ekatra

ekatra is a Unified Learning Platform that can help instructors to teach students with little dependence on smartphones or internet.

There is a huge digital divide in urban and rural schools. In a recent survey, over 75 pc of students are impacted due to the lockdown as they found it hard to study online, over 80 pc students said they need hand-holding to shift from offline to online and over 25 pc said they need proper training to pursue education online.

ekatra is a tool for educators and organizations to deliver learning at scale, combining the power of Text (SMS & Whatsapp), Audio & Video communication. Our learning platform helps organizations focused on career readiness for underserved high schoolers to teach them important job and life skills.

Ekatra's long-term vision is to provide quality education to billions of people around the world.

COVID-19 has reaffirmed the need to bridge the gaps in Internet access. The digital divide exists across borders, fields, and generations, impacting virtually every aspect of life. Within the digital realm, the pandemic has increased the digital divide — the uneven distribution in the access to and use of digital technologies whether based on age, geographical or geopolitical factors, social factors, or economic factors. During the pandemic, the impact of the digital divide is evident on both macro levels, such as school systems struggling to ensure all students have equitable digital access and opportunities for virtual schooling and on the micro levels where grandchildren are teaching their grandparents how to use Zoom and Facetime to stay in touch during quarantine.

School closures widen learning inequalities and hurt vulnerable children and youth disproportionately. In lower-middle-income economies, only 18% of households on average have a computer and 41% have internet access at home. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) estimates that learning losses from school closures in developing Asia have added up to $1.25 trillion as of April 2021, of the region’s 2020 GDP. The same ADB study found that school closures will result in a 2.4 percent annual decrease in each student’s future earnings, placing the entire region’s economic recovery and development potential at risk.

Ekatra is a low data / no data learning platform. As per a report by Stanford’s Center for Education Policy Analysis, text message learning is remarkably accessible and effective, Ekatra helps institutions create, deploy, and assess text message-based micro courses that dramatically improve learning and training. As per these studies alongside our own pilots, we learned that because we employ a spaced learning model, user retention of information is dramatically higher. Additionally, we apply microlearning which is more effective and efficient than standard digital learning models. Unfortunately, most learning organizations, nonprofits have overlooked text message learning. 

Our learning platform helps such organizations focused on career readiness for underserved high schoolers to teach them important job and life skills. Ekatra is one of the few edtech companies to have access to WhatsApp's API & OpenAI’s GPT3, allowing us to deploy courses to over 1 billion WhatsApp users. Our inputs have changed over time.

Ekatra's long term vision is to provide education to billions of people without access to adequate education, or even the internet, around the world. Within 3 years, we hope to have taught a million students. This vision is bold because, on a global average, education is the best investment a middle-class family will typically make. As Ekatra works to provide an adequate education to the entire world, we stimulate lower income communities by empowering them with education. The innovation of the method of delivery means that we can deploy courses for incredibly low costs, allowing for such radical transformation. There should really be no barriers to learning, and we hope our platform is able to make that ideal a reality. 

Abhijeet Khandagale, 

Executive Director

As per a report by Stanford’s Center for Education Policy Analysis, text message learning is remarkably accessible and effective, Ekatra helps institutions create, deploy, and assess text message-based micro-courses that dramatically improve learning and training. As per these studies alongside our own pilots, we learned that because we employ a spaced learning model, user retention of information is dramatically higher. Additionally, we apply microlearning which is more effective and efficient than standard digital learning models.

We have seen tremendous growth in engagements upon moving from traditional LMS platforms, We saw an increase of 15x students joined when the mode was switched from Zoom to Phone. 30% more responders upon switching from Whatsapp to SMS and 20x more students reached out with queries on Phone and SMS. Using AI, we are planning to curate and filter out the right content for the user. This ensures the right delivery of content within the right time frame. The Project is planned to be Open Sourced. 

We have leveraged the traditional Marketing channels (SMS, WhatsApp, IVRS) to convert them into educational channels. 

We've piloted Ekatra with over 2800 students with extraordinarily positive results thus far. For context, Ekatra’s origin to the alpha stage has been from April 2020 to September 2020, with an operation pilot. From November 2020 till currently we've developed the beta product. There were 3 months of delay in development due to covid situation in India. 

We have enabled the learning solution in our own community, and have 33 NGOs ready for the pilot testing of this product. We have shortlisted a few for the beta test and will improve the product based on the learnings.

You can test the demo here: bit.ly/ekatrachat

Ekatra’s technical foundation comprises MERN Stack. (MongoDB, Express.js, React.js and Node.js). We use the following core existing technologies in tandem to provide the low data / no data solution to learning. 

The WhatsApp Business API client offers many of the features provided by the WhatsApp applications we already know from Android, iOS, and Web. The difference is that this application can be deployed on a server, providing a local API that allows us to programmatically send and receive messages and integrate a workflow.

Using SMS REST API, we can send and receive SMS messages, track the delivery of sent messages, and retrieve and modify message history. We are able to deliver SMS to your end-users, no matter where they are, with global senders and redundant telecommunications infrastructure. We’ve solved the challenges of scale with configurable software to power phone number management, sender selection, compliance, content, and replies. 

Voice API helps us to make, receive, and monitor calls around the world. Using a REST API, we can make outgoing calls, modify calls in progress, and query metadata about calls created. More advanced call features like programmatic call control, creating conference calls and call queues,  call recordings, and conversational IVRs are possible. 

OpenAI GPT-3 API provides a general-purpose “text in, text out” interface, which makes it possible to apply it to virtually any language task. This is different from most other language APIs, which are designed for a single task, such as sentiment classification or named entity recognition.

Inputs 

• AI / ML Engine 

• Learning Content for Subjects to be taught 

• AI Engine for processing 

• Funding for expenses incurred. 

• Teams across tech, operations, admin, sales & marketing, etc. 

• Trainers for teachers and mentors for students to solve queries. 

• Educators to design learning content. 

• SMS & Voice Services for content delivery. 

• Government Support to Scale

Activities 

• Teacher Training Content Design 

• Technology Platform Development 

• Marketing to schools, NGOs, and corporates. 

• Content Design from Educators. 

• Teacher training for using digital tools and upgrading skills.  

• Outreach programs for corporate engagement. 

• AI/ML engine training.

Outputs 

• Quality content in a simpler manner.

• Teachers are able to use digital platforms.  

• Fully functional tech platform. 

• Highly efficient AI which can converse in Natural Language  

Outcomes 

• Short Term - Teachers can deliver QUALITY content to students who don't have smartphones or internet connectivity in a much simpler way. 

• Students who are missing school due to school closures don't lose out on essential learning, they no longer are limited by geographical challenges.

• Within 5 years, we hope to have taught a million students. 

• Ekatra's long-term vision is to provide quality education to billions of people around the world.  

Impact 

With equal access to knowledge, technological tools, and opportunities, young boys and girls will possess skills to be employed in the future, thus reducing the poverty gap.    

NA

NA

NA

Measuring impact 

• No of students & teachers in rural & semi-urban areas 
• Content Created & Consumed 
• Increase in Access to Learning (Boys & Girls) 
• No  of female students 

Addressing impact 

• Partner with NGOs and Rural schools.  
• Pre & Post Assessment.  
• Partner with INGOs in conflict zones. 
• Use teachers as advocates on-ground

Communicating impact 

• Quarterly reviews and updates 
• Video Interviews with Students and Teachers 
• Monthly progress update with teachers

Ekatra is a new start-up and has a very ambitious goal. The biggest challenge is to get the right people and resources on board who can help us achieve our goal. Ekatra's long term vision is to provide education to billions of people without access to adequate education, or even the internet, around the world.

We are currently serving 2600 students, we are targeting to reach 10,000 learners in a year, 100,000 in 3 years and 1 million learners in 5 years.

Distribution

Adoption

Technology talent has been a huge hurdle to retain as there is a massive crunch of talent in recent months. We need good talent to build and improve the product. 

The organizations we work with are always low on funds and the technology at scale might become a challenge for them to sustain. We are looking to partner with CSRs who can fund these expenses for schools and non-profits. 

For distribution, Ekatra is partnering with innovative organizations, schools, and nonprofits to have a wide reach. Millions of learners can be reached with a few partners, and the mechanisms that allow for signup make distributing content easy. 

For the widespread adoption of text message learning we partner with top academic institutions and innovative learning organizations, spend a fair amount of time at conferences, on podcasts, and writing articles around why text message learning is so effective. 

We’ve been working with 40+ institutes in Maharashtra for running Entrepreneurship Development Programs. When the pandemic hit, our work came crashing down as we primarily focused on offline on-ground intervention. 

That’s when we digitized our approach and developed a few technology solutions. However they were still not enough. The solution we built was initially to solve our own problem, but we soon realized that it's a much larger issue not just in the country but across the globe. That’s where we started building our award winning technology solution, ekatra is solving for accessible and equitable education, especially addressing the Digital Divide that has surfaced since the pandemic has started. ekatra is a Unified Learning Platform that helps educators to teach learners in a low data or no data environment, combining the power of Text (SMS & Whatsapp), Audio & Video communication.

Full Time - 3 people (Tech)

Part Time - 6 people (Business, Tech & Operations)

Incoming - 4 people (Interns in Tech & Operations)

Advisors - 4 people

Currently the product is under development, the marketing and sales team will be added in the next few months.

As a team, we have a collective experience of over 30+ years, and the advisors collectively bring about 60+ yrs of experience in relevant domains. The core team has startup experience, building large-scale products, and development sector experience relevant to working with governments and nonprofits. 

Abhijeet - leads business development and overall management, 2x startup, overall 10yrs Consulting experience, ex-Tata Trusts 

Viresh - leads Product, and focuses on building the technology, along with R&D to implement better models, ZS Associates

Suraj - leads Finance & Compliance, ex-EY & Tata Trusts

Prasenjit - leads Operations, executing programs with partners/customers, ex-Tata Trusts, Jarvis Consulting

Sonam - leads Program Management & Operations

Shantanu - Supporting Viresh in Product and managing a team of 2 developers

We are passionate individuals, building tools for the new India. We are makers, builders & innovators. We work at the intersection of high-end technology, social impact and sustainability. Our work ethic is being committed to our roots while creating value for our partners and investors.

Sharing how I started my 2nd startup, MentorBuddy. One fine day I was driving and had a few thoughts running in my mind.  A lot of friends I know personally moved to the US, Europe, Australia, etc for higher studies and job prospects. But even after hiring the best people for their requirements, a lot of them were not sure about how things actually worked in the foreign country. Several questions were unanswered even when they were about to board their flights. So with this thought, it sparked me, why not connect them to alumni or current students in these foreign universities? That was the inception of - MentorBuddy.

I knew this was a service which could affect a lot of people and bring about a positive change in the way people interact in this ecosystem. The way aspirants talk to current students or alumni is fairly complex and too slow; with MentorBuddy I wanted to change this 3–4 week time to a 3–4 min deal. That was the tipping point. The moment people saw value in the service and it was solving a real problem, I took the plunge and began working around it.

1. Top 25 Solutions Globally in the UN-SDSN Youth Solutions Report 2020

2. Google for Startups SDG Advisors 2021 Cohort 

3. UpLink Innovator for WorldClass Education Challenge by Delloite and WEF

4. One of the few teams globally to get access to OpenAI's GPT3 Tool. 

5. Secured an INR 3.5L ($4800) grant under the DST-NIDHI EIR Program.

6. Signed MoU with GHRCE's Dept of AI & ML for research purposes. 

7. Supported by Twilio under their Impact Access Program.

8. Working with two institutions to drive learning programs in the university. 

Ekatra’s vision is to develop a platform for a new generation of learners who can choose different pathways to achieve their dreams. We are a social impact startup that has a grand vision to provide quality education to a billion people globally. 

Octava’s partnership with the MIT Solve initiative enables us to become a part of the hub for people who follow such grand visions and are making them a reality. Becoming a 'Solver' is a badge of honor and helps us get in the company of like-minded individuals. 

The offerings provided to Solvers are very relevant for us and detailed in the next answer. 

Both Octava’s & Solve's network access can help us design a better pedagogy for text-based learning, which can be enabled through mentoring and a co-developed technology solution with MIT. 

We are looking to establish a strong foothold in South Asia as a market and Octava can enable that for us.  

The grant funding will help us build a better product and open doors to other impact investors. 

We need mentorship in building better AI technology. We are at a very early stage in that currently. 

Building an Impact Strategy will help us tell our story better and achieve the desired results.