upGrad earmarks Rs 100 cr for creating AI incubator: Ronnie Screwvala

Edtech unicorn upGrad has earmarked Rs 100 crore to create an AI incubator, to boost innovation in learning and skilling space, a top company official said.

upGrad Founder and CEO, Ronnie Screwvala told PTI in an interview that outside the school and colleges curriculum the learning and skilling space is evolving rapidly and there is need to explore innovative ways to address this segment.

"We are putting Rs 100 crore. It will be used for incubation as well as acquiring minority stake in 5-6 startups at an early stage so that we do not dictate them. We don't want to get into the valuation game as it becomes too onerous for a startup but we want them to innovate in a more frugal manner," Screwvala said.

The move follows upGrad's announcement in Davos of creating an AI center of excellence with investment of Rs 2,150 crore in collaboration with the Maharashtra government.

The company has also entered into a partnership with Microsoft to train 10 lakh STEM Indian professionals in one year on AI.

Screwvala said that there will be a mix of AI startups that the company will incubate with the ultimate goal of boosting the learning and skilling space.

"We are sitting at the epicenter, where not only do we want it to disrupt but we want to also be the disruptor, because I think in the skilling and learning space, we will have to be the disruptor. We need to look at the ways education systems and education will evolve in the coming 30-40 years. Even in the next five years, it is going to change dramatically," he said.

The 'upGrad AI incubator' will support emerging companies that drive cost-efficient growth, scalable content creation, enable one-to-many tutoring through AI-driven systems, reduce testing fatigue and focus on real world applicability of knowledge, and expand access to high-quality education.

The company has already invested an undisclosed amount in start-up ZuAI as part of its incubation programme. ZuAI claims that its AI assistant tool directly addresses students' specific learning challenges.