Berkeley-based SigIQ.ai has officially emerged from stealth mode with a bold mission — to democratize elite education using AI tutors. Backed by $9.5 million in seed funding, the startup promises to bring world-class instruction to students globally at a fraction of traditional tutoring costs.
AI Tutor Aces India’s Toughest Exam
SigIQ.ai first made headlines in June 2024 when its AI-powered tutor took the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam — considered one of the hardest in the world — and scored a record-breaking 175 out of 200. The test was completed in under 7 minutes, outperforming 1.3 million human candidates.
This public demonstration, streamed live from Delhi, wasn’t just a marketing stunt. It showcased the system’s real-time reasoning, question-solving speed, and potential to rival — or even exceed — human tutors.
Seed Round Backed by Notable Investors and Academics
The company raised $9.5 million in a seed round co-led by The House Fund and GSV Ventures. Notably, Duolingo and General Catalyst India also participated, alongside Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia India), Calibrate Ventures, and a range of angels including Perplexity’s co-founder Andy Konwinski and professors from top institutions like UC Berkeley, MIT, and Princeton.
The funding will be used to:
- Hire top AI and education talent,
- Improve the platform’s underlying models,
- Expand deployment globally.
Solving Bloom’s Two-Sigma Problem with AI
SigIQ.ai is targeting a longstanding challenge in education: Bloom’s Two-Sigma Problem, which shows that one-on-one tutoring improves student performance by two standard deviations over traditional classroom learning. However, such tutoring has always been expensive and inaccessible to most.
By shifting the cost of personalization from human labor to AI computation, SigIQ.ai wants to make elite tutoring accessible and scalable.
“Modern GenAI can now offer a personal 1:1 tutor to every student, reducing the cost from hundreds of dollars an hour to just the cost of computation,” said Dr. Karttikeya Mangalam, co-founder and CEO of SigIQ.ai.
Two Flagship Products, One Global Mission
PadhAI: Targeting India’s UPSC Aspirants
SigIQ’s first product, PadhAI, is tailored for UPSC candidates. In just six months, it has attracted over 200,000 users in India. Its success was cemented with the record-breaking UPSC live demo in June 2024.
EverTutor.ai: Expanding to the US with GRE Prep
In the US market, EverTutor.ai is now helping students prepare for the GRE. Launched just three months ago, it already boasts over 10,000 users. More expansions are planned for the upcoming GRE test seasons.
How It Works: Beyond Chatbots to Real Tutors
What sets SigIQ.ai apart from typical educational chatbots is the depth of personalization. The AI doesn’t just answer questions; it engages in follow-up discussions, adapts to each student’s level, and offers detailed feedback.
Reported user outcomes include:
- 30–40% increase in effective study time,
- 18% performance improvement in the first month,
- 75% of users feel more confident with difficult topics within three weeks.
A Personal Mission Rooted in Educational Inequality
Dr. Karttikeya Mangalam, who grew up in Muzaffarpur, Bihar — an area with limited academic infrastructure — co-founded SigIQ.ai in July 2023 with Prof. Kurt Keutzer of the Berkeley AI Research Lab. The startup reflects their shared ambition: removing geographic and economic barriers to education.
What’s Next for SigIQ.ai
SigIQ.ai will be showcasing its latest advancements at ASU+GSV, a major education innovation conference. The startup’s long-term vision extends beyond test prep, with plans to address mainstream curricula, different languages, and broader learning needs globally.
In a world increasingly shaped by AI, the company argues that access to elite-level education shouldn’t be a privilege— it should be a universal right.
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