2015 Alum a finalist in the Duke Startup Challenge

Aditya Sharma, a 2015 Duke MEMP graduate, is among ten finalists competing for the grand prize of $50,000 in the 2015 Duke Startup Challenge finale. The event is at 7pm on Wednesday, September 30 in Fuqua’s Geneen Auditorium. His startup, iEdulyf, is a digital learning resource that aims to enable equal opportunity education to all students in India. View the investor pitch video or read the summary below.

Introduction

Edulyf is a digital learning resource that aims to enable equal opportunity education to all students in India. It provides educational resources tailored to entrance examinations for higher education and/or jobs in the Government sector.

Entrance exams in India are the most crucial step toward a student's career. These exams are not coach-proof. Success in these exams ensures a place in a reputed college or university or a well-paid job and a rewarding career. A rising throng of private sector, expensive coaching institutes has tipped the scale in favor of students from affluent households, who are already advantaged with their private school education and privileged upbringing. The issue that Edulyf combats is the unfairness of the education system as a whole, and attempts to equalize the field for students from poor economic backgrounds.

Edulyf was founded in June 2013 by two co-founders. Now, it is a team of 20 employees. Edulyf employs two different approaches to exploit these available channels for maximum impact.

1. Online Approach:

This approach is directed to maximize the use of our website and associated platforms (mobile and tablet applications). Students who can afford computer and internet connection can benefit from this approach.

2. Offline Approach:

Edulyf team wanted to reach needy students outside the internet. Hence, the offline approach was employed, which involved directly reaching out to local schools and conducting educational sessions by showcasing digital material and video lectures in offline mode, thus sidestepping the need for internet. Currently Edulyf classes runs in 17 schools of India. We have recently collaborated with 940 schools in state of Rajasthan.