$1.30 per student, per term. A live pilot of 154 students. No internet required. Documented, replicable, and open to independent verification.
§ 01Executive summary
Akaalo builds offline AI for education. The current product, Nambi, runs on low-cost Android tablets with no internet connection, and is deployed at a vocational training centre in Nansana, Uganda. The pilot establishes the model, the unit economics and the delivery method before scale.
§ 02Evidence available
The evidence pack is assembled from data generated on the device during live sessions, and is shared with verified funders and research partners on request:
- Methodology note: the offline architecture, the curriculum, and the evaluation framework
- Anonymised session logs from live use
- Assessment and progress data, with measurement periods
- Cost breakdown at cohort level
- Entity documentation and financial statements
Outcome evaluation is in progress. We publish outcome figures, with their method and period, only once they are measured. We do not present projections as results.
§ 03Methodology
Sessions run on shared Android tablets. The model, a custom build fine-tuned from an open Qwen base, runs locally; the curriculum and retrieval are stored on the device; there is no network call and no cloud dependency. Each session is written to a local database and exported for reporting. Because the data is generated on the device rather than collected remotely, it can be handed to a third party for independent analysis.
§ 04Cost structure
The fully loaded cost is $1.30 per student, per term: curriculum, local delivery and administration, with hardware amortised across its service life. There are no ongoing data or subscription costs after deployment, so the recurring cost profile is unusually low for an education technology intervention.
Detailed cost breakdowns, and the underlying assumptions, are provided in the evidence pack rather than reduced to headline percentages on this page.
§ 05Governance
- Entity
- Akaalo Ltd
- Registration
- Uganda (URSB, 2023) and Ireland (CRO, 2025)
- Programme
- Nurture Africa VTC, Nansana, Uganda
- Reporting
- Quarterly outcomes, financial reports, ad-hoc requests
- Contact
- hello@akaalo.com
§ 06What funding is for
- Scale-up: more learners and additional training centres
- Curriculum: trade-specific modules that link digital skills to vocational subjects
- Language: extending coverage beyond English and Luganda
- Research: independent evaluation of offline AI in low-connectivity classrooms
- Other domains: adapting the same offline engine for health and agriculture
We work with single and multi-year funding, and align reporting to the funder's cycle.
§ 07Process
- Enquiry: tell us your priorities.
- Due diligence: a short call and the evidence pack, including the methodology and financial documentation.
- Proposal: we co-create a scope aligned to your outcomes and reporting cycle.
- Delivery and reporting: disbursement against agreed milestones, with quarterly reporting.