An idea is all it takes

Motivated by a dream to make a difference to society, Swathi Pokuri from Hyderabad is among 60 young entrepreneurs from across the world, selected to be a part of an unconventional MBA programme in Silicon Valley at the Draper University of Heroes, California. She is the second woman from India and the first from the state to attend the 45-day residential programme for budding entrepreneurs.

The programme offers plenty of opportunities for participants to think out of the box, enhance their risk taking abilities and get mentored by top CEOs. Best of all, there is the prospect of having Tim Draper, the founder of the university, invest in the participant’s start-up if he finds enough potential in the idea.

For the past five years, Swathi has been running an educational institution with her father and sister in Hyderabad. It is here that the education bug bit her. Says Swathi, “At first, I was not serious about what I was doing at the school. But as days passed, I got more inclined towards it and started to work for its improvement.”

Elaborating on her idea, Swathi says, “The idea of an app to deliver quality education to rural areas struck me. Technology has become an integral part of our existence and I started thinking of ways in which it can be used as a tool to help the students. The app would have a provision to recharge like a normal top–up to get the content on phone. People would no longer have to shell out thousands of rupees to get educated from home, only a few hundreds.”

Of course, Swathi’s idea is not without its share of challenges. She admits, “Internet speed in rural areas is slow. So, we need to come up with quality videos that will work in 2G speed. It would require a lot of brainstorming and collaboration.”

So what does she hope to do at the end of the 45-day programme? “I hope my hard work and vision gets acknowledged by the investors and my dream to spread quality education through technology sees the light of day.”