Manojj Mohanaranjan, 23, will receive funding and mentorship to scale his business idea after the Londoner is named the winner of SkysTheLimit’s ‘Underdog Fund’.
- Londoner wins global competition for the best business idea, receiving $10,000 (£7,855) a MacBook Pro and mentorship to bring the idea to life
- Entrepreneur Tim Armoo (29), who sold his last business for 8 figures, judged the competition and will provide funding and mentorship
- Armoo himself grew up in a council estate in one of the poorest parts of London and wants to reduce barriers for the next generation of entrepreneurs
- Manojj Mohanaranjan, 23, from Harrow, was chosen out of thousands of applicants to scale his education startup that plans to use AI to address education inequality.
A young entrepreneur from North London has been named the winner of a global competition that challenged the public to share their business ideas, receiving $10,000 USD (£7,855) a MacBook Pro and mentorship to bring the idea to life.
Manojj Mohanaranjan, 23, from Harrow, was chosen out of thousands of applicants to scale his education startup that plans to use AI to address education inequality.
The startup, which Mohanaranjan has named Evaluate Learning, will develop AI tools to provide personalised learning for school students.
Manojj, who was born and raised in London before studying for a degree in Math and Computer Science at the University of Warwick, explains: “The idea is to enable teachers to provide personalised feedback to every student.
“Class sizes are growing and teachers are too stretched for time to provide each student with individual feedback.
“Evaluate Learning will automate the teaching process by using AI to review a student’s previous work so it can provide a more in-depth analysis of their educational performance, taking into account things like previous grades and classroom performance.”
The idea is partly inspired by his own experiences at school after Manojj struggled to decide which A Level subject to choose after finding it hard to identify the subjects he was doing well in beyond the basic grade structure.
“Most people just look at grades, but that should be the bare minimum. What would be even more useful, and what Evaluate Learning will look to provide, is an in depth analysis on performance for each module within the subject.”
Work is already underway on the first AI tool, which is designed to utilise current AI capabilities to generate customised lesson plans for primary school teachers. Teachers can sign up to try the tool completely free of charge here.
After learning that his pitch had been chosen by judges Forbes’ 30-under-30 entrepreneur Timothy Armoo and Blockchain.com’s co-founder Nic Cary, Manojj said:
“I am incredibly grateful for the funding that I have received from Sky’s The Limit! I think that it’s a brilliant initiative to encourage entrepreneurship and provide a platform for fellow entrepreneurs to connect with one another and share ideas.
“At Evaluate Learning, we are leveraging AI to build tools that will provide personalised learning for primary school students in the UK. The funding that Sky’s The Limit has so generously provided combined with the mentoring from Timothy and Nicolas will be instrumental in navigating the challenges of building educational software.
“The funding will go towards accessing the powerful computers required to train and run our custom AI models. It will also allow us to host in-person teachers networking events which will be instrumental in building our customer base.
“By 2030, I want Evaluate learning to be in every school in the UK, I don’t see why not!”
Judge Timothy Armoo, who scaled and sold his social media startup Fanbytes for a 8 figure exit, said:
“It wasn’t easy to pick a winner from the thousands of inspiring entrepreneurs but Manojj’s business stood out as it solves an immediate problem today, which is improving education and empowering teachers with tools to personalise homework assignments leveraging AI. It’s timely, commercial, and has a huge societal benefit – education is the base upon which we all grow, and we’ll be rooting for Evaluate Learning.”
About Sky’s the Limit
Sky’s the Limit is a nonprofit organization that helps entrepreneurs launch their business ideas and make their first sale. Through the generosity of philanthropists, volunteer mentors, and corporate partners, Sky’s the Limit offers comprehensive support, including free one-on-one mentoring, education and training opportunities, and funding for all members.
IG: https://www.instagram.com/skysthelimitorg/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/skysthelimitorg/
About Tim Armoo:
Tim Armoo’s inspiring journey from growing up on a council estate on Old Kent Road to founding and selling multi-million-pound companies has made him a beacon of hope and change for aspiring entrepreneurs worldwide. At just 29, Tim has not only built successful businesses but also become a thought leader, speaking on global stages for brands like Goldman Sachs, Adobe, and Dell. His latest endeavour is focused on giving back to the community that supported him, providing opportunities for the next generation of dreamers and doers.
IG: https://www.instagram.com/timarmoo/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothyarmoo/
