Ever heard of a “mind sports athlete”? Well, it’s a thing—and India’s Neelakantha Bhanu Prakash is one of the best at it. In 2020, he won the Mental Calculation World Championship at the Mind Sports Olympiad in London, becoming the first non-European and first Asian to speed-calculate himself into the title. 

If you add things up by counting with your fingers, it may be hard to imagine someone who can use their mere brain to calculate endless mathematical puzzlements. But Bhanu has an even bigger mission: helping kids and people everywhere master math to their own advantage.

To do that, Bhanu founded Bhanzu, a global ed-tech platform aimed at easing math anxiety while making mathematics more accessible. The goal of the platform is to understand math concepts through gamification, instead of stumping your head with rote memorization, resulting in a more intuitive learning process.

Bhanzu’s first U.S. brick-and-mortar learning center

Bhanzu’s new math learning center in McKinney [Photo: Bhanzu]

This week, Bhanzu announced the launch of its first physical learning center in the U.S. Located in McKinney at the junction of 380 and Coit, the center is now hosting classes, marking “a major milestone” in the platform’s U.S. expansion. 

“Texas presented a unique opportunity to introduce a more engaging, concept-driven approach to learning as one of the only states that has not adopted Common Core math standards,” CEO Bhanu told Dallas Innovates. “It was also clear from the start that the values of advanced math learning, conceptual clarity, and STEM readiness run deep within the McKinney and broader Dallas-Fort Worth community.”

“The reception to our new learning center from local families, students, and educators has been overwhelmingly positive,” he added, “especially as parents are actively seeking meaningful, future-ready math learning—not just more homework for their students.”

Families in McKinney, Frisco, Prosper, and nearby areas can now access “a thoughtfully curated curriculum designed to foster deep understanding, critical thinking, and a lifelong love for math,” Bhanzu said.

Inside Bhanzu’s new math learning center in McKinney [Photo: Bhanzu]

Bhanzu says it transforms passive screen time into an active, enriching experience through gamified lessons and GenAI-powered tools that make math instruction interactive and “deeply personal.” At the new math center in McKinney, Bhanzu will curate a classroom environment designed to engage students with “an unparalleled approach to learning and understanding the subject,” the company said.

Instead of relying on repetitive drills and memorization, Bhanzu’s “practice becomes play” approach aims to ensure children look forward to math learning, helping kids build confidence and master mental math “while destigmatizing a once-intimidating subject for everyday use.”

Eyeing further growth in North Texas

Bhanu told Dallas Innovates his company is exploring future opportunities for growth in North Texas, “particularly as families in surrounding communities like Irving and Plano have already expressed strong interest.”

“The community’s enthusiasm became even more evident following the launch of our Free Math Assessment Initiative,” he said, “which welcomed hundreds of families to our McKinney center for personalized diagnostic insights into their child’s math proficiency. The Dallas-Fort Worth area has supported our growth from the beginning, and launching our first physical learning center here with more to come feels like a natural extension of that relationship.”

‘Focusing on the why’

“Bhanzu doesn’t just teach students what to solve; we focus on the why and the process behind the solution,” Bhanu said in a statement. “While many current math education providers emphasize standardized outcomes, they often stop at the answer, missing the mark on increased understanding and deep-rooted engagement.”

Instead, Bhanzu “encourages curiosity, creative problem-solving, and the real-world application of math,” he said.

“We believe math is not just a subject, but a skill that empowers students to think critically, stay curious, and apply logic to the world around them,” Bhanu added. “Having built an engaging math learning program fueled by that same mission, we’re excited to now bring our method to life in a physical space and community that has consistently supported our growth, with more U.S. locations to come.”

Teaching 50,000 students across 18 countries

Since Bhanzu’s founding in 2020, the platform has empowered more than 50,000 students across 18 countries to embrace math with confidence, said the company’s head of business development, Prachotan DL.  W

“With over 8,000 learners in the U.S.—15% of whom reside in Texas alone—McKinney is a natural next step in Bhanzu’s journey to deliver foundational excellence to students locally and nationwide,” he added.

The McKinney center brings Bhanzu’s methods to an in-person classroom setting where K-9 students can benefit from hands-on instruction led by certified teachers with extensive education experience across age groups, the company said. Each teacher has undergone specialized training to deliver Bhanzu’s curriculum, helping students embark on personalized learning, develop advanced mental math mastery skills, and discover “joyful math exploration,” the company added.

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