Assessli Startup Story
Assessli is an Indian deep-tech AI startup founded in 2022 by Suraj Biswas, Sourabh Gupta and Aruna Dey. The company is developing Large Behavioural Models (LBMs), an AI approach designed to combine behavioral, psychological, genomic and other human metadata to create highly personalised AI systems.
The company started with a strong focus on personalised education and has expanded its vision toward applications across education, HR, healthcare, finance and other sectors.
Key Highlights
Founded in 2022 by Suraj Biswas, Sourabh Gupta and Aruna Dey.
Assessli is a deep-tech AI company based in Kolkata, with a Bengaluru presence as well.
Its core technology is the Large Behavioural Model (LBM).
The company combines behavioral, cognitive, genomic and other human metadata.
Assessli aims to create highly personalised AI systems and digital representations of individuals.
The company was initially focused heavily on personalised education.
Assessli has expanded its applications toward HR, healthcare, finance and other domains.
The company announced a ₹44.37 crore seed funding round from Foxhog Ventures in September 2025, but later clarified that no funding agreement or transaction was executed.
Assessli continues to position itself around responsible and privacy-conscious AI development.
Who Founded Assessli?
Assessli was founded by
Suraj Biswas — Founder & CEO
Sourabh Gupta — Co-Founder & CTO
Aruna Dey — Co-Founder & CLO
The founders have worked on combining AI, behavioral science and data-driven personalisation to develop a different approach from conventional language-focused AI systems.
Suraj Biswas
Suraj Biswas is the Founder and CEO of Assessli.
He holds a BS in Genetics and has worked at the intersection of genetics, education and artificial intelligence.
Before building Assessli, Biswas worked as a Zomato delivery partner while developing his ideas and technology. He has described this period as part of his journey toward building the company.
His background in genetics became relevant to Assessli's broader vision of combining biological and behavioral information with AI.
Sourabh Gupta
Sourabh Gupta is a co-founder and technology leader at Assessli.
He has been involved in the development of the company's AI architecture and Large Behavioural Model technology.
Aruna Dey
Aruna Dey is a co-founder and legal and business leader at Assessli.
She has been involved in the company's legal, commercial and strategic development.
What Does Assessli Do?
Assessli is building AI systems designed to understand individuals beyond simple text interactions.
Traditional Large Language Models primarily learn patterns from text and other digital information.
Assessli's Large Behavioural Model is designed around a different concept: understanding human behavior and characteristics using multiple forms of human metadata.
The company's technology aims to combine information such as
Behavioral data
Cognitive information
Psychological attributes
Genomic information
Medical information
Digital behavior
Environmental or habitat information
The objective is to create more personalised AI experiences.
What Is a Large Behavioural Model?
A Large Behavioural Model, or LBM, is Assessli's proprietary AI approach focused on modeling human behavior rather than simply understanding language.
The company describes its LBM as a foundation model that can continuously adapt using behavioral, biological and other human metadata.
The broader goal is to create AI that understands an individual's characteristics, needs and patterns and can use that information to provide personalised outcomes.
Assessli and Personalised Education
Education has been one of Assessli's early application areas.
Its education platform uses behavioral and assessment data to understand individual learners.
The system can analyse factors such as
Focus
Retention
Learning pace
Motivation
Skill gaps
Learning behavior
It can then help create personalised learning paths, assessments and recommendations.
The company says its technology can help teachers identify why a student is struggling rather than simply identifying whether the student passed or failed.
From Zomato Delivery Work to AI
One of the most notable parts of Suraj Biswas's journey is that he worked as a Zomato delivery partner while pursuing his education and developing his ideas.
He has described using this work to support himself while continuing to work on technology and education-related ideas.
The journey eventually led to the creation of Assessli in 2022.
This background became an important part of the company's founder story, particularly because the startup was initially built with limited resources.
Assessli Funding
Assessli's funding history requires an important clarification.
In September 2025, several publications reported that Assessli had raised ₹44.37 crore, approximately $5 million, from Foxhog Ventures.
However, Assessli later stated that no funding agreement, term sheet or transaction had actually been executed with Foxhog Ventures.
Foxhog also stated that the proposed investment did not materialise after its due-diligence process.
Therefore, the ₹44.37 crore should not be presented as confirmed completed funding.
Assessli's Technology Strength
The company's main technological differentiation is its focus on combining multiple categories of human data.
Instead of relying only on language or conventional user behavior, Assessli aims to build a broader human-data layer.
Its stated technology areas include
Behavioral AI
Genomics
Neuropsychology
Personalisation
Digital human modeling
Adaptive AI
Privacy-conscious data processing
Assessli also describes using encrypted and edge-based approaches for sensitive information, with differential privacy techniques intended to protect user data.
Applications Across Industries
Assessli's technology is designed to be used across multiple sectors.
Education
Personalised learning, assessments and adaptive educational content.
Human Resources
Candidate assessment, workforce intelligence and personalised employee development.
Healthcare
Behavioral analysis, personalised insights and potential early-risk identification.
Finance
Personalised financial experiences and decision-support applications.
E-commerce
More personalised product and consumer experiences.
The company describes its LBM platform as domain-agnostic and capable of being integrated into different use cases.
Global Expansion
Assessli has stated plans to expand into international markets including the United States and United Kingdom.
The company is also working toward partnerships and ecosystem relationships to expand the commercial applications of its technology.
Its development has included connections with the Indian Statistical Institute in Kolkata and NASSCOM-related initiatives.
Recognition & Achievements
Assessli has received recognition for its AI and education work.
The company's own materials list recognition including
India Digital Enabler Award by Entrepreneur India
NASSCOM recognition among responsible AI startups
IDEA recognition for use of machine learning
Startup Brilliance Award
QS Reimagine Education recognition
Endorsement from the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata
Key Challenges
Building a new category of AI is significantly more difficult than developing a conventional software product.
Assessli faces challenges including
Developing reliable behavioral models
Accessing high-quality human data
Protecting sensitive personal and genomic information
Building commercial applications for a new technology category
Convincing enterprises to adopt deep-tech AI
Competing for technical talent
Turning research into scalable commercial products
The company also has to establish clear evidence for its personalization claims as it moves from research and pilots toward broader commercial adoption.
What Makes Assessli Different?
Assessli's central idea is different from conventional generative AI.
The company is not simply trying to build another chatbot.
Its objective is to build AI that understands the individual behind the interaction.
Its model can be simplified as
Human Data + Behavioral Science + Genomics + AI = Personalised Intelligence
This creates potential applications across several industries rather than limiting the technology to one product.
What Can Startups Learn From Assessli?
Start With a Real Problem
Assessli began with a focus on personalised education rather than attempting to solve every AI problem at once.
Build Deep Technology
The company is developing foundational technology rather than simply packaging existing AI models.
Use Your Background as an Advantage
Suraj Biswas's genetics background became relevant to the company's approach to human-centric AI.
Resource Constraints Can Build Resilience
The early journey involved limited resources and unconventional work, but the founders continued developing the technology.
Trust and Privacy Matter
AI systems dealing with behavioral and genomic information need strong privacy and security practices.
Research Must Become a Product
Deep technology creates long-term value only when it can eventually solve real customer problems at commercial scale.
Summary Takeaway
💡 **Key Takeaway:** Assessli is attempting to build a new layer of AI focused on understanding human behavior, combining behavioral, cognitive and biological information to create more personalised systems.
Founded in 2022 by Suraj Biswas, Sourabh Gupta and Aruna Dey, the company has developed its Large Behavioural Model around applications in education and other industries.
The reported ₹44.37 crore Foxhog funding should be treated carefully because Assessli later clarified that no investment transaction was completed.
The bigger opportunity for Assessli is whether its research-heavy technology can become a reliable, privacy-conscious and commercially scalable AI platform for personalised experiences.
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