A story of a twenty-something founder whose roots lie in family lineage. Born into a family with close ties to the education industry, Manit calls himself a fourth-generation educator. “My great-grandfather founded a school in India and my grandmother continued the legacy by establishing her own school. My father later joined her and together they expanded the business, building a network of schools and colleges across India, Singapore, the US and Canada.” He recounts a childhood steeped in the spirit of learning and empowerment. The most tangible influence, he says, came when his father, originally a physician, switched from medicine to the education industry. “I was inspired by his and the entire family’s ability to impact and improve people’s lives, especially through their schools that provide education to thousands of children in rural India.”
Manit moved to the United States to attend high school and then attended Purdue University, graduating in computer science. During her high school years, Manit materialized her first efforts as a non-profit organization named Book Aid India to provide access to books to students. “We have successfully reached around 2 million students across India, distributed over 2 million books and set up a library bank. ” His entrepreneurial spirit led him to launch his first startup, Stardust Innovations, at the young age of 16. This was a social networking website designed to help individuals jointly achieve their dreams and goals. This platform quickly grew to 26,000 users by the time it was acquired.
Once he enrolled as an undergraduate at Purdue University, Manit’s eagerness to explore new dimensions skyrocketed. That passion led him to found Blowout.us, an event management company that helps college students and local businesses thrive. “This venture was doing well until the COVID-19 pandemic hit and negatively affected its functioning. After two successful acquisitions, this was my first failure and I am definitely going to take this debacle to the next level. It took me a while to accept it,” says Manit. Gathering actionable lessons from this episode, Mr. Manit introduced me to his Anvil Accelerator at Purdue University and several promising projects that had the potential to develop into substantial startup ideas, such as Unimart. has been developed. It was also around this time that the UPI survey was conceived. “As I was actively brainstorming ideas with unprecedented growth potential, being on Purdue’s campus was the biggest benefit. We have an incredibly diverse student body, and by talking with them about their educational journeys, we realized that there is a huge difference in the facilities available to local students and international students.”
Manit explained that access to AP courses, IB-accredited schools, and community colleges for students in the US and other Western countries allows them to take plenty of college-level courses before officially starting their undergraduate studies. These students enjoy an implicit advantage in building their profile and can save significant amounts of money and time by completing their bachelor’s degree faster. However, in Asian countries such as India, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Vietnam, these educational institutions are not readily available. With only a small percentage of the population having access to these resources, international students are required to complete four years of undergraduate education on campus, which is time-consuming and expensive. According to Manit, “For example, while in-state students pay around $7,000-8,000 per year, international students can be charged up to $40,000 per year in tuition at the same institution. With no transferable credits, these students were often forced to pay high tuition fees for four years without the opportunity to graduate early and save money. Thus, UPI targets the underserved market of international students.” As for the foundation’s overarching goal, UPI Study is a ray of hope for those who want to study abroad but are hindered by financial constraints, as well as those who are already studying abroad and struggling with high costs.
When asked about the overall nature of the journey so far, Manit said it has been an eventful journey with quite a few ups and downs. “Challenges and how we deal with them offer a wide panorama of adversity and achievement. Initially, our main hurdle was certification. We started in partnership with our UK partner ATHE and We then acquired Canada’s Aspire College to achieve Canadian accreditation. We also introduced a pathway model that allows students to split their studies between their home country and abroad. This is a popular concept and initially had high expectations. We couldn’t attract as many students as we did.”
“To truly revolutionize access to education like AP and IB credits, we sought recognition for U.S. college credits. It was a long process, but we are finally here in 2024. Since achieving this milestone, we have seen a significant increase in enrollment due to the unique opportunities we offer,” Manit said, explaining the company’s policy to maintain consistent growth. while maintaining a strong reputation in the industry. “I believe passionately in achieving positive results through customer satisfaction. Our customers truly are king. The relationships we foster and the reputation we maintain are extremely important. These directly impact our yearly performance. Because it affects you.”
Outlining UPI’s future path, Manito says “innovation” is his mantra. He wants to build a platform that has innovation in its DNA. UPI Study also focuses on leveraging technology, especially his AI, to make education more accessible, especially in underserved areas. He said their approach is straightforward: integrating new technology to overcome pressing educational hurdles. UPI Study is already revolutionizing the learning experience through its fully asynchronous online platform and cutting-edge AI integration. The platform’s AI tutors provide her 24-hour support, and its analytics capabilities customize educational content to personal learning preferences to ensure optimal learning outcomes. “As UPI Study continues to expand globally, our team remains determined to make education more accessible and adaptable to diverse educational populations around the world.”
Beyond his entrepreneurial endeavors, Manit is now focused on nurturing the next generation of startups, mentoring accelerators such as EForAll, Gener8tor, and Rhode Island’s Venture Mentoring Service (VMS), among others. For aspiring entrepreneurs in the education sector, Manit offers some sage advice: “Start small and start now.” “By focusing on a specific market and starting immediately, entrepreneurs can lay the foundation for impactful, sustainable growth and bring about positive change in the education sector.”
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