For more than a decade, India’s edtech boom followed a simple formula: build an app, upload video lectures, add tests, and convince students to spend hours learning on a dedicated platform.
But a new generation of startups is questioning whether students want yet another learning app. As attention spans shrink and students spend more time on messaging platforms, some founders believe education may need to move to where students are already hooked.
A 2021 study published in the International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science revealed that students were more likely to engage with digital learning platforms that were accessible, flexible, and easy to use.
One such startup following that approach is Bengaluru-based SkillBytes AI, which is building an AI-powered learning platform directly inside WhatsApp. It delivers lessons, quizzes and revision modules through conversational chats.
The Problem With Traditional Edtech
Many edtech platforms currently rely heavily on long-form videos, recorded lectures, and PDFs that require students to dedicate significant time and attention. While these formats offer depth, completion rates remain a challenge.
According to Prempreet Singh, Founder and CEO of SkillBytes AI, the gap emerged because the format of educational content failed to evolve alongside student behaviour.
“Content exists today in the form of long videos, lectures, and PDFs. At the same time, students are consuming information in much shorter formats. Those two realities exist in parallel, and that’s where the gap is,” Singh tells AIM.
Instead of expecting students to adapt to the platform, Singh believes platforms should adapt to student behaviour in the long run.
“A student is already opening WhatsApp 20–25 times a day. By putting learning inside WhatsApp, you’re not asking the student to change their behaviour. You’re meeting them where they already are,” he adds.
Turning WhatsApp Into a Learning Platform
The idea emerged from Singh’s experience building consumer products at companies including Zomato, FreeCharge, Pine Labs, and Paytm. While researching educational products, he repeatedly encountered students who felt overwhelmed by lengthy learning material and struggled to navigate multiple educational platforms.
He found the startup in 2025 after teaming up with Sandeep Singh, an ex-Qualcomm engineer who currently surves as the COO of Product and Operations at SkillBytes.
Initially, SkillBytes, founded in 2025, experimented with a traditional mobile application. However, user adoption remained limited. The company then tested a WhatsApp-based learning flow. The difference was immediate.
“When we moved the experience into WhatsApp, usage jumped dramatically. That’s when we realised there was something fundamentally different about removing friction,” Singh explains.
Today, the seven-member startup claims to serve nearly 5.9 lakh students and has recorded nearly 2 crore interactions across its learning modules. It also boasts users from 31 countries, including Nepal, Bangladesh, Singapore, and several Middle Eastern nations where CBSE curricula are widely followed.
According to Singh, one of WhatsApp's biggest advantages is accessibility.
“A significant portion of our users come from towns and cities where installing a new app, navigating an unfamiliar interface, or paying for a premium subscription would have been real barriers. WhatsApp removes all of that. It is already installed, already trusted, and already the primary communication tool for most families,” he notes.
This has enabled SkillBytes to build a “chat-native” learning experience. “Instead of asking a student to sit through a 45-minute lecture, we deliver a concept in a few lines, ask a question, get a response and build from there,” Singh asserts.
It operates on a freemium revenue model, pricing Practice Problems and Assessment product between ₹49 and ₹99.
The startup is also venture-backed, raising an undisclosed pre-seed funding from a US-based AI investment fund in October last year.
How AI Powers the Experience
AI operates at two different levels within the SkillBytes platform.
The first layer focuses on content intelligence. Topics are broken into smaller units called “SkillBytes”—short, digestible concepts designed to fit into a five-minute WhatsApp session. “The goal is to strip away the noise and deliver only what a student actually needs to understand at that moment,” Singh notes.
The second layer analyses student interactions. Every response, quiz attempt, pause, or drop-off generates behavioural signals that help the platform understand how students engage with content.
“Over time, those signals inform how content is sequenced and surfaced for that student, moving toward learning paths that reflect how each person actually learns rather than a one-size-fits-all curriculum,” he added.
The company also measures learning through behavioural signals rather than simple completion metrics to improve experiences. It looks at whether students return the next day, how they perform when concepts are revisited, and where they drop off.
While AI-powered assistants have transformed how students search for information, Singh argues that access to AI alone does not solve the learning challenge.
“ChatGPT and Gemini are general-purpose tools. Students have to know what to ask, how to ask, and how to structure their learning. Most Class 10 or Class 12 students don’t have that skill yet,” he observes.
Instead of presenting students with a blank prompt, SkillBytes attempts to create a guided learning journey aligned with specific curricula and examination requirements.
Expanding Beyond CBSE
The platform currently focuses on CBSE Mathematics and Science content developed in collaboration with educational partners. Singh says curriculum alignment remains critical for credibility among both students and parents.
“Parents don’t just want their child to learn. They want their child to perform in a specific examination,” he notes.
The company plans to expand into additional educational boards and competitive examinations, including JEE, NEET, UPSC, SAT, and IELTS preparation.
“We started with CBSE because we had to start somewhere. The larger vision is to make structured learning available across boards, competitive exams, and eventually international curricula as well,” Singh adds.
When it comes to formats, the startup is also experimenting with short videos lasting 30–60 seconds, though Singh emphasises that these videos are intended to support conversations rather than replace them.
“Every interaction that our platform creates is built with the fundamentals of making it chat-native. We are not adapting long-form content into chat. We are building for chat from the beginning,” he asserts.
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