The Circle India

The Circle is a nonprofit organisation working to reinvent education in India by identifying, incubating, and supporting entrepreneurs who are building innovative schools, after-school programmes, and learning models for children from underserved communities. Founded by former Teach For India leader Sandeep Rai, the organisation works to strengthen education systems by nurturing a network of mission-driven education entrepreneurs and providing long-term support for school transformation.

The Circle combines incubation, leadership development, coaching, funding support, and a lifelong community of educators to help founders build and scale impactful learning models. Through partnerships with education leaders, philanthropists, and ecosystem organisations, it aims to create a new generation of schools and learning spaces that improve educational opportunities across India.

Head Quaters : Mumbai, Maharashtra

Major Areas of Work

Education Entrepreneurship: Incubates and supports founders building innovative schools and learning models for underserved communities.

School Innovation: Helps design and strengthen schools through leadership development, coaching, strategic planning, and operational support.

Leadership Development: Builds the capacity of education entrepreneurs, school leaders, and educators through mentoring, fellowships, and professional development.

Education Ecosystem Building: Connects entrepreneurs with mentors, advisors, funders, and education organisations to accelerate system-wide change.

Research & Model Development: Supports the development and testing of innovative education models that can be scaled across India.

Major Initiatives & Programmes

The Circle Incubation: An intensive incubation programme that supports education entrepreneurs in designing, launching, and scaling schools and after-school learning centres.

Lifetime of Support: A long-term network providing coaching, professional development, peer learning, resources, and strategic guidance to incubated entrepreneurs throughout their journey.

Leadership & Coaching: Offers one-on-one mentoring, expert coaching, leadership development, and access to national and international education experts.

School Innovation Network: Builds a collaborative network of schools and education organisations committed to improving learning outcomes and educational equity.

Impact

The Circle is building a growing national network of education entrepreneurs, schools, and after-school centres committed to transforming education for underserved children. Through long-term incubation, mentoring, and ecosystem partnerships, the organisation is strengthening innovative school models and supporting leaders who are driving systemic change in India's education sector.

Leadership

Founder & CEO – Sandeep Rai

Senior Director – Incubation & Network – Pooja Chopra

The Circle is an excellent fit for professionals passionate about education, entrepreneurship, leadership development, school innovation, programme management, public policy, and systems change. Employees work closely with education entrepreneurs, school leaders, governments, and sector experts to build innovative learning models with long-term social impact.