Global AI Impact Commons
AI-Powered Digital Therapy Platform for Children with Brain based Visual Impairment (CVI)
India
Healthcare
Implementing Organisation
Grailmaker Innovations Private Limited
India, Telangana, Hyderabad
Implementing Point of Contact
Prathyusha Potharaju
Product & Research Lead
Contributor of the Impact Story
Carnegie India
Year of implementation
2021
Problem statement
Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI) affects 36 million children globally and is the leading cause of childhood visual impairment. Unlike eye conditions, CVI results from brain damage affecting how children process what they see. Their eyes are healthy, but the brain cannot interpret visual information, making the world appear chaotic. It is the most common visual condition in children with Cerebral Palsy and Down Syndrome. Early intervention during the first five years, when neuroplasticity is at peak, can significantly improve outcomes. However, 80% of children miss this critical window. Specialised therapists are concentrated in urban hospitals, leaving rural families without access. Traditional therapy costs ₹4 lakh annually in India, and mothers spend 3-5 hours daily travelling to clinics, often leaving employment to manage care. Therapists spend one-third of their time preparing customised materials, limiting how many children they can serve. Long waiting lists mean children lose precious months during optimal intervention. The result: children who need therapy most, those in remote areas and low-income families, are least likely to receive it, leading to lifelong disability, reduced independence, and economic strain on families.
Impact story details
Grailmaker Innovations is a social enterprise founded in 2021 in Hyderabad, India. We develop assistive technology for children with disabilities, with our flagship product Vision Nanny addressing Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI), the leading cause of childhood visual impairment globally. Our founding team combines clinical expertise in vision rehabilitation with technology and product development. The company emerged from work at LV Prasad Eye Institute, where our co-founders witnessed the gap between therapy children need and what families can access. Mothers travelled long hours to clinics for therapy, while therapists spent hours customising the activities for each child. Vision Nanny was built through collaboration with rehabilitation specialists, tested iteratively with children and caregivers, and designed for resource-limited settings. The platform has been clinically validated through partnerships with LV Prasad Eye Institute (a WHO Collaborating Centre), and is widely used by therapists and parents from Dr. Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital, Akshadhaa Foundation and Manipal Hospitals. Beyond clinical settings, we have pioneered community-based delivery through partnerships with Vision Aid, training community health workers in rural Odisha to deliver therapy in 21 villages, reaching 3,000 children who had never accessed vision therapy before. Our work has been recognised through Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2025 (Social Impact), Bayer Women Entrepreneur Award 2025, and Halcyon Equity Tech Fellowship 2024. We have published peer-reviewed research in the Indian Journal of Ophthalmology and spoken at G20 side events on disability inclusion. Grailmaker operates as a for-profit social enterprise with a B2B, B2C, and B2G model, approaching operational sustainability while reaching underserved communities.
AI Technology Used
Key Outcomes
Access
Reach, Inclusion
Equity, Economic Value Creation, User Experience
Satisfaction, Accuracy
Quality Improvement
Narrative Outcome
Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI) affects millions of children globally and is the leading cause of childhood visual impairment. Early intervention is critical, but traditional clinic-based therapy is expensive, time-intensive, and inaccessible to most families. Vision Nanny provides AI-powered digital therapy that families can use at home. Over 7000 children now receive therapy through the platform. Annual costs have dropped from approximately ₹4 lakh (traditional clinic-based therapy including travel, lost wages, session fees) to ₹10,000 per child. Mothers who previously spent 20-35 hours weekly on clinic visits now spend 5-7 hours on home-based sessions, enabling many to return to work. The platform has therefore increased access to valuable therapy and improved the user experience for thousands of children and parents across multiple states and countries.
Impact Metrics
Total number of children receiving CVI therapy through the platform
Baseline Value
No accessible digital CVI therapy platform existed for this population Number of children
Post-Implementation
Over 7,000 children recieve CVI therapy Number of children
Total number of children receiving CVI therapy through the platform
Baseline Value
No accessible digital CVI therapy platform existed for this population Number of children
Post-Implementation
Over 7,000 children recieve CVI therapy Number of children
Annual cost of therapy per child comparing traditional clinical therapy versus Vision Nanny
Baseline Value
₹4,00,000 per year (traditional clinic-based therapy including travel, lost wages, session fees) INR per year
Post-Implementation
The cost of therapy per child was brought down to ₹10,000 per year INR per year
Hours per week mothers spend on therapy-related activities including travel to clinics
Baseline Value
20 -35 hours per week (3-5 hours daily for clinic visits and travel)
Post-Implementation
Weekly hours spent by mothers on therapy- related activities was brought down to 5-7 hours (1 hour daily, home-based) Hours per week
Additional household income enabled when mothers can return to work or other economic activities due to reduced therapy time burden
Baseline Value
Mothers were often forced to leave employment entirely INR per month
Post-Implementation
₹15,000 additional monthly income per family enabled by users of Vision Nanny INR per month
Additional household income enabled when mothers can return to work or other economic activities due to reduced therapy time burden
Baseline Value
Mothers were often forced to leave employment entirely INR per month
Post-Implementation
₹15,000 additional monthly income per family enabled by users of Vision Nanny INR per month
Frontline health workers trained to independently deliver vision therapy using the platform
Baseline Value
0 CVI therapy previously required specialised therapists
Post-Implementation
Over 40 frontline workers trained to independently deliver vision therapy Workers
Expansion from urban tertiary hospitals to rural and underserved areas
Baseline Value
CVI therapy available only in major city hospitals Geographies
Post-Implementation
CVI therapy available in over 10 countries, and in rural areas in Odisha (21 villages), Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Mathura, North Karnataka Geographies
Percentage of therapists reporting improved efficiency and reduced preparation time
Baseline Value
Therapists spent over 30 minutes preparing materials per child Percentage of therapists using Vision Nanny
Post-Implementation
84 % therapists report improved efficiency, and a 50% reduction in preparotary time
Time for children to initiate engagement with therapy activities
Baseline Value
Time taken to initiate engagement using conventional paper/ physical materials was over 10 minutes Minutes
Post-Implementation
Time reduced to under 5 minutes, with a 92% engagement rate and 80% sustained attention longer than conventional methods Minutes
Parents reporting improvements in their child's daily functioning and preference for Vision Nanny
Baseline Value
NA Percentage of parents
Post-Implementation
94 % parents reported improvements and preferred Vision Nanny over conventional home therapy guidelines
Implementation Context
Deployed in over 10 countries including India, United Arab Emirates, Nigeria, and Bangladesh. Within India, the platform operates across urban tertiary hospitals and rural communities in Telangana, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Mathura (Uttar Pradesh), and North Karnataka.
Children aged 6 months- 12 years with cerebral visual impairment, from rural and underserved communities. Secondary users include community health workers (predominantly women), vision therapists, optometrists and parents/caregivers.
Key Partnerships
LV Prasad Eye Institute, Vision Aid, Government of Telangana - Bosch - Telangana State Innovation Cell, Bayer Foundation - Impact Hub, Google for Startups, Startup India
Replicability & Adaptation
Supporting Materials
* The data presented is self-reported by the respective organisations. Readers should consult the original sources for further details.