New Delhi: CherriLearn, a Mangaluru-based EdTech initiative, is transforming the educational landscape in rural and semi-urban India by offering quality digital education at an incredibly affordable rate of ₹1 per day. Founded by 22-year-old Shrinidhi R S from a small-town background in Karnataka, CherriLearn is bridging the rural-urban divide in education. With a focus on students from Grades 1 to 5, the platform provides engaging, gamified, vernacular-language content that makes learning both accessible and enjoyable.
The idea behind CherriLearn was born out of Shrinidhi’s own experiences growing up in a lower-middle-class household, where access to quality education was a challenge. Determined to provide foundational learning that is engaging and inclusive, he designed the platform to reach children in the most underserved areas of India. The platform has already impacted over 100,000 students across 8,200 cities and villages, reaching children from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, with over 80,000 app downloads and a 4.5-star rating.
CherriLearn’s affordability is one of its core strengths. The platform is able to offer its services at just ₹1 per day through a combination of technology, strategic partnerships, and community support. By leveraging AI-driven adaptive learning, cloud-based content delivery, and minimal operational overhead, the company ensures that high-quality education reaches students without driving up costs. The platform also works closely with NGOs, local government bodies, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives to subsidise costs and make it sustainable. Collaborations with educators and volunteers help create curriculum-aligned content in regional languages, further reducing production costs.
CherriLearn is scaling quickly and has set an ambitious target of reaching 10 million students by 2025. To achieve this, the company is expanding its outreach through deeper rural penetration, on-the-ground activations, and partnerships with local influencers. It is also working with state education departments, affordable private schools, and rural school networks to integrate CherriLearn into mainstream education. Additionally, the platform is developing offline access modes to ensure that students in areas with limited internet connectivity can still benefit from digital learning.
Beyond gamified learning, CherriLearn incorporates several unique features that enhance the learning experience. The platform offers bilingual content, allowing children to learn in both their regional languages and English. AI-driven personalisation ensures that learning is tailored to each student's pace and needs, while parental engagement tools provide insights into their child’s progress, enabling parents to support their learning at home. The platform also trains local educators to integrate CherriLearn into their classrooms, which bridges the digital divide and improves overall education quality.
CherriLearn’s efforts have been recognised by various industry bodies, earning accolades such as The Hindu Businessline Change Maker 2023 award and the Elevate Karnataka Award for its contribution to education. The platform is also making strides as part of India’s ongoing digital education transformation under the National Education Policy 2020, with initiatives like Swayam, Diksha, and e-Pathshala playing a vital role in increasing EdTech adoption.
In a country where educational inequality remains a major challenge, CherriLearn is proving that cost-effective and scalable solutions are key to unlocking the future of education. By harnessing the power of technology, inclusivity, and community, CherriLearn is not just teaching children; it is empowering them to create a better future. As it continues to scale, its impact will be felt not just in numbers but in the millions of lives it touches along the way.
BI Bureau
