Devvaki Aggarwal is an award-winning entrepreneur transforming education through immersive, story-based learning that nurtures future leaders. With global publishing experience in New York, she recognized a gap in localized material and created a platform that enabled thousands of learners and teachers using revolutionary language and life skills programs in India and beyond.
In a thought-provoking interaction with Women Entrepreneurs Review Magazine, Devvaki talks about her entrepreneurial journey from identifying critical gaps in India’s education system to founding instrucko amid the pandemic. She talks about challenges, resilience, and the importance of empowering women to lead with purpose and impact in education.
To know more abour Devvaki’s entrepreneurial journey in India’s edtech space, read the interview.
You returned to India in 2020 after working with global publishers in New York. What gap in education inspired you to start instrucko during such uncertain times?
The gaps were many. I am a product of the Indian education system. Having said that, I clearly felt ‘not good enough’ often than not. With the a++ scorers, all the back benchers including me didn’t really have much of a say. The classes were ‘one-fit all’ curriculum and I think that still is the case to a very large degree. The teachers are inundated with timelines, curriculums and exams. It’s impossible for them to personalize education for each child.
This inspired me to come back to India because I wanted to make personalized learning accessible to millions of learners in India through our own classes or by tying up with schools.
The syllabus in India is academic-heavy and exam-focused. What happens once these exams stop, and life starts? Our curriculum has to go beyond Maths and Science only. Instrucko focuses on languages, upskilling courses like Public Speaking, Creative Writing, and Personality Development to help children inside and outside the classroom.
Spotting that gap is one thing, but turning it into a venture during a pandemic is another. What was the first big leap you took to begin?
I always knew I was an entrepreneur. I had it in me from the beginning to build something. I really didn’t have any doubts about starting something; it was only when I was going to start. In 2020 when all jobs were work from home, I was taking a break in my career for a couple of months. At the onset of the pandemic, I knew that break was going to be much longer than I intended it to be. Therefore, there was no better time than the lockdown to spend every minute I had constructively to build ‘instrucko’. So, one day I woke up in the morning, prepared and business plan, drew a logo and that was it.
As a woman founder navigating India’s EdTech space, what unique challenges did you face in building trust, partnerships, and credibility for your vision?
Honestly, there have been multiple challenges, although I’d like to believe it’s not a man versus woman issue. I think the mentality does support more male entrepreneurs and therefore the funding ratio is so skewed, but I just had horse blinders on because I knew I had to build it and do it one way or another.
Having experience in the edtech space, I did reach out to people for help although a lot of people dissuaded me. I remember a lot of investors early on questioning the seriousness and giving me examples then of companies that have now closed. I think the overall attitude is of supporting the typical IIT/IIM businesses but I see that slowly changing- more for men than for women but hopefully it’ll change soon.
Beyond challenges, did you find that your perspective as a woman leader created stronger collaborations or opened doors that accelerated instrucko’s impact?
I feel women are great at multi-tasking and problem solving. We are natural jugglers and are also good with managing money. Women perhaps inherently take lesser risks therefore work better on cashflow. That’s something I worked on.
For me a business was never about ‘valuation’ but always about making money. I didn’t have the guts to burn money at the rate people were burning money. Also, education is more of a traditional business even if it’s online. Trust is a key factor, which builds over time. So instead of rushing into things, I took slow and steady steps and made my way in.
Which moments stand out as defining milestones in instrucko’s journey?
There have been so many. I think it’s more the difficult times that I cherish because it shows me how far I’ve come even though there’s a long way to go albeit, hiring my first intern to building a big team of 750 people has definitely been one of them. Raising a small friends and family round and surviving after the pandemic when most big edtechs came crashing down, also was quite a difficult but great journey. Signing up our first school was also a big milestone for us as that’s what made us start our B2B side.
LAST WORD: Advice for Women Aspiring to Lead in Education & Entrepreneurship
I would firstly like to encourage women to get up and take that chance. We are often so afraid to fail that we don’t even try. I was also afraid to fail, and I still am but that needs to change by taking more risks and believing in yourself.
Women must learn to believe in themselves more and understand that they are naturally good at businesses because they’re naturally good at running houses and raising kids. Our emotional intelligence allows us to multi-task, get on with it and get the work done. This is a quality I’ve seen many more women have than men. They must make the most of having a big skillset and even if you don’t have funding, just start and take that small step.
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