How NIVAA Began

Nivaa — a portmanteau of ‘Nivedita’ and ‘Arnav’, the two children who inspired this startup. The fact that it also meant ‘to bear fruit’ or ‘meaningfully communicate’ in Hebrew was a happy coincidence.

I’m Nandini Gupta, a senior at Singapore American School drawn to biological sciences and the human brain, driven by my sister Nivu’s severe autism and global developmental delay (GDD). I am curious about exploring the compelling intersections of neuroscience, education, and human potential.

In my internship at Duke-NUS with Dr. Hongyan Wang’s lab, I contributed to autism research on neural gene expression. I also founded SAS’s Neuro-Tech Club and produced a safer-heading sports science guide (Cortex & Cleats). But beyond theory, families in Singapore faced an immediate, grinding daily hurdle: accessing qualified special needs educators.

The Problem

One of the biggest challenges families with special needs children face is fragmented access to allied health specialists. Finding an educator who understands sensory regulation, behavioral therapy, and MOE academic expectations was previously left to word of mouth, unresponsive agencies, and unregulated forums.

The Solution

Launch an intelligent matching platform that pairs families with verified educators. Parents get transparency and vetted quality; freelance therapists get scheduling flexibility, above-market compensation, and zero administrative headache.

The Pivot: Focus on ONE Service and Do It Well

Early on, we attempted to be an all-in-one directory for occupational therapy, speech therapy, educational therapy, and psychology. It was too broad, slow, and operationally scattered.

The Key Lesson: We pivoted strictly to Special Needs (SPED) Home Tuition. By doing one thing exceptionally well, our speed and reliability skyrocketed. Response time dropped from ~36 hours down to under 2 minutes using automated workflows, and time-to-match dropped to less than 24 hours.

Standardized digital matching, tutor onboarding, and weekly progress updates.

Financials & Future Vision

Through two years of humble lessons, testing product-market fit, and tight operational discipline, Nivaa has steadily grown. We average S$60,000+ in monthly revenue and are tracking toward S$1M ARR.

Crucially, institutional and school partnerships (Fei Yue, PPIS, Tzu Chi Foundation) now subsidize placements for low-income families, making private special-needs tuition truly accessible island-wide.

Ethics Declaration

I co-founded NIVAA alongside high school and various academic commitments. I benefited from real support and privilege, especially from my mentors who pushed critical thinking, experimentation, and gave me autonomy. NIVAA evolved from a student project into an operating unit of Kaleidoscope Therapy Group. When I leave for college, I will hand operational management over to my mentors, Dr. Bipin Bhola and Mr. Aaron Ang. These milestones are shared with Aaron, Nicole, and Nur Billah. For giving me the space to experiment and learn, thank you.

1. The Straits Times: S'pore families spent $1.8 billion on private tuition in 2023.

2. Ministry of Education Parliamentary Transcript on Special Educational Needs Support.

3. Household Expenditure Survey, Singapore Department of Statistics.

Nivaa.SG — A Case Study