Powering Learning with EdTech and AI
ShikshaNext is a bold INR 170 Cr, multi-donor, 3 year initiative aimed at improving learning outcomes for children from underserved communities across India. ShikshaNext aims to enable more than 13 million children across India to access meaningful, technology- and AI-enabled learning solutions.
The initiative is anchored by Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, Reliance Foundation and Gates Foundation as Founding Strategic Partners, with Central Square Foundation as Managing Partner.
Focus Pathways
The ScaleX pathway supports learning gains for millions of students in India by scaling proven EdTech and AI solutions.
The Accelerator strengthens the supply of pedagogically sound and contextually relevant EdTech and AI solutions tailored to India’s needs.
The Innovation Hub is a collaborative space to discover, test, and validate emerging EdTech and AI innovations, with a focus on India-centric solutions across languages, grades, and learning contexts.
All pathways are underpinned by a strong commitment to rigorous evidence generation, ensuring that insights on what works, for whom, and under what conditions guide the basis for how technology is integrated and scaled within India’s education system.
We wish to leverage the power of technology to democratise access to quality education among underserved students, parents and teachers in India. Together we will ignite innovation, scale proven solutions and build enduring public goods.
Meet The Partners
Founding Strategic Partners
Managing Partner
Supporting Partners
Hear From Our Partners
Students catch up and move ahead when learning adapts to their needs. Personalised, technology-enabled tools can make that possible at scale. Entering the AI era, India is building on a decade of education reforms, stronger early learning, and tools that already deliver results in classrooms. ShikshaNext takes the next step by backing proven solutions and helping public school systems use them widely, so more children succeed in school and beyond.
Prachi Jain Windlass
Head of India, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation
Reliance Foundation’s vision is simple yet profound — that every child in India should have the opportunity to fulfil their potential and realise their dreams. The rapid expansion of digital connectivity and 5G over the past decade has unlocked unprecedented possibilities to deliver quality education to every corner of our country.
We have seen that when philanthropy, government, educators, and innovators come together with shared purpose, technology in education moves beyond promising pilots to achieving measurable learning outcomes at scale. ShikshaNext represents the next step in this journey — a collaborative platform to generate rigorous evidence, strengthen partnerships, and harness the power of AI responsibly and inclusively.
Our commitment is to ensure that the next generation of AI-enabled solutions is not only innovative, but equitable - designed to serve every child, everywhere, and to truly transform India’s educational future.
B Srinivasan
Executive Lead, Reliance Foundation
When EdTech is rooted in strong pedagogy and evidence, we now know it can drive real learning gains at scale; as generative AI adds fresh momentum, initiatives like ShikshaNext can channel catalytic funding and partnerships to ensure these technologies are designed for low-resource classrooms and guided by sound teaching principles, not just technological possibility.
Benjamin Piper
Director, Global Education at the Gates Foundation
As we look to the future of learning in India, Central Square Foundation’s focus is on making technology work for the children who need it most; with ShikshaNext, CSF is bringing together committed partners, rigorous evidence, and learning-focused capital so that EdTech and AI translate into real, measurable gains in classrooms, not just promises on paper
Ishmeet Singh
Chief Executive Officer, Central Square Foundation