Video feature: Student venture provides phone-based English language education in India

By Danielle Alio, Office of Communications on May 9, 2016, noon
Play video:

Princeton students Kasturi Shah and Vaasvi Goyal, both of whom grew up in India, met through the University and started a service that provides English language instruction in India. They have spent their senior year trying to build up the service and figure out its future. (Video by Danielle Alio, Office of Communications)

During their sophomore year, Princeton University students Kasturi Shah and Vaasvi Goyal decided to list all of the problems they wanted to fix in India, their home country. Once they realized that they shared a passion for education, they brainstormed ideas for how to expand access to education to children in India who may not have resources or support in school. Hello, Seekho was born.

Hello, Seekho provides free audio education through a toll-free number in India. By using a basic mobile phone, users can dial the number to connect to over 60 lessons teaching the English language at various levels of difficulty. "Seekho" means "to learn" in Hindi.

"When we decided to tackle education in India, we decided to focus on access and quality," said Shah, of Mumbai. "We thought of all the existing platforms for free, quality education like Coursera and then the wide-reaching impact of mobile phones in India."

Now seniors, Shah, a physics major pursuing certificates in Latin American studies and visual arts, and Goyal, an economics major from Delhi, have been wrestling with the question of whether to continue growing their social venture after Commencement or to pursue careers in fields related to their majors.

Hello, Seekho has attracted support since its founding. The idea won third place at Tiger Launch 2014, a student-run competition, and the funding was used to launch Hello, Seekho in five slums in East Delhi. Over summer 2015, Hello, Seekho expanded to include slums in Mumbai with funding from another student event, the Princeton Social Innovation Competition. Shah and Goyal also participated in the Princeton Keller Center's eLab Incubator Program, which gives students access to work space in the Entrepreneurial Hub at 34 Chambers St. They also have access to experienced mentors in the field as well as workshops, networking opportunities, seed funding and on-campus summer housing.

"Princeton has given us access to the funding to make the start possible," Shah said. "It has brought us together. It surrounded us with people with amazing ideas, and it is a place where ideas are always bubbling."

Throughout the academic year, Shah and Goyal devoted countless hours to developing Hello, Seekho further while completing their senior theses and final classes. In April 2016, Hello, Seekho was featured in multiple news articles throughout India, resulting in a surge of over 70,000 calls to the venture's phone lines.

"It's so gratifying to see kids from now all over the country, not just like pockets or areas where we marketed this, calling into the service," said Goyal.

Related Stories

Student venture provides English language education in India .

Hello, Seekho, a phone-based English language learning service in India, was founded by two Princeton students during their sophomore year. As they complete their time at Princeton, Kasturi Shah and Vaasvi Goyal balance student life with startup life.

Keller Center: A decade of 'broadening pathways' to positive impact in society .

Started in 2005 as the Center for Innovation in Engineering Education, the Keller Center was renamed in 2008 in honor of educational innovator Dennis Keller, Class of 1963, and his wife, Constance Keller, when the couple gave $20 million to endow the center.

In full swing: Student teams build and pitch businesses in summer program .

This was the fourth year that the Keller Center has held its Demo Day, the culmination of the center's eLab student startup accelerator. The summer-long program provides work space, instruction and support for student teams who compete for admission. The program also provides up to $20,000 in funding without taking any equity in the fledgling ventures. Team members are matched with veteran entrepreneurs who serve as mentors, and they attend workshops and coaching sessions that concentrate on different aspects of launching a startup.

Student entrepreneurs pitch innovations at annual Demo Days .

As the capstone of the eLab Summer Accelerator Program organized by the Keller Center for Innovation in Engineering Education, teams of Princeton students and recent graduates pitched their innovations to audiences at the program’s seventh-annual Demo Days, held on campus and in New York City.

Demo Day emphasizes intersection of education and entrepreneurship .

At the fifth-annual Demo Day presented by Princeton University's Keller Center, eight teams of student entrepreneurs showcased their startup ideas in Princeton Aug. 9 and in Manhattan Aug. 10. Teams presented technologies they worked to refine during the Keller Center's 10-week 2016 eLab Summer Accelerator Program.

Committee recommends initiatives to foster entrepreneurship 'the Princeton way' .

The Princeton Entrepreneurship Advisory Committee (PEAC) has issued a report recommending a broad set of initiatives to enhance entrepreneurship at the University in a way that builds on Princeton's commitments to liberal arts education, research and public service.

Princeton students' desire to improve campus tours leads to successful start-up company .

Princeton University juniors Ron Miasnik, Joseph Rubin and Raya Ward develop a new platform, Adora, to facilitate college visits for prospective students.