Sahil Sameer, Mohammed Shahid, Sebbin Joshy and Amith Tony Joseph, Founders of OpenGrad Foundation.
Challenging the dominance of costly private coaching centres, a mentor-led non-profit organization provides free coaching to students to crack entrance exams.
Run by alumni of Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Indore along with professionals from technology and management backgrounds, OpenGrad Foundation offers free coaching for Common Admission Test (CAT) and other MBA entrance exams.
Founded by Sahil Sameer, Sebbin Joshy, Mohammed Shahid and Amith Tony Joseph, the organization connects candidates with mentors who have recently cleared these exams and offers structured study plans, live online courses, recorded sessions with no expiry, mock tests and interview preparation.
Mr. Sahil, a native of Kozhikode, told The Hindu that the initiative arose out of what he describes as a structural gap in the education system. “Schools are not measured by what happens to students after 12th grade. But getting into a good college today depends on passing competitive exams. That’s where many students need guidance,” he said, adding that higher education allows for both economic mobility and wider social exposure.
The program began modestly with 80 candidates for the May 2023 CAT selected through an application process based on economic criteria; 47 secured admission to business schools. The following year, 500 students enrolled, of whom 101 joined the IIMs. Many alumni subsequently returned as mentors, expanding the network of volunteers to more than 1,000 and strengthening what the founders described as a peer-to-peer mentoring model.
Ankith Suman, now pursuing MBA at IIM Ahmedabad, prepared for CAT 2023 using OpenGrad’s YouTube courses and guidance from mentors. He scored 99.8 percentile and later secured admission to the institute. “It was not just curriculum oriented. There was motivation and importantly guidance in Malayalam, which is rare,” he said. He added that during his IIM interview, mock interviews conducted during an early bootcamp in Kochi helped him. “From strategy sessions to understanding the admissions process, I had support until I entered college,” he said, noting that he avoided paid coaching because of what he considered “exorbitant” fees.
Meanwhile, Sri Lakshmi NS, a native of Kollam working at Technopark, enrolled after a friend of his got into IIM Raipur through the program. “They give a clear plan before we start. Class recordings don’t have expiration dates and we can question acceptance,” she said, adding that frank discussions about MBA majors helped her make informed decisions.
Published – 12 Feb 2026 20:34 IST