a similarly positive response,' Chandel said, adding that the company has now begun expanding to Rajasthan and plans to further expand to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Chhattisgarh.The company plans to expand its academic team, bring on board experienced NEET faculty, and strengthen its workforce across product, marketing, and engineering roles. This comes amid a broader push by edtech startups to invest in AI, which is driving personalised learning, adaptive assessments, and automated content creation.'In FY25, we sold around 15,000 subscriptions, which generated a revenue of around Rs 3.25 crore…We are resolving a monthly query of around seven lakh with the help of AI with 97% accuracy,' Chandel added.This year, the startup is targeting between 80,000 and one lakh subscribers.The company had earlier raised $750,000 in a previous round from Accel 's seed-stage programme, Atoms.Commenting on the investment, Dhruv Gupta, investor at Prosus, said, 'At Prosus, we've been actively exploring breakthrough applications of AI across sectors, and education remains one of the most compelling frontiers.''Edtech in India has long struggled with cookie-cutter solutions and often unsustainable business models. The advent of GenAI changes both dramatically, which has been visible in Arivihan's traction and student outcomes so far,' said Anagh Prasad, investor at Accel.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
8 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Pharma Inc gear up for Day 1 launch of obesity drug in March 2026
As the global demand for next-generation diabetes and weight-loss therapies surge, Indian pharmaceutical companies are stepping up preparations to roll out generic versions of semaglutide—a blockbuster GLP-1 receptor agonist—once patent expires around March 2026. The generic launches will be significant, as the prices for the Indian consumer are expected to come down significantly from the current ₹17,000-26000 (monthly), thereby expanding the patient coverage. Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (DRL), Cipla, Sun Pharma, and Mankind Pharma, and others are ramping up peptide manufacturing, forming device partnerships, and aligning regulatory strategies to capture a share of the global GLP-1 market, estimated to cross $150 billion by decade's end. Hyderabad-based DRL is planning Day 1 launches in India and Brazil, part of a 2026 global rollout across 87 countries. 'The semaglutide launch is very important to us,' said CEO Erez Israeli. The company aims to price its product below Novo Nordisk's current ₹17,000 monthly offering. DRL is also working on 26 GLP-1 therapies, backed by a ₹2,700 crore FY26 capex plan to scale peptide and biosimilar production. Cipla is targeting first-wave launches through a mix of in-house and partner filings. 'We see GLP-1 as one of the biggest therapy opportunities in the last five years,' said Umang Vohra, MD and global CEO at the post earnings call. The company is building parts of its GLP-1 supply chain internally while leveraging partnerships to ensure scalability. Cipla is also crafting an affordable strategy for India's price-sensitive market, betting that post-patent price erosion will be offset by volume growth. Mankind Pharma aims to launch both oral and injectable semaglutide generics and is advancing MKP10241, a novel oral obesity drug in Phase 2 trials in Australia. Sun Pharma, meanwhile, is progressing its investigational GLP-1 molecule Utreglutide, targeted for launch in four to five years. It has secured Phase III approval for semaglutide trials in India, even as it reports negligible impact of GLP-1 drugs on its existing diabetes portfolio. The race for a piece of India's ₹628 crore anti-obesity market, however, comes at a time when the Indian courts and drug regulator body are looking to monitor the unregulated use of weight loss drugs. According to sources, the Central Drug Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO) has initiated work to form a panel after the Delhi High Court in July 2025 asked it to consult experts and relevant stakeholders to look into concerns arising out of approval for drug combinations being sold in the market for weight loss. The directive came in response to a public interest litigation filed by fitness entrepreneur Jitendra Chouksey, who had raised concerns about the marketing approval of drugs such as semaglutide, tirzepatide and liraglutide for weight management, despite limited safety data and the absence of India-specific clinical trials. While disposing of the petition, the court asked the drug regulator to respond to the petitioner within three months. At present, India has two officially available semaglutide brands: Rybelsus (oral) and Wegovy (injectable), both from Danish major Novo Nordisk. Rybelsus is approved for treating Type 2 diabetes, while Wegovy was launched in June 2025 for weight management. US-based Eli Lilly's tirzepatide drug, Mounjaro, is also available in India for obesity management. Analysts say the semaglutide opportunity is also fuelling India's peptide manufacturing ecosystem. 'Formulation is no longer enough—companies need full-stack execution,' said Nirali Shah, Pharma Analyst at Ashika Group, pointing to DRL, Cipla, and Sun Pharma's early moves to secure pen delivery partnerships. Contract development and manufacturing organisations (CDMOs) like Anthem Biosciences and Syngene are positioning themselves to capture a larger share of the growing peptide segment. Device manufacturers, too, are scaling up to meet rising demand for injection pens. India's peptide CDMO market, currently valued at $80 million, is growing at a CAGR of 14 per cent and could become a global supplier base for GLP-1 drugs, said Nilaya Varma, CEO of Primus Partners.
Economic Times
8 minutes ago
- Economic Times
'India not needed...': Finfluencer Akshat Shrivastava shares why the next 10 years will be tough for Indian stock markets
Synopsis Akshat Shrivastava warns that Indian stock markets may face challenges due to India's limited role in the global AI race. He argues that India lacks the advantages of cost-effectiveness or a premium consumer base, hindering its participation in the AI-driven economic transformation. This innovation gap, according to Shrivastava, will negatively impact India's relative economic standing and stock market performance. Agencies Indian markets Finance educator and content creator Akshat Shrivastava has said that Indian stock markets could face a challenging next decade, arguing that India does not have a meaningful role in the global artificial intelligence (AI) race. Shrivastava linked India's future economic and market performance to its relative position in global technological began by stating that economies are shaped by innovation cycles. From Dutch shipbuilding and the UK's Industrial Revolution to US-led factory automation, he said each major economic shift has been led by disruptive technology. 'Wealth does not appear out of thin air. It is systematically build on the back of technological innovation,' he to him, AI is now becoming that next core innovation shaping the global economy—comparable to the internet boom of the late 1990s. AI is driving transformations in energy, manufacturing, learning, and computing, he said, adding that with tools like large language models (LLMs), 'anyone can technically reap the benefits of coding, without being a coder.'Explaining the global innovation structure, Shrivastava referenced the 'hub and spoke' model, where a few countries act as innovation hubs while others operate as peripheral beneficiaries. In the past, India benefited from this structure by becoming a spoke in the US-led IT outsourcing boom. — Akshat_World (@Akshat_World) However, Shrivastava suggested India is missing out in the current wave. 'China and US: are in a AI race. China has already built massive energy reserves (US is catching up). US has already built massive tech reserves (and one could argue China is catching up). This is the new arms race,' he wrote. Shrivastava raised a direct question: 'Why is India needed in this AI race?' He dismissed three possible advantages—data harvesting, cost-effective infrastructure, and a large consumer market—as either already exhausted or ineffective in India's case.'Can we lower the cost for AI infrastructure? (we have very high cost of energy and poor leakages in infra; so we can't). We can't build giga-factories. This is the reason why our manufacturing sucks,' he wrote. On the demand side, he pointed out that 'getting users to pay 20$/month is a challenge for LLMs right now.'According to Shrivastava, India lacks both a cost advantage like China and a premium-paying consumer base like the US. 'So where does India fit in the AI race?' he asked, answering that the country may see isolated economic success stories but will fall behind in global comparison.'Now of course: as the world becomes more productive. India will benefit too. That's obvious. Standard of living will improve. But, 'compared' to other countries, it will fall,' he said. He blamed 'decades of regressive economic policies, unnecessary pride and inability to look at things rationally' for the current concluded that this innovation gap will reflect in the markets. 'All this will reflect into the stock market. There is a reason why since 2020: FIIs have been consistently existing our markets,' he said, referring to foreign institutional investors reducing their positions in India. (Disclaimer: This article is based on a user-generated post on X for informational purposes. has not independently verified the claims made in the post and does not vouch for their accuracy. The views expressed are those of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views of Reader discretion is advised.)
Time of India
24 minutes ago
- Time of India
'India not needed...': Finfluencer Akshat Shrivastava shares why the next 10 years will be tough for Indian stock markets
India's missed opportunity in the 'hub and spoke' model Live Events No major role for India in AI value chain, says Shrivastava 'We are nowhere close to becoming a hub of innovation' Implications for stock markets (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Finance educator and content creator Akshat Shrivastava has said that Indian stock markets could face a challenging next decade, arguing that India does not have a meaningful role in the global artificial intelligence (AI) race. Shrivastava linked India's future economic and market performance to its relative position in global technological began by stating that economies are shaped by innovation cycles. From Dutch shipbuilding and the UK's Industrial Revolution to US-led factory automation, he said each major economic shift has been led by disruptive technology. 'Wealth does not appear out of thin air. It is systematically build on the back of technological innovation,' he to him, AI is now becoming that next core innovation shaping the global economy—comparable to the internet boom of the late 1990s. AI is driving transformations in energy, manufacturing, learning, and computing, he said, adding that with tools like large language models (LLMs), 'anyone can technically reap the benefits of coding, without being a coder.'Explaining the global innovation structure, Shrivastava referenced the 'hub and spoke' model, where a few countries act as innovation hubs while others operate as peripheral beneficiaries. In the past, India benefited from this structure by becoming a spoke in the US-led IT outsourcing Shrivastava suggested India is missing out in the current wave. 'China and US: are in a AI race . China has already built massive energy reserves (US is catching up). US has already built massive tech reserves (and one could argue China is catching up). This is the new arms race,' he raised a direct question: 'Why is India needed in this AI race?' He dismissed three possible advantages—data harvesting, cost-effective infrastructure, and a large consumer market—as either already exhausted or ineffective in India's case.'Can we lower the cost for AI infrastructure? (we have very high cost of energy and poor leakages in infra; so we can't). We can't build giga-factories. This is the reason why our manufacturing sucks,' he wrote. On the demand side, he pointed out that 'getting users to pay 20$/month is a challenge for LLMs right now.'According to Shrivastava, India lacks both a cost advantage like China and a premium-paying consumer base like the US. 'So where does India fit in the AI race?' he asked, answering that the country may see isolated economic success stories but will fall behind in global comparison.'Now of course: as the world becomes more productive. India will benefit too. That's obvious. Standard of living will improve. But, 'compared' to other countries, it will fall,' he said. He blamed 'decades of regressive economic policies, unnecessary pride and inability to look at things rationally' for the current concluded that this innovation gap will reflect in the markets. 'All this will reflect into the stock market. There is a reason why since 2020: FIIs have been consistently existing our markets,' he said, referring to foreign institutional investors reducing their positions in India.(Disclaimer: This article is based on a user-generated post on X for informational purposes. has not independently verified the claims made in the post and does not vouch for their accuracy. The views expressed are those of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views of Reader discretion is advised.)
