Latest news with #Mentra
Khaleej Times
07-07-2025
- Business
- Khaleej Times
From Dh1,100 to Dh3,600: UAE student makes Ivy League admissions affordable
To address the high cost of international university admissions support, a student born and raised in Abu Dhabi has co-founded a consultancy to make top-tier university access more affordable for students. Mentra is positioning itself as a game-changer in helping students from the UAE, India, and the UK with admissions. The platform emerged from a realisation that while there is growing interest among students in the UAE to pursue education abroad — particularly in Ivy League and Russell Group institutions — the existing consultancy services are often expensive and out of reach for many middle-class families. The company, officially registered in the UK, was launched by Advait Arya, currently studying at the University of Warwick, alongside fellow university student Adityawardhan Gaikwad. Inspired by personal experience In an interview with Khaleej Times, Advait Arya said, "My journey applying to universities revealed how expensive and exclusionary college counselling can be. I was fortunate to receive the Crimson Education Fellowship, which provided me with $4,000 worth (over Dh14,500) of counselling. That experience opened my eyes to how inaccessible these services are to working-class families." This insight prompted him to build a solution that not only supports applicants but also creates flexible earning opportunities for current students at top universities. "I also noticed how students in top universities struggle to find flexible ways to earn money that fit academic workloads. Mentra allows mentors to set their own availability and earn income while helping others — a win-win." While traditional admissions consultants, especially in regions like the UAE and the US, often charge between $20,000 and $100,000 (approximately Dh73,400 - Dh367,000) for comprehensive support, Mentra offers complete application packages starting from just $800 to $1,000 (approximately Dh3,000 - Dh3,600). For those seeking more targeted help, services can cost as little as $300 (Dh1,101). "So, it's often 5 to 10 per cent of the cost, with the added benefit of being mentored by people who got into these schools recently," he added. Peer-led mentorship Advait believes this peer-led mentorship model is both effective and empowering. "They've recently gone through the same application processes, so their insights are fresher and more relevant than those of traditional consultants. They can offer insider knowledge about campus life, culture, and academic expectations — the kind of real-world info you can't Google." "If the student ends up attending the same university, they've already got a senior friend or contact on campus. It builds a community, not just a transaction," added the 20-year-old. Mentra is currently focusing on markets where the founding team has strong ties — India, the UAE, and the UK — with plans to scale cautiously to maintain quality. Funding from Warwick's Lord Rootes Memorial Fund and private contributors have helped the team invest in AI-based tools, mentor recruitment, and outreach to under-resourced schools. Services customised to need The platform offers a wide range of services, including UK personal statement writing, US Common App essays, SAT/ACT preparation, scholarship applications, extracurricular strategy, and more. Students can also opt for individual services tailored to their specific needs. "So far, we have supported over 100 students through mentors from institutions like the Ivy League, Oxbridge, LSE, Imperial, UCL, Warwick, and top Singaporean universities," Advait added. He admitted that building and running the platform alongside academic and internship commitments has not been easy. "It's definitely challenging; there have been many sleepless nights. Balancing internships, academic coursework, extracurricular activities, and Mentra requires discipline and a clear purpose. But because we genuinely enjoy the work and believe deeply in the mission, we manage to push through." Looking ahead, Mentra plans to expand its presence across UAE high schools and eventually enter the US high school space through its growing mentor network. "Launching AI-based counselling tools to enhance mentor guidance, partnering with high schools across India to offer free support to top students from underserved communities, expanding thoughtfully within the UAE, UK, and India… and in the near future, we plan to expand into US high schools via our mentor network there," he said. But Mentra's vision extends beyond just school applicants. "We're not just focused on school students; we're also building opportunities for university students to earn flexibly, build soft skills, and make an impact while studying. Our long-term vision is to create a full ecosystem where top mentors can support the next generation — affordably, accessibly, and authentically."
Forbes
01-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Mentra Raises $8 Million To Launch Open-Source OS For Smart Glasses
San Francisco-based startup Mentra has raised $8 million to launch MentraOS 2.0, an open-source operating system designed specifically for smart glasses. The round includes some of Silicon Valley's most iconic names: Rich Miner (co-founder of Android), Jawed Karim (co-founder of YouTube), Eric Migicovsky (Pebble), Paul Graham, Y Combinator, and the venture arms of Toyota and Amazon. Mentra Live AI glasses willb be available in September. The company's goal is as ambitious as it is timely: to become the default software layer for a new generation of lightweight XR glasses. Founder and CEO Cayden Pierce calls it 'the Android for smart glasses,' built for continuous wear, real-time AI, and cloud-native applications. The platform already supports multiple hardware options and powers live captioning, translation, notifications, and an AI assistant. 'The hardware is finally ready, the AI is here—but there's still no OS,' Pierce said. 'We're not building hype demos. We're building the infrastructure for the next personal computer.' Mentra's approach flips the script on much of the XR industry. While companies like Meta and Google are building vertically integrated platforms with tightly controlled app stores and bulky headsets, Mentra is targeting openness, modularity, and utility. Its open SDK lets developers create apps that work across devices. The Mentra App Store allows multiple apps to run simultaneously, accessing real-time sensor and user context—something Pierce says is essential to glasses that are meant to be worn all day. The app that runs Menta's system-within-a-system. The idea began seven years ago when Pierce, then a university student, read a study showing that students with live captions retained more information than those without. 'That clicked for me,' he said. 'Subtitles are intelligence-extending. I wanted that all the time. So I built a captions app for glasses, and realized there was no framework for it. That moment started everything.' MentraOS now runs on hardware from Even Realities and Vuzix, as well as the company's own devices. This fall, Mentra will launch Mentra Live, the company's modular camera-and-audio smart glasses kit aimed at enterprise and developer users, now available for pre-order at $249. It begins shipping this fall. Menta Live includes a front-facing camera, microphone, speaker, and full support for the MentraOS SDK. The company's caption-enabled display glasses are expected in early 2026, with pricing expected to fall between $339 and $599 depending on features. MentraOS is also compatible with third-party hardware like the Even Realities G1 and Vuzix Z100, giving developers multiple entry points into the ecosystem. Co-founder and Head of Software Alex Israelov (l) Founder and CEO Cayden Pierce (c) Nicolo ... More Micheletti, Founding Engineer and Head of Apps (r) While hardware is part of the story, the business case revolves around the software platform. Mentra's App Store will generate revenue through developer subscriptions and app sales, following a model similar to Apple's or Google's—albeit with a more flexible, developer-friendly cut. 'We're not trying to own the whole stack,' Pierce said. 'We want hardware makers to adopt MentraOS so their users can access real apps, built by real developers.' Pierce spent time at the University of Toronto with Steve Mann, one of the inventors of wearable computing, and later joined the MIT Media Lab under Pattie Maes. He met co-founder Alexander Israelov while building open-source smart glasses out of an RV in Canada. Menta has a growing community of over 4,000 developers and a growing number of partners in enterprise and education. 'Dozens of apps have already been built on MentraOS,' said Menta's founding engineer Nicolo Micheletti."From live translation and proactive AI to calendar reminders and language learning. And this is just the beginning. With Mentra Live, our camera-equipped smart glasses, we expect an entirely new wave of visual AI apps like real-world games, AI-powered tour guides, fitness assistants, and cooking coaches."
