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NEW DELHI: Rocket Learning on Wednesday launched Appu, an AI-powered learning companion offering a conversational and personalised learning experience for children aged 3–6 in India.
Currently, more than 40 million children in India lack access to quality preschool education, and many second-graders struggle with basic literacy and numeracy. Developed with pro bono technical assistance from Google.org Fellows, Appu is designed specifically for early childhood education, a company release said.
It is freely accessible on all screens and focuses on essential school readiness skills, including pre-literacy, numeracy, and social-emotional skills such as greetings and introductions.
The product leverages advanced Large Language Models (LLM) for complex reasoning tasks, speed, and efficiency. Appu is being piloted by thousands of children and is expected to reach 50 million families by 2030, including government-run Anganwadi centers and pre-schools nationwide, it said.
Vishal Sunil, co-founder and CTO, Rocket Learning, says, “Appu is the future of learning—AI-driven, intuitive, and designed to evolve. We see adaptability as our greatest strength and personalization as the catalyst for unlocking every child’s potential. With 85% of brain development happening by age six, early childhood education is the next frontier in human capital. Appu is designed to elevate India’s IQ, maximise its demographic dividend, and bridge the AI divide.”
Azeez Gupta, co-founder, Rocket Learning, said, “We’re grateful for the support from Google.org and the Fellows, who helped us bring this vision to life. Appu and Rocket Learning’s initiatives could contribute $4 billion 2 of lifetime value to India’s economy—but more importantly, they’re set to redefine learning for the next generation.”
Annie Lewin, Senior Director at Google.org, said: “We’re committed to making AI’s benefits and capabilities more accessible in areas where they can drive systemic impact. Early education is one such key area. We value Rocket Learning’s dedication to this space and are proud to support its AI-powered tutor, developed over six months through close collaboration between Rocket Learning and our team of Google.org Fellows. We look forward to seeing how this innovation helps shape the future of learning, as they scale their work to 20 additional languages.”
In 2023, Rocket Learning received a $1.5 million grant from Google.org as part of the AI for Global Goals Impact Challenge to develop AI-powered educational solutions. This funding supported the development of a machine-learning system that automates grading for 50,000 homework assignments shared daily. As part of Google.org’s support, a group of Google employees joined a six-month Google.org Fellowship program, working full time, pro bono with Rocket Learning to help build Appu.
Government stakeholders, education experts, and entrepreneurs, including Savitri Thakur, Minister of State for Women and Child Development, Government of India, Arkaja Das, Director, MWCD, Nina Badgaiyan, Senior Specialist at ADB and Wilson White, Vice-President, Government Affairs and Public Policy, Google, participated in the event.
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