Manojj Mohanaranjan, a 23-year-old entrepreneur from Harrow, has won a global competition for his innovative startup, Evaluate Learning, which aims to tackle education inequality by using AI technology to provide personalised learning experiences for school students.
The competition, known as Sky’s The Limit’s ‘Underdog Fund,’ challenged the public to share their business ideas, and Manojj’s proposal stood out among thousands of applicants.
As the winner, he has been awarded $10,000 USD (£7,855), a MacBook Pro and mentorship from top entrepreneurs to help bring his idea to life.
Evaluate Learning was inspired by Manojj’s own experiences in school, where he found it challenging to choose A Level subjects due to the lack of detailed feedback beyond basic grades. This led him to develop a solution that would assist both students and teachers by offering a more comprehensive analysis of educational performance.
The startup’s AI tools are designed to automate the teaching process by reviewing a student’s previous work, including factors like past grades and classroom performance, to provide a deeper understanding of their progress. This approach will enable teachers to give personalised feedback to each student, even as class sizes grow and teachers face increasing demands on their time.
The first AI tool under development by Evaluate Learning focuses on creating customised lesson plans for primary school teachers. Teachers can currently sign up to try this tool for free, marking the initial phase of Manojj’s broader vision to make personalised education accessible to all students in the UK.
Explaining the motivation behind his startup, Manojj said, “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. 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.”
The funding Manojj received from Sky’s The Limit will be used to access the powerful computers necessary to train and run custom AI models. Additionally, it will allow the startup to host in-person networking events for teachers, which will be instrumental in building Evaluate Learning’s customer base and community support.
Manojj is particularly grateful for the mentorship that will accompany the financial support, stating, “I am incredibly grateful for the funding that I have received from Sky’s The Limit! 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.”
Looking to the future, Manojj has set ambitious goals for Evaluate Learning, with a vision of having the platform in every school in the UK by 2030. “By 2030, I want Evaluate Learning to be in every school in the UK. I don’t see why not!” he said.
Judge Timothy Armoo, a successful entrepreneur who scaled and sold his social media startup Fanbytes for an eight-figure exit, praised Manojj’s business for addressing an urgent need in education. “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.”
Luca Rufo is a former journalist and contributor to Harrow Online who covered community news, education, business, charity initiatives and local events across the borough. His reporting focused on highlighting the achievements of Harrow residents, organisations and community groups, helping to showcase positive stories from across the area.
