Jaimin Shah, a former lecturer in Indian higher education, observed an alarming pattern throughout his eight-year teaching career—teaching was being eclipsed by routine administrative tasks. Admissions, attendance tracking, and exam coordination consumed far more time than actual instruction. A candid conversation with his college principal revealed this wasn’t a local issue but a sector-wide inefficiency. Burdened by outdated manual processes, Indian colleges were struggling to function efficiently.
This systemic challenge motivated Shah to leave academia and pursue a more ambitious goal: fix the system from the outside.
The Birth of ‘Teach Us’
Teaming up with college friends Chintan Vyas and Shreekant Pujari, Shah launched Teach Us, an academic management platform designed specifically for Indian colleges. The aim was clear: digitise academic workflows, reduce administrative burden, and provide real-time data for better decision-making.
The name Teach Us holds a dual significance. On the surface, it appears to be a student’s plea for instruction. Spoken aloud, however, it cleverly resembles the word “teachers,” reinforcing its mission to serve educators by freeing them from paperwork.
Disrupting India’s EdTech Paradox
Despite a rise in digital adoption across sectors, more than 75% of Indian colleges still operate manually. Cost and complexity are major deterrents. Teach Us addresses this gap with an affordable, scalable model, offering colleges digitisation solutions at just ₹1 per student.
With a single, integrated dashboard, colleges gain access to attendance insights, academic performance data, and accreditation readiness tools—bringing structure and speed to what was once a cumbersome process.
Designed as ‘The College Intelligence App’
Unlike conventional ERPs that lean towards administrative functions, Teach Us places academic outcomes at its core. Positioned as The College Intelligence App, the platform supports teaching, learning, and evaluation with user-centric features such as intuitive navigation, a sleek interface, and one-click data access.
Rapid Growth and Recognition
Since its humble beginnings under a banyan tree, Teach Us has grown steadily, onboarding over 125 colleges, 7,000 professors, and 200,000 students. Recognition followed quickly. The startup was named among the Top 20 startups by Stanford Seed Spark South Asia and selected for Google’s App Scale Academy’s top 100 apps. It also secured backing from notable angel investors including Parag Rajda of Rockman Composites.
Overcoming Obstacles Through Passion
As a non-technical founding team, the early journey was far from easy. From convincing college principals that better alternatives existed to battling scepticism about EdTech, the founders encountered persistent resistance. Yet, each hurdle refined their approach and reinforced their mission.
Tangible Impact and Ambitious Goals
The results are already evident. Colleges using Teach Us have reported a 20% rise in student attendance, a twofold improvement in faculty performance, and a 10% increase in lectures conducted. Over ₹3 crore worth of productive time has been saved by reducing paper-based processes.
With plans to expand into 500+ colleges across Indian metros, Teach Us envisions becoming the fourth pillar of academia—joining students, professors, and management as a cornerstone of educational transformation.
