Dubai student Rahul Nambiar to expand his award-winning EdTech Startup Jochi to Dubai and beyond

Rahul Nambiar, who topped the GCSE exams from Cambridge International School in Dubai, has co-founded a major EdTech start-up that has received more than US$280,000 from the University of Pennsylvania.

Dubai, UAE; October 2, 2024

Jochi (www.jochi.com), a US-based education technology company that simplifies how educators access and make sense of data, is planning to expand in the UAE and the GCC.

Jochi, was founded in late 2021, and was designed to support students with learning differences like dyslexia and ADHD, a growing problem caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Its newest concept, 360 by Jochi – an all-in-one progress monitoring tool that enables educators to go from data to decisions in minutes – helps teachers enhance learning and support with real-time insights on student performance.

“After successfully developing, testing and commissioning Jochi, we are currently planning to expand our platform with a preliminary focus on Dubai, UAE and the Gulf,” Rahul Nambiar, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Jochi, says.

Rahul Nambiar, who lived most of his life in Dubai, UAE, says Jochi can help educators, students, and educational institutions to revolutionise their programming with data-driven confidence. “Dubai, where I grew up and studied, is the most advanced education market in the Middle East and it is also one of the most dynamic education sectors that is evolving through innovation and technology. The UAE Government has deployed significant resources in education, technology and innovation that are going to improve learning – directly transforming the country into a major education, technology and innovation hub. That’s why we would like our business to grow internationally from Dubai, UAE to the rest of the Middle East.”

More than 326,000 students study in 216 K-12 schools in Dubai, according to the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), the emirate’s education sector regulator.

Jochi started in 2021 by Yash Dhir and Rahul Nambiar – freshmen at the University of Pennsylvania. They started looking at ways to improve the learning experience for high-school students in the US. In response to first-hand experiences addressing the pandemic’s impact on support for neurodiverse students, Jochi 1.0 was born, with a focus on improving the learning outcomes for students with learning differences.

In their fourth year, Yash Dhir and Rahul Nambiar were awarded the University of Pennsylvania President’s Innovation Prize to continue their work post-graduation. They are scheduled to receive $100,000 in grant funding for the company, and a $50,000 living stipend each. In addition, Jochi will have a workplace in the Pennovation Center, University of Pennsylvania’s business incubator.

Rahul Nambiar studied in the Cambridge International School in Dubai where he topped the school for the GCSE exams. Following his GCSE exams, he went to boarding school in the UK prior to joining the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League institution in the US.

As an undergraduate, Rahul served as a Teaching Assistant for a graduate-level courses, further demonstrating his technical and academic skills. Rahul graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with High Honours and was a 2024 Presidential Fellow. Rahul gained practical experience through internships at Rhombus and the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he worked as a Software Engineer.

“Our early success sparked a bigger question: what if every decision made by educators was informed by deep insights that were personalised down to each student? This vision became Jochi’s mission, transforming how schools leverage data to drive meaningful change. Today, we’re dedicated to helping schools make sense of their data, ensuring resources are directed where they’ll have the greatest impact on student outcomes,” he says.

Jochi has raised US$280,000 through grants from the University of Pennsylvania already. In addition to the President’s Innovation Prize, Jochi won $30,000 from the 2024 Venture Lab Startup Challenge, a competition for the top performing startups at the University of Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania region. These prizes came from the University of Pennsylvania’s accelerator, and the Wharton School of Business. Jochi also won an additional $50,000 in grant funding from the Draper Foundation, a leading investment firm run by the legendary American investor, Tim Draper. Outside of funding, this award offers Jochi and Rahul direct access to the Draper Foundation’s network and resources.

Jochi’s next step is in the world of artificial intelligence. “Our goal is to use artificial intelligence to streamline the everyday responsibilities of educators so that they can refocus their attention where it’s needed the most – supporting students. By simplifying educators’ understanding and access to data with AI, we can transform the level of personalized support each student needs to unlock their unique potential. Technology can never replace the impact educators have on their students, but it can be an incredibly powerful assistive tool.”