The dusty streets of Bavdhan which is a suburb city located along the Western Metropolitan Corridor of Pune, Maharashtra, India weren’t exactly the breeding ground for tech unicorns. Yet, in a cramped, rented shed amidst the din of auto rickshaws, Dr. Surpiya Sumedh Ramteke, a young woman then with audacious dreams, was nurturing a revolution. Her canvas? Not silicon chips, but the minds of young India. This is the story of how an unlikely entrepreneur, armed with nothing but grit and a vision, transformed a shoestring operation into one of India’s EdTech powerhouses.
Surpiya’s journey began not in boardrooms, but in classrooms. As a passionate educator, she witnessed firsthand the limitations of traditional learning methods. The rote memorization, the one-size-fits-all approach, the suffocating uniformity – it all grated against her belief in nurturing individual potential. So, she decided to rewrite the script.
She commenced her drive & adventure by connecting and networking with near by college to use their infra structure and laboratory and promote upcoming technology like Cad/CAM/CAE . embedded and more. At a very low cost she along with her team started delivering latest and upcoming technology and started sourcing new clients. Her approach in her products promoted project based learning which helped the less advanced students to climb the ladder with the use of her technology infused with practical training mechanisms. Due to the practical approach in learning the demand amongst students has increased drastically. Recently Dr. Supriya encouraged students to work on a National project of Online Video recording to make remarkable achievement to achieve Gunnies 2023. Her Team work in data collection, data processing, data synchronization uploading of data to Gunnies portal achieved this remarkable growth in just 7 to 8 days
Word of Surpiya’s magic touch spread like wildfire. Parents saw their children blossom, not just academically, but also in confidence and creativity. Teachers, yearning for a break from the monotony, flocked to her makeshift training sessions. Slowly, the shed metamorphosed into a digital hub, buzzing with the development of online learning modules and mobile apps.
Funding, initially hesitant, eventually came knocking. Investors, smitten by Surpiya’s infectious passion and the disruptive potential of her model, lined up to back her vision. The shed gave way to gleaming offices, the borrowed laptop to a fleet of servers, and the ragtag team of volunteers to a passionate army of educators and tech wizards.
But Surpiya never forgot her roots. Her company, now a household name, retained its commitment to affordability and accessibility. Her online courses reached the remotest corners of India, offering underprivileged children a ladder to climb out of poverty. Her focus on rural education, a passion often neglected by big tech, earned her accolades and awards.
Today, Dr. Surpiya stands tall as a titan of the EdTech landscape. Her company, a testament to her unwavering belief in the power of education, empowers millions of students across India and beyond. The story of that dusty shed, a testament to the audacity of hope, serves as an inspiration to aspiring entrepreneurs everywhere – a reminder that sometimes, the most revolutionary ideas bloom in the unlikeliest of places.
Dr J Anand
So, the next time you hear about India’s EdTech boom, remember the woman who started it all – Dr. Surpiya, the queen who built her castle, not in the clouds, but in a rented shed, brick by brick, fueled by the dreams of a billion young minds.
Dr. Supriya Sumedh Ramteke is the founder of Divy IT Solutions Pune and a leading Women Entrepreneur in Business Management Expert for Creation of the base for Lifelong Emerging Technological Learning.
She also enthusiastically involved and implemented G -20 National Conference on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy.Her Participatory approach in Discipline, Capacity Building, Manners, etiquites and Training of Teachers was highly appreciated by time to time. She was felicitated by Hon’ble Governor of Maharashtra & Chancellor of University of Pune for Excellent Contribution in Planning and Management of the G20 Summit. She is also involved in Information, Education and Communication activities under Department of Technology. The activities are signing of various MoU between Diva IT Solutions and Department of Technology.
Having all this achieved and much more she completed her Professional Doctorate from European International University-Paris as her commitment to lifelong learning as the key to success and growth. The Professional Doctorate award is one of the highest level of certification at the European International University (EIU-Paris).
To achieve this highest award, candidates go through a series of rigorous audit and evaluation of their personal and professional profiles and accomplishments along with significant contributions to society. In the French education system, this is popularly known as the VAE or Validation des Acquis de l’Expérience. The VAE is a procedure used to assess and recognize prior learning outcomes, consequently allowing any French educational institution to grant degrees partly or completely based on one’s substantiated work experience.
The audit and evaluation of candidates and submission of their “portfolio of evidences” are done by a team of industry experts which is led by the Dean of respective faculty.
Candidates’ social standing in their community/province/state/country is also gauged and validated through noteworthy their contributions published on print, electronic or social media, as well as achievements in the form of creation/invention/problem-solving/social engineering efforts.
The process for the achievement is acutely stringent making the selection worth commending a celebration.
Professional Doctorate from EIU-Paris via VAE (Validation des Acquis de l’Expérience) acknowledges and takes into account the actual translation of knowledge and expertise into real life application and contributions to society which makes it more prevailing than a traditional PhD with limited research (very narrow) and eventually the thesis sits on university shelf collecting dust.
