Ever wondered what the chaotic reality of an ambitious student looks like? Dirghayu Kaushik, founder of ‘Ambitio’, opines, “Questions like which university to apply to and where one holds the most chance of getting through haunt us.”

Years ago, Dirghayu faced the same struggles. “I wanted to pursue a master’s degree but didn’t know which college to choose. The paperwork and the anxiety of it all was making me very tense,” he recalls.

In his search for guidance, he was met with nothing but overpriced solutions. Frustrated by the lack of accessible options, he founded Ambitio, an AI-driven admissions platform, designed to help students secure spots at top global universities.

In 2023, Dirghayu teamed up with two of his college friends, Vikrant Shivalik and Vaibhav Tyagi, to launch the startup. They began by refining the profiles of 25 students, helping them secure admissions at prestigious institutions.

“We initiated this process by leveraging Notion templates, Airtable, and other local platforms to create a small MVP (Minimum Viable Product),” shares Dirghayu.

At its core, Ambitio simplifies the admissions process using AI. “We employ AI in two primary areas. First, we use it to assist students in determining the most suitable programme or university,” Dirghayu explains.

The AI-driven recommendation system engine analyses over 15 million data points to generate these personalised suggestions.

Unlike traditional tools, Ambitio’s AI doesn’t just look at eligibility criteria—it also considers individual preferences, saving valuable time and effort.

The second area where AI helps students is crafting standout personal essays. "Once students choose their college, the next step is to write a stellar essay. We have trained our model on 5,000 successful essays from top universities,” shares Dirghayu.

Ambitio is largely free for students to use, with a small paid subscription only for the phase that requires management of essays and applications. Everything before that, including finding the right college and applying for scholarships, is covered under the free plan.

The platform recently raised Rs 1.5 crore in pre-seed funding. “We want to entail aggressive growth within the Indian market,” says Dirghayu. They aim to scale to 2,500 students per intake while expanding their services to include undergraduate admissions.

Prakhar Kamal, a satisfied client, shares his experience, “When I started using Ambitio, I regained confidence in myself. I was able to use their services to find the colleges that suit me and then choose the right one.”