Shikho

Shikho is an education technology company headquartered in Dhaka, Bangladesh, that has been operational since its founding in 2019 by Shahir Chowdhury and Zeeshan Zakaria. The company aims to address the demand-supply imbalance for quality education in Bangladesh by providing a hyper-localized digital learning platform. Shahir Chowdhury, the CEO, brings a background in financial services, having spent 11 years in London working for firms like Barclays and HSBC. His experience, coupled with his family's background in education, motivated him to establish a socially impactful business in his home country. Zeeshan Zakaria, the COO, has a background in economics, mathematics, and education, having completed a teaching program at the UCL Institute of Education and taught in various high schools.

The company's business is centered around a direct-to-consumer (DTC) model, offering its services primarily through its mobile and web applications. Shikho's revenue is generated from paid subscriptions to its educational courses. The platform targets the K-12 student population in Bangladesh, with a particular focus on students aged 15-25 preparing for the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) national board exams. A significant portion of its user base, 65%, comes from rural areas of the country.

Shikho provides a comprehensive digital learning ecosystem tailored to the Bangladesh National Curriculum, delivered in the Bengali language. Its core product features include animated video lessons to explain complex topics, live classes with expert instructors, and a large repository of in-app questions, solutions, and digital notes. The platform also incorporates gamification elements, real-time performance tracking, and a recommendation engine that suggests content based on a student's performance. To broaden its educational offerings, Shikho has made strategic acquisitions, including Bohubrihi, a professional courses platform, and Mainly Coding, to enhance its technology-related skills training. The company is also expanding into a hybrid, omnichannel model by launching physical learning centers with digitized classrooms.

Keywords: Bangladesh edtech, online learning platform, K-12 education, national curriculum, test preparation, SSC, HSC, digital learning, animated video lessons, live classes, professional courses, skill development, hybrid learning, Shahir Chowdhury, Zeeshan Zakaria, Dhaka, Bengali language education, education technology, online tutoring, mobile learning