(March 2, 2026) When Kalyan Goud Janagam looks back at his journey from Hyderabad to Sydney, Singapore, and finally the London School of Economics, and at the journeys of other Indian study-abroad aspirants, he sees a pattern.
“Indian students are among the most capable globally,” he tells Global Indian. “Yet many remain underrepresented in fully funded programmes, not because of merit, but because of informational inequality.”
At 25, the London School of Economics (2025) alumnus and economics graduate from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, is working to solve that inequality. As Co-Founder of ImpactGrad, an international education initiative, the Hyderabad native is building what he describes as not just an admissions consultancy, but “a curated academic network” that connects Indian students directly with alumni and scholarship recipients from some of the world’s most competitive institutions.
In an era where global education has become both aspirational and expensive, ImpactGrad is betting on peer-led mentorship from those who have successfully navigated the system themselves.
An idea born from lived experience
Kalyan’s exposure to global education began early. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Economics at UNSW Sydney, after academic exposure across Singapore and Australia, including a prior year of study at SP Jain School of Global Management.
Those years were transformative. Living in multicultural environments and interacting with individuals from over 50 nationalities broadened his worldview. Later, his MSc at the London School of Economics deepened his engagement with academic and policy networks.
It was during this journey that he noticed a troubling gap. While Indian students were academically strong, many lacked access to credible mentorship that demystifies applications, scholarships, interviews, and documentation.
“The idea behind ImpactGrad emerged from a simple observation,” he explains. “Talented students often miss life-changing opportunities simply due to a lack of credible mentorship, clarity on applications, and access to structured preparation.”
A curated academic network
Through ImpactGrad he has been trying to bring together alumni and scholarship recipients from leading universities across the UK, USA, Europe, Australia, and Asia including mentors from Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, Harvard, Columbia, Tufts, Imperial College London, and King’s College London.
“Our model allows applicants to receive guidance directly from individuals who have successfully navigated these systems themselves,” Kalyan says.
The emphasis is on lived experience rather than generic advice. Many mentors in the network are recipients of highly competitive global scholarships such as the Chevening Scholarship and other fully funded programmes.
“Each mentor associated with ImpactGrad has been mentoring applicants for several years,” he notes. “Collectively, our network has already helped more than 300 students secure admissions into elite international institutions.”
Importantly, that number reflects the cumulative mentoring experience of the network much of which predates the formal creation of ImpactGrad.
“ImpactGrad as an organisation is relatively new,” he clarifies. “But our mentors have individually been guiding applicants informally for years through alumni groups, university societies, and personal mentorship.”
In other words, the platform formalises and structures a mentorship culture that already existed but was fragmented.
Building a bridge between Indian talent and global institutions
“We began by addressing the lack of structured guidance available to Indian applicants,” Kalyan explains. “However, we also support applicants who are studying or working abroad.”
ImpactGrad’s services cover mentorship, application strategy, interview preparation, scholarship guidance, documentation support, and profile building delivered by individuals who have themselves been selected by top institutions.
The initiative began as a largely voluntary mentorship platform. “ImpactGrad started as an alumni-led guidance initiative,” Kalyan says. “We still conduct many free mentorship sessions, webinars, and scholarship guidance programmes.”
However, as demand grew, sustainability became a factor. Today, ImpactGrad operates on a hybrid model.
“To sustain operations and provide structured services like application review, profile building, interview prep, documentation support, we now also offer paid consulting packages,” he explains. “So today it is mentorship-driven but professionally structured.”
Students discover ImpactGrad through LinkedIn, professional networks, referrals from past applicants and mentors, university outreach sessions, webinars, and education communities.
A small team with a global vision
ImpactGrad is currently led by Kalyan and two co-founders alongside a small group of senior mentors and advisors.
One of them is Sourabh Wade, a PhD from King’s College London and a Commonwealth Scholar. The other co-founder, Smruthy Emmanuel, oversees backend operations and ensures organisational continuity.
“We work closely with a small group of senior mentors and advisors who actively contribute to mentoring and application guidance,” Kalyan says.
The mentors have lived through the scholarship essays, recommendation letters, interviews, and financial planning challenges that aspirants now face. In a crowded education-consulting market, that authenticity becomes their differentiator.
Addressing informational inequality
“There’s a structural information gap,” mentions Kalyan. “Students in certain schools or cities have access to alumni networks, institutional counselling, and structured preparation. Others, equally capable, don’t.”
This informational inequality can mean the difference between applying for a fully funded Chevening Scholarship, and never even knowing it exists.
By building a trusted global alumni ecosystem, ImpactGrad aims to reduce that asymmetry. “When students secure fully funded scholarships, it changes not just their trajectory, but often their family’s trajectory,” Kalyan says. “Access to global education opens up research, policy, and career pathways that were previously inaccessible.”
Future plans
“My goal is to build ImpactGrad into a structured international guidance and access platform, not just admissions consulting, but a mentorship ecosystem,” he explains. “Alongside this, I also intend to remain engaged in research and policy-oriented work related to education access and social mobility.”
As thousands of Indian students dream of Oxford tutorials, Harvard classrooms, or LSE lecture halls, the difference between aspiration and acceptance often lies in guidance. Kalyan believes that guidance should not be a privilege.
“Global education shouldn’t depend on who you know,” he says. “It should depend on your merit and having the right information to present it.”
- Follow Kalyan Goud Janagam on LinkedIn
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