Reliance Foundation and partners launch EdTech Accelerator for foundational learning

Reliance Foundation, UBS Optimus Foundation, British Asian Trust, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Central Square Foundation announced an education technology accelerator in New Delhi on December 9, 2022. The partners committed INR 20 crore, about USD 2.5 million, over two years to support digital learning tools for children from low-income communities in India.

The accelerator is designed to fund eight education technology solutions from both non-profit and private organizations. In the first year, selected organizations receive impact-focused grants and dedicated mentoring; in the second year, further grants are available to scale up. The stated goal is to reach up to 2.5 million children by 2025 by widening access to at-home learning and improving foundational literacy and numeracy. Applications were open until January 8, 2023. Reliance Foundation and UBS Optimus Foundation are the founding partners, Central Square Foundation leads design and implementation, British Asian Trust acts as fund manager, and USAID provides technical assistance.

The accelerator forms part of the Back-to-School Outcomes Fund and is aligned with the Indian government's NIPUN Bharat Mission, which targets foundational literacy and numeracy for all children. The release notes that learning gaps in these skills widened during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that funded solutions are expected to show measurable learning outcomes and cost effectiveness.