Founded this year by T4 Education with the support of Owl Ventures, the Global EdTech Prize recognises trailblazing tools grappling with the most crucial challenges in education

Gurukul from Avanti Fellows in India made the Final 3 for the inaugural Global EdTech Prize in the Non-Profits category. The announcement was made at the World Schools Summit at Yasmina British Academy, Abu Dhabi, UAE, on November 16. Founded this year by T4 Education, with the support of Owl Ventures, the Global EdTech Prize recognises those trailblazing solutions that are driving change and grappling with the most crucial challenges in today’s classrooms.

The Global EdTech Prize is awarded annually in three categories: Non-Profits, Start-Ups, and Majors. The Top 10 finalists for each of the three categories were invited to the World Schools Summit – hosted by T4 Education, Aldar Education and the Emirates Foundation and supported by CIFF, Google, Microsoft, and HP – where they showcased their work before an Expert Panel comprising leading figures in the technology and education sectors including investors and policymakers from around the world. 

The Expert Panel then narrowed down the Final 3 per category who went on to present their products and tools before educators at the World Schools Summit. Educators voted by secret ballot to determine the winner of each category, with the winners announced live on stage at the culmination of the summit.

Imagine Worldwide Tablet-Based Foundational Learning Programme from Imagine Worldwide in Africa won the Global EdTech Prize in the Non-Profits category. Brisk from Brisk Teaching in the USA won the Global EdTech Prize in the Start-Ups category. And Matific Maths Game from Matific in Australia won the Global EdTech Prize in the Majors category. 

Vikas Pota, Founder of T4 Education and the Global EdTech Prize, said: 

“Congratulations to Gurukul from Avanti Fellows in India on making the Final 3 for the inaugural Global EdTech Prize. Your work is a crucial contribution to the cause of improving education, and everything that can achieve for all of humanity.

“We established the Global EdTech Prize to help scale the innovations that are making a real difference to the most intractable educational challenges, from enhancing literacy development to building lifelong skills, supporting social mobility, and closing learning gaps. 

“I hope this award will now allow you to spread your impact across the world.”  

Amit A. Patel, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Owl Ventures, said:

“My warmest congratulations to Avanti Fellows on becoming a finalist for the first-ever Global EdTech Prize. By harnessing technology in the service of education, your work deserves recognition worldwide. I hope that through this prestigious award, policymakers, educators, and changemakers alike see the impact of your innovation and help scale the transformation we need.”

Gurukul from Avanti Fellows

Gurukul, developed by Avanti Fellows and powered by Capgemini, is India’s largest free online test preparation platform for students preparing for competitive exams such as the JEE and NEET. It is designed to address the inequalities in access to quality STEM colleges, particularly for students from government schools and low-income backgrounds, by providing high-quality test preparation at no cost. While STEM degrees significantly boost earning potential, students from underserved communities face systemic barriers, including high coaching fees, geographic inaccessibility, and limited access to individual devices, which prevent them from qualifying for top-tier colleges.

Launched in 2024, Gurukul is a mobile-first, open-source platform tailored for low-resource settings. It offers over 5,000 high-quality videos, recorded classes, mock and practice tests, and personalised test reports. More than 93,000 students are enrolled in the 2024–25 academic year, with 88,000 opting for the self-paced option. Around 10,000 students demonstrated deep engagement with the platform by consistently attending classes and completing assessments. Collectively, students spent over 950,000 hours learning and attempted over 380,000 tests.

Gurukul’s differentiators include its free access, mobile-first design, and open-source infrastructure, which enable government and non-profit partners to adapt it at scale. Teachers played a crucial role in designing and refining the platform, creating content, advising on pedagogy, and shaping features such as test reports based on their real-world classroom experience. Contributions from the open-source developer community further enhance Gurukul’s scalability and reduce ongoing tech costs.

The platform is rooted in decades of Avanti’s experience delivering test prep across India and is informed by its deep field learnings and research, including the role of STEM in economic mobility, A/B testing of user features, and ensuring direct feedback from students and educators.

Looking ahead, Gurukul aims to evolve into a comprehensive college preparation tool, featuring planned enhancements such as career guidance, entrance test calendars, and college exploration modules. It is already part of government partnerships in eight states, and the team anticipates reaching 100,000 yearly users by 2027–28.

Gurukul aims to become more comprehensive in its features, the support it extends to the students, and the impact and feedback it captures of the students’ learning experience.

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ABOUT T4 EDUCATION:

We believe every child, everywhere, deserves a good education. We are building the world's largest community of teachers and schools to achieve this. Together. Our digital media platform provides opportunities for educators to network, collaborate, share good practices, and support each other's efforts to improve learning and school culture. We work to amplify teachers’ voices because the world we want to see will only be built by listening to those at the heart of education.

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For more information, please contact Salman Shaheen: salman@carterfleet.com