Melvano

Melvano Education Private Limited, incorporated on June 16, 2018, is an educational technology company headquartered in Bengaluru, India, operating in the competitive exam preparation market. The firm focuses on students preparing for the demanding Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) for engineering and the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for medical schools. The company was founded by Taran Singh and Harpreet Kaur. The idea for Melvano originated from Taran Singh's personal journey; once a student who struggled academically, he transformed his trajectory to gain admission to the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras. While at IIT Madras, he began tutoring JEE aspirants and recognized a critical flaw in the traditional, one-size-fits-all coaching model. This insight, coupled with his passion for teaching, led to the creation of Melvano, a name derived from the Tamil word 'Malivana', meaning affordable, which reflects the company's vision.

The core of Melvano's offering is an adaptive learning platform that utilizes artificial intelligence to personalize the educational experience. The system starts with a diagnostic test to identify a student's specific strengths and weaknesses, then generates customized coursework and practice questions to address those areas, reportedly reducing preparation time significantly. Initially launched as a practice app in 2019, it evolved into a comprehensive learning hub. The business operates on a freemium model. It provides a wealth of free resources, including a vast question bank, mock tests, video lectures, and study materials, which has attracted over 300,000 users. Revenue is generated through advertisements on the free version and via subscriptions to its premium service, Melvano Plus, which offers advanced features like AI-powered recommendations and personal mentoring from IIT alumni. The company also employs a unique rewards system, where students earn 'Melvano coins' for completing lessons and tests, which can be redeemed for discounts on premium services.

Since its inception, Melvano has been incubated at IIT Madras's Nirmaan pre-incubation cell and was awarded the Sri Chinmay Deodhar Award for 'Most Innovative Project' by the institution. The company has demonstrated notable success, with numerous students achieving high percentiles in the JEE Main exams year after year. Financially, Melvano has secured approximately $483,000 over six seed funding rounds, with its latest round in February 2023 led by Tyke. The founders retain the largest shareholding at over 79%. As of March 31, 2023, the company reported an annual revenue of ₹1.09Cr. Aiming for growth, Melvano has also announced plans to enter the upskilling market with a new platform called Skillbary.

Keywords: EdTech, JEE preparation, NEET coaching, adaptive learning, artificial intelligence education, personalized learning, online test preparation, engineering entrance exam, medical entrance exam, Taran Singh, IIT Madras startup, freemium education model, AI-powered tutoring, student performance analysis, online mock tests, question bank, personal mentoring, exam crash courses, Skillbary, Nirmaan incubator