Turn.io launches the Chat for Learning & AI Accelerator to advance education through chat and AI

Across Africa and India, education systems face entrenched challenges, overcrowded classrooms, limited resources, and uneven access to quality learning materials. The Chat for Learning & AI Accelerator helps proven education organisations strengthen, scale, and measure their impact using AI-powered chat on WhatsApp.

Rather than sourcing new innovations, the programme focuses on what’s already working, and helps it work even better and scale through stronger pedagogy, frontier AI integration, and embedded measurement.

Over six months, each participating organisation will receive hands-on, practical support designed to enhance pedagogy, technology, and evidence of learning impact.

Participants gain:

• Access to Turn.io’s no-code WhatsApp platform – trusted globally for delivering large-scale, secure, impact-driven chat solutions and specialist mentorship from Turn.io’s cross-functional team and pedagogy, AI, and monitoring and evaluation experts.

• Applied AI engineering support from Anthropic, including technical guidance to help participants integrate Claude safely.

• Frontier AI integration tools to personalise feedback, generate adaptive learning content, and support teachers and students safely and effectively.

• Embedded measurement and evidence support, including guidance on designing rapid learning cycles, running A/B tests, and measuring improvements in student learning, teacher practice, and engagement.

• Peer learning and collaboration, through a close-knit cohort that shares findings, co-develops open-access playbooks, and contributes to sector-wide evidence on how AI and chat improve learning outcomes.

Each organisation will move through multiple cycles of design, testing, and refinement – building stronger, more scalable chat-based learning models backed by real-world data. The support the cohort will receive is valued at $500,000 and includes access to the Turn.io platform, WhatsApp messaging credits, up to $10,000 in Claude API credits per participant and the expert mentorship and technical guidance detailed above.

“By building on existing, successful education services, we can use AI to improve efficiency and accelerate progress dramatically,” said Pippa Yeats, co-founder of Turn.io. “This accelerator focuses on strengthening what already works, helping proven solutions use Chat & AI to deliver learning more effectively, reach more people, and adapt faster to real-world needs.”

Two organisations previously supported by Turn.io’s accelerator programmes illustrate this impact. Darsel has advanced its maths learning chatbot, using AI and chat to deliver more adaptive and engaging learning experiences for students in low-resource settings. Angaza Elimu’s Kalamu Teacher Chatbot in Kenya, recently highlighted by the African Union’s Innovating Education in Africa (IEA) 2025 Programme, supports teachers across Africa with lesson planning, personalised coaching, and progress tracking – all through WhatsApp.

Who should apply

The Chat for Learning & AI Accelerator is open to learning organisations operating specifically in India, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa that already reach at least 5,000 learners or 1,000 teachers, and are ready to scale their impact through chat and AI.

Ideal applicants are organisations that:

• Have a clear learning goal aligned with curriculum or national priorities.
  
• Demonstrate strong user engagement and retention.
  
• Already use WhatsApp or plan to integrate it into their learning solution.
  
• Have a committed team ready to participate actively in a six-month learning and building journey.
  
• Are ambitious about expanding reach and improving measurable learning outcomes.

Priority will be given to organisations with the potential to influence broader system-level change across the Global South.

Applications close on 12 December 2025. For more information or to apply, visit https://www.turn.io/accelerator/learningai.