AI edtech startup Arivihan raises $10 mn from Accel, Prosus

BENGALURU: Indore-based edtech startup Arivihan has raised $10 million in a Series A round from existing investors Accel and Prosus Ventures. The funding comes as a shift to a Rs 51 annual entry plan has helped it draw more than 4 lakh paying students, co-founder and CEO Ritesh Singh Chandel told TOI.Arivihan previously charged an average of about Rs 3,000 a year for board exam preparation and had roughly 25,000 paying students last year. Chandel said about 4-4.5 lakh students have taken the new Rs 51 plan this year. The company offers higher-priced plans alongside it. “Our main focus was to get volume,” he said.The increase in subscribers does not necessarily mean a similar rise in revenue. Arivihan did not disclose its revenue or how many students have moved to more expensive plans. Chandel said 18% of subscriptions to the Rs 51 plan came through referrals.Founded in 2022, Arivihan began with Class 12 board exam preparation in Madhya Pradesh and has since expanded to other state boards and NEET. It says about 80% of its subscribers are from Tier 3 cities and rural areas. Chandel said the company built its courses and AI features for Hindi-speaking students first and is now testing Marathi. Students can also download lectures to watch when they have limited internet access.While Arivihan describes its platform as automated, its current classes combine human teachers and AI. Chandel said a live class can have as many as 5,000 students and one teacher, with AI answering individual questions and drawing on each student’s mistakes and practice history. The company plans to develop an AI tutor that can teach students one-on-one; that remains a future product.Chandel said about 5,000 students used Arivihan’s NEET preparation offering in its recent exam cycle and that three secured top-100 ranks. The company also cited internal data showing that 75% of students who completed five mock tests improved their marks by 25% over 30 days. It did not provide the size of that group or a comparison with students who did not use the platform.Arivihan plans to use the fresh capital to expand across more state boards and CBSE, improve its AI tools and language support, and build local distribution. The round takes its total funding to more than $15 million, according to the company.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.