At a time when India’s school education system was already struggling to address a massive learning divide, the COVID19 pandemic only aggravated the crisis.
But it also pushed the country to build muscle around the use of technology for continuous learning – both in and out of the classroom. Education technology has the potential to not only overcome traditional constraints in the classroom but also bridge the learning divide among children from low-income backgrounds.
Our Thesis
Provide Catalytic Funding
Give grants to support solutions & platforms that are pioneering high quality edtech innovations
Mobilise ACT's Network
Strengthen, scale and accelerate our grantees by leveraging the ACT network to meet key portfolio needs
Generate Insights
Work with grantees and researchers to share insights on how edtech can address India’s learning crisis
Our Portfolio
“I am super excited about startup energy, tech & product capabilities focusing on challenging social problems. I am hoping that this problem centric, non-siloed approach of working with for profits & nonprofits, can enable a way of problem solving & collaboration that create meaningful & sustainable impact.”
Mekin Maheshwari
Founder, Udhyam Learning Foundation
ACT-EdTech Ambition Fund will fund innovation with core goals of reducing learning poverty and preparing learners for life
The COVID-19 pandemic has deepened the learning divide and aggravated the learning crisis in India, where learning levels in school education have been low and stagnant for over a decade. But, at the same time, it has also helped build muscle around the use of technology for continuous learning, both in and out of the classroom. This is a ‘Sputnik moment’ for India’s EdTech ecosystem, which has hitherto left the low income segments untapped. Education Technology has the potential to leapfrog the learning crisis, by overcoming key traditional constraints in the classroom and at home.
The ACT Education Fund aims to achieve the following goals through catalytic investments in EdTech products and platforms that can improve access to and uptake of quality learning for the bottom three economic quartiles of India’s population –
I. Reducing Learning Poverty
Building foundational skills in literacy and numeracy in primary school is critical to unlock the benefit of every additional year of schooling – children need to learn to read before they can learn to read. The fund will aim to reduce learning poverty to 15% (down from 55% presently) in India over the next ten years
II. Preparing Learners for Life
Relevance of curriculum in secondary school and undergraduate colleges in India is low for the majority of learners and is disconnected from the realities of opportunities that exist. The fund will aim to ensure that 60% of India’s children are ready for the real world by building social-emotional and work readiness skills.
Major Categories of Investment
Accelerating For-Profit products to scale in India 3
Driving Non-profit EdTech products to scale in India 3
Helping Diksha reach more impact