Vidysea Education today signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) during the national launch of the National Entrepreneurs Empowerment Drive (NEED). Vidysea is one of 15 anchor industry partners handpicked by NSDC to transform 30 lakh village youth into entrepreneurs and job creators in 28 states
Published: May 1, 2026 9:28 PM IST
In a historic step for rural entrepreneurship, Vidysea Education today signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) during the national launch of the National Entrepreneurs Empowerment Drive (NEED) at Birla Auditorium. This mission is spearheaded by its Founder & CEO, Karunn Kandoi, a Jaipur-groomed entrepreneur who has built Vidysea with a singular mission: to ensure that no young Indian, regardless of their Panchayat, is left without access to career guidance, livelihood pathways, and educational opportunity.
Vidysea is one of 15 anchor industry partners handpicked by NSDC to drive this national mission — a programme that aims to transform 30 lakh village youth into entrepreneurs and job creators across 2 lakh Gram Panchayats in 28 States.
A homecoming mission for Jaipur’s own
For Karunn Kandoi, a Jaipur native, the choice of his home city for this national launch carries deep personal meaning. Having spent years studying India’s education and employment ecosystem — the absence of career guidance in villages, the disconnect between rural youth and organised employers, and the chronic underutilisation of government schemes — he built Vidysea as his answer. Kandoi is now leading Vidysea’s TalentSync initiative to establish a professional Career Development Officer (CDO) in every partnered Panchayat.
“Every time I travel to a village in UP or Rajasthan or Bihar, I meet the same person — a bright young graduate who doesn’t know what to do next. Not because the opportunity isn’t there. The opportunity is there. The college seats are there. The job openings are there. The government schemes are there. What is missing is someone to connect them to it. The CDO is that person. We are not building an app. We are building India’s largest career guidance network, one Panchayat at a time.”
Sameer Upadhyay, Co-Founder & CSRO of Vidysea, highlighted the collaborative effort, “We are deeply honoured to stand alongside NSDC as an Anchor Partner in NEED. This moment would not have been possible without the exceptional leadership of NSDC and the tireless work of Ms. Preet Sandhu and the Startup Stairs team, who had the vision to bring the right organisations together under one framework. What we are launching today is not just a programme — it is a promise to India’s villages that enterprise, opportunity, and institutional support will reach their doorstep.”
Vidysea’s impact: The CDO revolution
Under the NEED framework, Vidysea will establish a network of Career Development Officers — trained, technology-enabled local professionals who run career and livelihood centres from within their own Gram Panchayat. Each CDO centre operates as a Social Support Centre for its community, built on a foundational principle:
- No fees are charged from students and families for most of the services: CDOs never charge students or families for their services.
- Service Excellence: Using Vidysea’s AI-powered PathLynks platform, CDOs guide youth on career pathways, domestic and international university admissions, job placements, skill programme enrolments, and government scheme registrations.
- Entrepreneurial Support: CDOs also facilitate access to credit through Mudra and MYSY loans, helping local micro-entrepreneurs establish and grow their businesses.
Strategic partnership and government support
The event was graced by Shri Bhajan Lal Sharma (Hon’ble CM, Rajasthan), Shri Dharmendra Pradhan (Hon’ble Union Minister for Education), and Shri Jayant Chaudhary (Union MoS, IC, MSDE). The initiative draws additional momentum from Rajasthan’s pioneering Mukhyamantri Yuva Swarojgar Yojana, providing interest-free loans of up to ₹10 lakh to support the entrepreneurs identified through NEED.
The programme architecture was curated by Startup Stairs, led by Managing Director Preet Sandhu, who served as the architect of the NEED framework and the operational bridge between NSDC’s national mandate and the industry ecosystem required to deliver it at Panchayat level.
Sanjeeva Singh, Chief Programme Officer, NSDC, speaking at the launch, said, “NEED is a direct expression of our Prime Minister’s vision of Viksit Bharat 2047 — the belief that India cannot be truly developed until every Panchayat, every village, every family participates in its growth story. Anchor partners like Vidysea are the critical link in making that vision a reality. They bring not just a brand name but a functioning enterprise model, proven technology, and the operational commitment to work at the Gram Panchayat level day after day. It is through partners of this calibre that we will ensure the true Bharat — the citizens who live beyond our Tier 1 cities — is genuinely empowered, and not merely reached. NEED is our commitment that the fruits of India’s growth will extend to the last Panchayat.”
About Vidysea education
Vidysea Education Pvt. Ltd. is an Indian education technology and career guidance company on a mission to place a trained Career Development Officer in every Gram Panchayat in India. Through its AI-powered PathLynks platform and the Talent Sync CDO network, Vidysea connects rural youth to career pathways, college admissions, job placements, skill programmes, government schemes, and online education — through a locally established, community-trusted professional. Founded by Karunn Kandoi (Founder & CEO) and Sameer (Co-Founder & CSRO), Vidysea targets 2,00,000 Panchayats across India.
