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In focus
- Pocket-sized AI tutor challenging India’s coaching giants
- Oona’s quest for SEA expansion
- Time to revisit our archived piece on CaptainFresh, India’s aquatech IPO hopeful
Hello reader,
Looking back on my school days, it was my grade 10 class teacher who left a lasting mark on me.
She was always dressed in a crisp saree, with a big bindi on her forehead. But she wasn’t just memorable for her appearance; she was my favorite because she encouraged us to ask the right questions, while most others only wanted the right answers. That ability to push us to be curious made her special.
In today’s AI era, we are confronted with an important question: Can tech ever replace that human touch? This week, I dive into the story of Arivihan, an Indian AI tutoring startup that says it can.
Charging a subscription fee of just US$4 a month, it aims to take on the country’s US$6.5 billion coaching industry. The company even claims it can completely replace human teachers in the coming years.
As classrooms wrestle with AI disruption, Asia’s insurers are rewriting their own playbook. General insurer Oona Insurance is leaning on acquisitions to cement its Southeast Asia footprint, after strong earnings in Indonesia and the Philippines in 2024 and early 2025 gave it fresh momentum.
Samreen Ahmad, journalist
Top Stories
1️⃣ The edtech startup training AI to talk like your favorite teacher
Arivihan co-founders/ Photo credit: Arivihan
Discover how Prosus and Accel-backed Arivihan, charging just US$4 a month, is taking on the country’s US$6.5 billion coaching industry.
2️⃣ Earnings growth sparks Oona’s SEA buying binge in 2025
Propelled by its growing profitability in H1 2025, the Singapore-based insurtech firm is looking to acquire more companies in Indonesia and the Philippines.
From our archives
Inside the playbooks of the Vietnamese startups going regional
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