K-12 crusader bridges knowledge gap

Time of India

2 days ago

If a schoolgirl from Cumbum can speak to a Harvard data science professor for career guidance,why can't the next innovator come from Dhanushkodi, not by accident but by intention and design, asks the acclaimed classical pianist and entrepreneur Anil Srinivasan, founder of Kruu, an edtech startup.
The Kalaimamani awardee is known for his collaborations with renowned artists such as Sikkil Gurucharan, Aruna Sairam, Umayalpuram K Sivaraman, SPB and Chinmayi, and international musicians.
And it came as no surprise, when more than a decade ago, he set aside the humdrum of rote learning, leaned on his background in performing arts and cognitive neuroscience to opt for a pedagogical approach involving learning through music.
In 2013, he founded Rhapsody, a platform for imparting STEM education through music and visual arts using scientific methods. For instance, he has tried teaching children physics through songs, while playing the game 'pandi', a variant of hopscotch, popular in rural Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka.
A decade later, he started Kruu, a platform that encourages school students to take up educational projects with structured study material, curated worksheets and mentorship.
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"The goal is to bridge the gap in access to knowledge. This model allows students to discover their inherent talent and work toward a career path. Professors from global universities help mentor the kids. Through these guided interventions, the students can assess their aptitude for specific disciplines, whether it's architecture, engineering, robotics, or VR-assisted medical education," he said.
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Srinivasan's experience with school children, B-school classrooms and education abroad, helped him understand the issues at the grassroot levels, and at the same time made it easy to connect with researchers, including professors from reputed institutions.
Setting up the escalation matrix, with masterclasses from local college interns (tuition akkas/annas), pre-preparatory tutorials, ensuring the right incentives for stakeholders including parents and teachers are critical in turning the platform into a successful business.
Kruu's primary customer base is made up of schools, and Srinivasan believes existing AI-based learning platforms cannot replicate the curated learning model.
"With parents leaning towards experiential learning for children, and policy alignment with NEP, the platform has seen a high adoption rate. It is easily scalable and has lower customer acquisition cost since it is a B2B model," he says. He did not stop with KG and middle schoolers as professors and universities are also keen to partner with him on outreach programmes.
Anil has other verticals to help college students with final year projects with credits, as well as teaching venture building and product development.
Few corporations even used the platform to conduct hackathons to find the perfect candidates.
Kruu has so far raised $1.25 million funding from friends and family with notable investors such Girish Mathrubootham and Mithun Sacheti. He says the startup is profitable and scaling fast. It targets a revenue of `17 cr ($1.9 mn) this fiscal and $60 million in five years. The startup is currently operational in 11 countries including Sri Lanka, Maldives, Africa and is expanding into the UAE, Philippines, Latin America.