Left to Right: Vishal Sunil. Co-Founder and CTO, Rocket Learning, Ms. Nina Badgaiyan, Senior Specialist at ADB, Mr. Wilson White, Vice-President, Government Affairs And Public Policy. Google, Smt. Savitri Thakur, Minister.
Credit: Google
Google-backed Rocket Learning has unveiled Appu, an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered tutor for underprivileged children.
Google for India, which was startedin 2015 has been offering mentorship programmes, networking platforms to meet venture capitalists, advanced tools and even offer monetary grants to help budding startups to scale up their bussiness.
Among the many startups, Rocket Learning too received not just mentorship, but also generous $1.5 million grant by Google.Org in 2023.
Besides the funding, Rocket Learning also got technical support from a team of Google.org Fellows to fine tune the Appu app.
“Appu is the future of learning—AI-driven, intuitive, and designed to evolve. We see adaptability as our greatest strength and personalization as the catalyst for unlocking every child’s potential. With 85% of brain development happening by age six, early childhood education is the next frontier in human capital. Appu is designed to elevate India’s IQ, maximise its demographic dividend, and bridge the AI divide,” said Vishal Sunil, Co-Founder and CTO, Rocket Learning.
The Appu app makes use of advanced Large Language Models (LLMs) for complex reasoning tasks, speed, and efficiency.
The Appu app offers conversational and personalized learning experience for children aged 3–6 in India. It is freely accessible on all screens and focuses on essential school readiness skills, including pre-literacy, numeracy, and social-emotional skills such as greetings and introductions. Initially, it will be available in Hindi and will soon expanded to 20 other languages, including Marathi and Punjabi.
“At Google.org, we’re committed to making AI’s benefits and capabilities more accessible in areas where they can drive systemic impact. Early education is one such key area. We value Rocket Learning’s dedication to this space and are proud to support its AI-powered tutor, developed over six months through close collaboration between Rocket Learning and our team of Google.org Fellows. We look forward to seeing how this innovation helps shape the future of learning, as they scale their work to 20 additional languages,” said Annie Lewin, Senior Director at Google.org.
Rocket Learning has set a target to reach 50 million families by 2030. It will also be collaborating with government agencies to offer access to Appu app at Anganwadi centers and pre-schools nationwide.
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