As an official reviewer of a global competition, I noticed a stark difference between the grant proposals from edtech companies in India and the US.
It was the existence of external research partnerships.
Almost all US edtech companies had partnered with universities/professors who were external to the organization, and who would conduct research with the data collected by the tool. This research helps in continuous evaluation of the efficacy of the tool/platform, and the tool goes through multiple iterations to meet the needs of the users.
Indian companies mostly had a theory of impact without a research base, or even if the research existed, it was mostly in-house. Not even a single Indian company had a tie up with a renowned university.
An external partnership is crucial in 3 ways:
1. As the external research partnership is known in the public domain, it adds credibility to the product. No renowned university would build or continue their partnership if the edtech tool is not adding value or the company indulges in malpractices.
2. The university also becomes responsible for the tool's efficacy. Their continuous research adds to the monitoring and evaluation and gives research driven insights to the company for iterating to a better product.
3. The edtech company's credibility and demand increases if they have tie ups with great universities. The trust and respect is more both from the public and the other companies.
Research formed the basis of every move in building an edtech product at most companies in the US (or at least they showed the same), something that we can definitely learn from!
Let me know, if you have any questions about writing a grant/funding proposal.
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