India | 4 years | Assistive Tech & EdTech
Founded by Suraj Meiyur and Sri Sowjanya Suraj, Next Skills 360 is a for-profit social enterprise on a mission to make 21st-century skilling accessible to all. The team designs inclusive, low-cost learning tools for underprivileged school students and learners with visual impairments—bridging the digital divide through coding, AI, and social-emotional skill development.
What are they building?
Self-learning app for digital skilling: A mobile-first platform teaching coding, AI, and emotional intelligence through accessible, interactive lessons tailored to blind and visually impaired students.
Instructor-led and hybrid learning solutions: Tailored training programs for public schools, NGOs, and skilling institutions reaching students in underserved communities.
The why?
After 14 years in IT, Suraj Meiyur was inspired by the stories of social entrepreneurs who were serving their country in new ways. His own introduction to coding as a child gave him a sense of possibility—and it was clear that millions of students in India still lacked that same access. Today, more than 70% of Indian schools still don’t have computers.
The gap between private and public school access to digital education keeps growing. Suraj saw an urgent need:
if underprivileged students—especially those with visual impairments—were left behind in digital literacy, the future would only become more unequal.
Next Skills 360 was born to change that. With co-founder Sri Sowjanya Suraj, they’ve developed inclusive digital tools that make advanced skills like AI and programming accessible to students who are often excluded from tech education. Their work empowers learners to gain confidence, create, and connect.
SEED Inclusivity Program Journey
Through the SEED Inclusivity Program, Next Skills 360 unlocked real market access. From day one, the team was introduced to institutions and government departments working with visually impaired learners, enabling new partnerships and outreach.
A key part of their journey has been experimenting with structured feedback loops—testing their tools with students and teachers, documenting outcomes, and using the data to continuously improve the product. This structured experimentation has become part of how they work, helping track impact and pivot when needed.
The weekly mentorship calls with the SEED team, especially with EIR Neelima, helped them tailor their offering for the Assistive Tech space and focus their strategy. The program equipped them with not just resources, but real connections and clarity on how to scale their mission.
Recent Achievements
- Conducted a pilot skilling program with visually impaired students in Hyderabad
- Developed and published a detailed impact report on the pilot
- Secured a 3-year CSR-sponsored project to teach foundational coding, AI, and social-emotional skills to visually impaired learners
- Built a digital peer-learning community: students from the pilot continue to independently code and share their outputs months after completing the course
“What SEED Inclusivity does for social startups can be summarized in 5Es – they Enrich, Equip, Empower, Enable and Elevate. Kudos!”
— Suraj Meiyur