After receiving the businessline Young Changemaker Award 2023 in November last year, Shrinidhi RS, CEO of Cherrilearn (an edtech start-up), received a surprise call in his office at Puttur in Karnataka from a bl reader who wanted to associate with him in his journey.
This bl reader, who wanted to remain anonymous, is now sponsoring the Cherrilearn app for 1,000 students from government schools.
“That is the power of the bl Young Changemaker Award,” said Shrinidhi in an interaction with businessline on his journey post the Changemaker award.
His edtech start-up provides interactive learning solutions to Standard 1-5 students in tier 3-4 centres at a price as low as ₹1 a day on Cherrilearn app. Affordability, regional language content, and rural reach are the USP of Cherrilearn app. At ₹1 a day, the e-learning app is available in English and regional languages designed by certified academic experts to improve the learning skills of students from 1st to 5th standard in a fun-filled way.
Shrinidhi RS, CEO, Cherrilearn
Mentioning that he is getting good support for his initiative, he said even SMEs have come forward to support students in government schools.
Now he is in the process of expanding vertically in terms of adding more classes and the medium of instruction.
The app, which was available in Kannada and English medium till a year ago, is now available in Hindi also. “We have launched a beta version of the NCERT syllabus in Hindi and some students from north India are using it now,” he said.
Shrinidhi, who wants to take the benefits of this app to the classes beyond 1-5, said: “We are uploading the content for sixth standard in the beta version. It has been made available to a couple of government schools in Dakshina Kannada district.” From the next academic year, even the sixth and seventh standard students should be able to get the benefit of the Cherrilearn app.
Stating that these expansions would continue by adding more classes and mediums of instruction, he said students who are facing the 10th board exam will be given an opportunity to get ready for their board exams by paying ₹1 a day in the coming years.
After receiving the bl young Changemaker Award, Shrinidhi’s Cherrilearn was selected as one among the top 100 start-ups in one of the prestigious start-up contests of the Karnataka government.
He said that around 900 start-ups across Karnataka had participated in the Elevate Karnataka, a flagship programme of the IT-BT Department of the Karnataka government. Every year, 100 start-ups are selected by the government. This programme helps the start-up to get grant funding by the Karnataka government.
Shrinidhi said that the selection of Cherrilearn in ‘Elevate Karnataka 2023’ empowers it to significantly broaden its reach and make a positive impact on a larger scale. This aligns perfectly with Cherrilearn’s mission of empowering students in underserved communities, he said.
More accolades
Cherrilearn has also been shortlisted among the top 50 in the Tata Social Entrepreneurship challenge.
In the current edition, around 16,000 had participated, and Cherrilearn is one among the 50 shortlisted among them. He said Cherrilearn will participate in the four-day programme being organised in IIM Calcutta in September as part of this challenge.
The Changemaker Awards 2024 is being held in New Delhi on September 13. The Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is the chief guest.
The Hindu businessline Changemaker Awards are presented by SASTRA University as the Presenting Partner and powered by SBI (State Bank of India). The event is also supported by Associate Partners: LIC (Life Insurance Corporation of India), J&K Bank, NTPC (National Thermal Power Corporation), Union Bank of India, NMDC (National Mineral Development Corporation), ESSAR, Punjab & Sind Bank, Swelect Energy, and Indian Bank. Casagrand is the Realty Partner, while Fortinet is the Cyber Security Partner. The event is further amplified by NDTV 24×7 as the TV Partner. The Award’s Knowledge Partners are Deloitte and Ashoka, along with Niiti Consulting as the Validation Partner.
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Published on September 6, 2024
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/cherrilearn-app-scales-up-adds-hindi-among-top-100-start-ups-in-karnataka/article68614151.ece
