The pandemic has shown us what digitization is capable of! Our education system has been highly affected by the pandemic. The whole education system has gone from desk to desktop. This has brought a positive factor as well.
There have been tons of education-based applications launched to serve the students in an effective manner. India has entirely moved from the conventional classroom method to the virtual technical classroom. And a great asset to this has been the very prominent UpGrad, which provides higher education, digitally.
UpGrad is a pretty fascinating application and a very successful education-based company. Through this article, we will discuss the business model of UpGrad in order to have a better understanding towards the Ed-tech companies. Moreover, we discuss how this Ed-tech company makes money and also, how it targets its audience. Let’s get started!
UpGrad is known as India’s largest company that provides higher education in many fields, founded in 2015. UpGrad offers higher education through various programs in Technology, Law, Data Science, and Management. There aren’t any specifications for the students. From students to professionals, anyone can sign up for these programs.
The most fascinating thing about UpGrad is that it offers courses in collaboration with the top universities such as MICA, IIT Madras, Jindal Global Law School, Liverpool John Moores University, NMIMS Global Access, Duke CE, and many others.
UpGrad has built a very strong upholding in the Indian education system and it’s all set to achieve definite career success for everyone from the global working environment. UpGrad offers an 85% completion rate for programs, industry-relevant curriculum, placement support, result-based learning opportunities, and significant mentorship to its members.
On a global scale, UpGrad has over 40,000 paid active users right now along with an influence on over a million. In fact, UpGrad is the first-ever company to have a well-recognized PG Diploma in Data Science course from the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) and NOS.
Moreover, UpGrad has been honored with the “Best Education Brands” award from the Economic Times in 2018.
Where does UpGrad operate?
The co-founder of UpGrad, Phalgun Kompalli has done incredible work in the sector of higher education and learning through technology with his award-winning company, UpGrad. The company operates in many countries including India, Africa, the United States, Southeast Asia, and Brazil.
UpGrad offers specific online courses and rewards the learners with a well-recognized certificate in many fields such as Machine Learning, Data Science, Digital Marketing, Software Development, product management, and many others.
Furthermore, it provides unique experiences to its customers through the contents developed by academia and industry experts. Also, effective mentorship and career support.
Target Audience of UpGrad
UpGrad majorly targets people above the age of 22 or 23. Its targeting is quite similar to that of Simplilearn company. UpGrad focuses on the working people in the age group of 23-45, who are eager to learn and improve their skills through online channels.
Business Model of upGrad
UpGrad runs on a pretty effective business model which holds a two-way approach between the students and the educators in order to form a bright future together. In other words, UpGrad acts as the bridge between the educational institutions and the candidates to gain the best knowledge and proficiency. The educational institutions offer their program courses in different subjects through the UpGrad app as well as the website at reasonable prices.
The candidates who are interested in the offered courses, register themselves on UpGrad by filling out the essential eligibility criteria fixed by the institution. After this, the candidate pays the given fees for the course. UpGrad offers two options for submitting the fees: complete fees at once or installment option.
Besides, UpGrad also employs professional guides who would enroll the professional candidates in their courses. This forms a two-way business approach that helps UpGrad in completing its ultimate goals and brings out a convenient way for companies to hire potential people. As we discussed the business model of UpGrad, let’s have a look at what’s unique about this business model.
What is Unique about the business model of UpGrad?
The most unique thing about UpGrad’s business model is that it isn’t any other ed-tech company with educational videos and content. UpGrad is the leading platform that provides the expertise and experience of entrepreneurs as well as professionals. UpGrad offers tons of student-based services and always brings out remarkable results.
UpGrad is working towards more than 15 new courses that would be included in the programs and are all set to expand its locations globally.
UpGrad offers programs at some very reasonable prices as it reflects their commitment towards the education of candidates. Around 50% of revenue is collected from the candidates after completing their program.
For the enterprise business deals, UpGrad receives money from the companies who send their employees for training to UpGrad.
Conclusion
From this article, we got a better understanding of the working strategy of UpGrad. As we discussed the business model of UpGrad, we built the market perspective of the Ed-tech company.
UpGrad carries a strong and effective business model and it is clearly reflected through its results and revenues. But most importantly, the company focuses on the education of its candidates and does not compromise anything for that.
UpGrad follows an effective marketing strategy that always results in various beneficial deals.
FAQ
Who is the owner of upGrad?
Ronnie Screwvala is the Co Founder and Chairman of upGrad.
Is upGrad an Indian company?
Yes, upGrad is an Indian higher education company founded by Ronnie Screwvala, Mayank Kumar, Phalgun Kompalli, and, Ravijot Chugh in 2015.
What is the revenue of UpGrad?
The revenue of upGrad in 2021 was INR 1200 crores.
GSX Techedu Inc., which goes by the name of Gaotu Techedu Inc., was founded in 2014 by Larry Xiangdong Chen, a former school teacher, who holds a Ph.D. in economics from Renmin University, Beijing.
The company aims to offer online tutoring services for K-12 students, along with professional training courses and foreign language training for adults with the help of its primary product, the online education platform, Genshuixue.
Chen was appointed as the Vice-President at the U.S-listed New Oriental Education & Technology Group from 2010-2014 after which he founded Gaotu as an Edutech company.
Gaotu Techedu witnessed rapid growth and eventually helped the ex-school teacher achieve billionaire status. The company seemed prosperous, however, Gaotu’s share prices dropped all of a sudden, barely within a day, and now Larry seemed to also have lost his billionaire status.
How did the share values of Gaotu Techedu drop?
China announced some new regulations, which are traced to be behind the sudden fall of the share prices of Gaotu Edutech. According to these new regulations that China released on Saturday, July 24, 2021, it banned the companies from making profits, those that teach school curriculums by raising capital or going public.
This was certainly a swift and sharp blow from the blue that landed on Gaotu Edutech and its founder, Chen, who had witnessed Gaotu’s stock tumbling since late January and lost over $15 billion as a result.
Gaotu under scrutiny, followed by the rechristening of the brand
GSX or Gaotu Techedu’s shares started to fall in early 2020. This was accelerated by an array of allegations that came from Grizzly Research, Citron Research, Scorpio VC, and Muddy Waters.
Grizzly Research was one of the first such companies to bring allegations against Gaotu, then GSX, in February 2020, when it came out with a 59-page report, where the organization alleged that the management team behind GSX had filed a false SEC and thereby, committed securities fraud.
Furthermore, the company was also presumed to be offloading expenses in off-balance sheet arrangements and resorting to fake student enrollments to boost their figures.
Grizzly Research again released its third short-selling report on April 9, 2020, where the same highlighted the fake cash flows and fraudulent teacher certificates that GSX encouraged.
This was the 16th accusation faced by GSX after it went public in 2019.
The burden of all these accusations seemed to weigh too much on GSX Techedu. Therefore, the company decided to change its name to Gaotu, which it finally did on April 22, 2020, following the Grizzly Research that came out on April 9. It also changed the name of its educational platform to Gaotu Xueyuan, which was earlier called Genshuixue.
Though the company rechristened to the new name hoping that it would bring in its good old fortune back once again, it is yet to click in to date. Instead, the company is still under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, following a good number of reports testifying Gaotu of the forged inflation of its revenue numbers.
All the previous reports and SEC continued to hamper the stock prices of the Chinese edutech tycoon, which came down to an all-time low of $3.51, as of July 23, 2021, from $149.05, which they were valued at on January 27, 2021.
Gaotu Techedu Share Price
Bill Hwang’s Misfortune Added to the Woes
Gaotu was surely surrounded by serious trouble from all sides, and as if they were not enough, Archegos Capital Management, on which Gaotu completely relied, offloaded their shares.
Archegos Capital Management was the family office that managed the personal assets of Bill Hwang, a New York-based investor, who also successfully held some highly leveraged positions in Gaotu.
However, the company witnessed its share values rapidly coming down, which directly affected Hwang, and being unable to provide for the collateral that the banks started asking for, he had to remove large amounts of shares from Gaotu. This made the company witness a massive plunge of around 56% in a single day.
Gaotu’s shares have lost 98% of their value since last year’s January.
Though Gaotu Techedu is the company that is the most-talked-about company due to its recent reduction of share prices, there are a bunch of other Chinese education companies and their founders/CEOs that suffered similar fates.
For instance, Zhang Bangxin, CEO of TAL Education Group was also reported to be a victim of China’s new crackdown, where his fortune fell to $1.4 billion from $3.9 billion when the share values of the company were drowned by 71% on July 23, 2021.
Yu Minhong, the Chairman of New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc, is another billionaire, who no longer stayed one after the share prices of his company was lowered by 54%. He is now left with a stake value of $579 million.
Gaotu and Chen’s Numbers, as they stand now!
Much like the other private educational and edutech companies, Gaotu head, Larry Xiangdong Chen also suffered the loss of his billionaire status and is presently worth $336 million. His online-tutoring firm is reported to have plunged by around two-thirds of their previous values in New York trading on July 23, 2021, Friday due to a regulatory overhaul.
The Way Ahead
Following the plunge of Gaotu’s shares, the company’s founder, chairman, CEO, Chen had reportedly stated on Weibo that the company would be completely complying with the new regulations and would attain all its social responsibilities.
Conclusion
China’s recent assault on the EdTech sector has not left the educational and EdTech companies and their founders in dismay but also had its repercussions felt by the investing giants like Tiger Global Management, Temasek Holdings Pte, and more, who are at the brink of losing their abilities to go public.
These new regulations from the Chinese government surely proved to be one of the strictest curbs in the history of its $100 billion industry of online education.
FAQ
What is Gaotu Techedu?
Gaotu Techedu is a Chinese education technology company that offers online tutoring services.
Who is the founder of Gaotu Techedu
Larry Chen is the founder and chairman of Gaotu Techedu.
What is the revenue of Gaotu Techedu?
The revenue of Gaotu Techedu was 125 billion in 2020.
An ‘Edupreneur’ is an entrepreneur who runs a business in the education sector. Owning a franchise of a popular school can be a profitable business. To open a franchise, you must be qualified and meet all the requirements of the parent school. Requirements may include specific land areas, initial investment, or royalty fees. School franchises give great returns on investments if they’re set up well.
Trio world school is situated in Bangalore and said to be one of the best schools in the city. It is an ICSE affiliated school that’s also been chosen as Best School Brand by Economic Times. It offers a perfect mixture of academics and extra-curricular activities. One can fill up the franchise inquiry form available on the website. The major requirements include a land area of 2-4 acres.
Homerton Grammar School focuses on creating worldly students. One of the key features of this school is that it is associated with UNESCO. It is a CBSE-affiliated school that focuses on the overall growth of students. This school is also associated with youth empowerment programs like ‘the Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards’, and, ‘The International awards for young people.
Educomp is an education company that works to bring digital education to the classrooms. They teach with advanced technology and believe in leaving traditional methods behind. Its digital features include Educomp Smart class, Educomp 3D labs, Educomp Insight, and English mentor. They aim to create a vast fraternity of advanced schools that transform learning.
Kidzee is one of the largest school chains in all of Asia. It has a school in more than 750+ cities. It’s a pre-school that focuses on both the physical and mental growth of young kids. Along with kids, it’s dedicated to improving the lives of people working in the institute.
They are willing to support the owners of the franchise in every way. Their main focus is maintaining the quality experience of kids that participate in their curriculum. Land requirement in 2000-400 sq. feet.
Mexus Education digitizes the whole education process. The classrooms are digital where students learn through videos and fun animation. With over 99 franchises all across the country, they are spreading their wings to reach new heights. They have labs that introduce kids to new-age technology and promote the DIY concept.
Rockwell Educational Institutions aims to provide a balance between academics and co-curricular activities. They have launched a franchise as they want to tackle the lack of good schools in the country.
Specific requirements include 3-5 acres of land for Rockwell International School with 1,20,000 sq. feet of the construction area. For Rockwell Public School, a 2-3 acres campus is required with 80,000 sq. feet of the construction area. For junior school, 2500-4000 sq. feet campus with a playing area is required.
Exponential Learning is a non-govt organization that’s registered in Jaipur. It assists students for sciences Olympiad, board exams, and entrance exams for engineering and medical students.
Arun Smart school is a well-reputed digital school that provides top-class education to the students. The institute is well supportive of its franchises. It’s looking for owners who can readily invest in the business. They are willing to provide team assistance, training, and expert guidance. They are actively looking to grow their institute in Odisha and other cities.
Sprouts aim at creating intelligent students who are tied to their cultural roots. They believe that the franchise owner shares the same belief. Their vision is to incorporate advanced knowledge into the minds of students so that they can work towards the betterment of the country.
Seth Anandram Jaipuria School
Name
Seth Anandram Jaipuria School
Founded in
1975
Franchise Launched in
2014
Franchise Units
10-20
Initial Investment
INR 5-10 Crore
Apply to Seth Anandram Jaipuria School’s Franchise
The main aim of Seth Anandram Jaipuria School is to “Empower, Enthuse and Excel”. Seth Anandram has established many schools and colleges all over the country. It provides ICSE and ISC curriculum.
Conclusion
Getting a School franchise in India can give you fabulous returns. You must look into all factors like locality, expenditure of people in the locality and competitor schools where you’re planning to build the school.
Once you plan accordingly, you’re all set to make a profit and also educate.
FAQ
Is Play School a good business?
Starting a Play School Franchise in India is one the best business idea. This is business that can be started with a very low investment.
Are franchises a good investment?
A franchise can be a good choice if you want to own a business, but don’t have an idea to build from scratch.
On 26 April 2021, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has approved an appointment of the new Managing Director and CEO of the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Ltd (NCDEX). The new Managing Director and CEO of National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Ltd is Arun Raste. Let’s look at who is Arun Raste, the new MD and CEO of NCDEX.
Arun Raste is currently working as the Executive Director of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) of India. He is also serving as the director on the board of Indian Immunological Limited which is based in Hyderabad and also the director on the board of Mother Dairy Fruit Vegetable Pvt Ltd. Which is based in Delhi.
He had earlier worked with companies such as Kotak Mahindra Bank, IDFC Bank, ACC Cement, NABARD and also a non-profit NGO IRFT.
He has done a bachelor’s degree in economics and also a master’s degree in economics. He also holds a post-graduation diploma in marketing management.
He has an interest in the areas such as BoP finance, Business Strategy, CSR, marketing, Corporate Planning and NGO management.
Seminars
He was invited by the United States State Department for ‘The International Visitor Leadership programme’(IVLP). He has also been part of various conferences and seminars which include the ones at UNCTAD, World Social Forum, IFAT Conference, WTO ministerial, Toyo University Tokyo, Kindai University Nara Japan, PSE Group in European Parliament, Murdoch University Perth Australia, and so on.
He has also published various research papers in National and International Journals.
Now he has been appointed as the Managing Director and CEO of National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) for a period of 5 years.
What is NCDEX
National Commodity and Derivative Exchange is a commodity exchange platform in India. It is an online commodity exchange platform that provides the market participants a platform to trade in commodities and derivatives.
NCDEX was founded in the year 2003 and has its headquarters located in Mumbai, India. NCDEX is a public limited company that is fully owned by the Government of India. NCDEX has offices in other places which include Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Indore and Ahmedabad.
What is NCDEX
NCDEX is an leading agricultural commodity exchange in India. It offers value chain services for the entire post-harvest agricultural commodities.
Some of the key investors of NCDEX include National Stock Exchange of India Ltd, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, Life Insurance Corporation of India, Oman India Joint Investment Fund, Investcorp Private Equity Fund, Build India Capital Advisors LLP, Indian Farmers Fertilizer, Cooperative Ltd, Punjab National Bank and Canara Bank.
NCDEX is predominantly an exchange with leadership in the agri commodity segments, while MCX has leadership in the area of gold, metals and oil.
Where is Ncdex located?
NCDEX headquarters are located in Mumbai and offers facilities to its members from the centres located throughout India.
What is full form Ncdex?
National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Limited is full form of NCDEX.
Conclusion
Earlier in this month Vijay Kumar who was the former Managing Director and the CEO of NCDEX had left the position from the exchange after the completion of his extended term. Later, SEBI had appointed Arun Raste as the new CEO and MD of NCDEX.
UpGrad is an educational technology company that was founded in the year 2015. The company has its headquarters located in Mumbai, India. The company was founded by Ronnie Screwvala, Mayank Kumar, Phalgum Kompaili and Ravijot Chugh.
The target market of the company is the working professionals who are looking back to get into the learning process without quitting their job.
The company provides access to the working professionals with university education through online modes in a structured manner. Let’s look at the below article to analyze the different subsidiary companies of UpGrad.
The Gate Academy is one of the recently acquired company by UpGrad. With this acquisition, UpGrad had entered into the test preparation market. The acquisition amount was not disclosed by UpGrad.
Even after the acquisition, the company is been known from its original name as The Gate Academy itself. The Chief Executive Officer of the company is Ritesh Raushan. The Gate Academy has its headquarters located in Bengaluru, India.
The Gate Academy Website
The plans of UpGrad after acquiring the startup were to increase the accessibility of this startup to at least 1 million test takers annually. This was planned to be achieved by investing over INR 100 crore in the company and by developing the content of around 20,000 hours in different languages.
The Gate Academy is one of India’s leading coaching institutes. The company has around 57 centers across the country. There are around 2 lakh learners who are enrolled for GATE and other entrance exams. They have consumed around 76 million video hours.
The Gate Academy has provided UpGrad with a non-linear growth opportunity by entering into a new segment and providing a deeper penetration in the semi-urban and the rural markets.
Acadview
Acadview was founded in the year 2015 by an ex-Google employee Himanshu Batra. The company helps fresh graduates upskill themselves to find highly skilled jobs. They upskill the graduates through industry projects and online coaching.
Acadview also provides an opportunity to the young IT professionals to earn an extra income by teaching the courses to the students and providing mentorship. The company has its headquarters in New Delhi, India.
Acadview has partnered with more than 80 private universities and colleges across five states in north India. The company has claimed that it has onboarded around 3,000 students in the previous year.
The acquisition of UpGrad will help the subsidiary company to focus on the north Indian market and UpGrad will help in expanding its presence there. UpGrad will also help the company to bring up its model online by providing the required materials.
Fairmont Technologies Pvt. Ltd
Fairmont Technologies Pvt. Ltd was founded in the year 2015. The company has its headquarters in Bengaluru, Karnataka. UpGrad had acquired the startup CohortPlus which is operated under the company Fairmont Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
Srinivasan Narayan is the founder and Co-founder of the company. CohortPlus will enable members to post various questions and they will get a chance to receive various perspectives from industry professionals. The members also have an option to seek assistance on Job interviews using the platform.
CohortPlus claims that it has a community of more than 31,000 members from a wide range of companies such as Google, Adobe, Facebook, Amazon, Practo, Zomato, Uber, etc. After the acquisition by UpGrad the company is concentrated on enlisting the support of the parent company to build a proprietary platform for people who are looking to advance in their careers.
Rekrut India Pvt. Ltd.
Rekrut India Pvt. Ltd was founded in the year 2020 and has its headquarters in Mumbai, India. Ajay Shah is the managing founder of Rekrut India Pvt. Ltd. Rekrut India has an extensive network of over 100 recruiting experts who handles the complexities of the hiring process.
Rekrut Website
The startup is said to be working closely with a lot of corporates, MSMEs and large enterprises. The acquisition helped the parent company that is UpGrad in turbocharging its career engine by providing a wider opportunity in placement and enabling the learners using the UpGrad platform to access the hiring partners of Rekrut India Pvt.Ltd.
This was the first time where an EdTech startup had acquired a recruitment company in India. The size of the deal was not disclosed.
FAQ
Who is the owner of upGrad?
Ronnie Screwvala is the Co Founder and Chairman of upGrad.
Who is the CEO of upGrad?
Arjun Mohan is Chief Executive Officer of upGrad.
Is upGrad profitable?
upGrad’s revenue stood at Rs 230 crore in FY20. The company has set a revenue target of Rs 300 crore for the January-March quarter.
Conclusion
All this acquisition has provided a strong platform for UpGrad in the EdTech space in India. These subsidiary companies are working closely with UpGrad to capture the Indian EdTech market.
These are crazy times wherein the COVID-19 pandemic has confined the whole world to their homes. It’s as if socializing has come to a standstill. Venturing outside one’s home without any reason attracts penalties and punishments! While the economy and work have taken a deep hit, many companies have capitalized on the fact that people are trying to pass time anyhow in this pandemic, leading to increased revenues for many organizations. One such domain is that of online courses and MOOCs. There are several individuals like you who want to make the best out of this situation by learning and exploring through platforms like Coursera and Udemy.
Hence, we have curated a list of free startup courses with certificates that are either free of cost or are heavily discounted to help you stay at home and improve yourself.
Platform
Course
Type
Where to get
Coursera
The Strategy of Content Marketing
Free due to Lockdown
coursera.org/learn/content-marketing
Coursera
Content Strategy for Professionals: Managing Content
Free due to Lockdown
coursera.org/learn/content-management-strategy
Coursera
Viral Marketing and How to Craft Contagious Content
In this competitive world, education is the one thing that empowers people. But sadly, a large part of our country is still deprived of this education. Though digitization is the ray of sunshine which can enlighten our country with knowledge and literacy. An IES officer turned entrepreneur, Akhand Swaroop Pandit, Founder of The Catalyst Group is using the power of digitization to empower thousands of youth from every nook and corner of the country to prepare for various Government exams.
Akhand, who himself cleared all government exams envisioned the ‘Catalyst Education Group’ to help many more clear government exams. His purpose through his startup is to make high-quality education reach every part of the country at an affordable cost so that everybody can compete for irrespective of the difficult monetary or geographical circumstances.
The Catalyst Group provides online courses for different competitive exams like UPSC, SSC, GATE, IES, RRB, State PSC, etc.
Founded in the year 2017, Catalyst Group is an education portal where students have to create their profile by signing up. Then they can enroll in any program by any trainer from the profile.
This platform has a payment gateway enabled on its website so anybody can easily take admission. EMI and other payment options are also available. After taking admission students can attend the classes multiple times on the portal till the expiry date of course. They can download notes, study material, provided by the Catalyst Group and can give online tests on the portal.
Catalyst Group – Target Market
The education sector is currently one of the biggest sectors comprising of around 60-70 lakhs students every year preparing for the competitive exams. Data calculated considering the students filling up forms for different competitions. Currently, Catalyst Group has an intake of 2 lakh students every year and in the coming 5 years, they are expecting it to reach 30-35 lakhs.
The Catalyst Group was founded by Akhand Swaroop Pandit.
The Catalyst Group’s founder is Akhand Swaroop Pandit. He belongs to Bareilly, a city in the northern state of India, Uttar Pradesh. Being an average student, Akhand gave all his time and full dedication to his studies and career. Clearly, this makes him the man that he is today. Truly, his success is an inspiration for a lot of young minds who put themselves through these competitive exams.
Akhand started working as an IES officer and later went on to start Catalyst Group. Here, he mentors aspiring candidates of Civil Engineering, IES, GATE, and many more such kinds of government examinations. As an average student, Akhand understands the clear difference between the rules of smart work and hard work.
The Catalyst Group Founder – Akhand Swaroop Pandit
All of it started when Akhand was in his college days and started his preparation for the UPSC examinations. But he didn’t have good study material and he couldn’t afford to go to other metro cities due to the hefty fee amount the coaching institutes charged. So he had to study on his own which was quite time-consuming.
After that, when Akhand started teaching, he had to travel to different faraway cities for institutes to deliver the lectures. And that time he felt the need to have a mechanism through which he could teach lakhs of students at a given time. All these experiences led him to the idea of having a Catalyst Platform that connects teachers with students directly.
Students, irrespective of where they are, can take lectures from teachers who are teaching in a different part of the country. Akhand’s idea was to bridge this geographical and monetary gap between the students and the teachers.
And that’s how he launched The Catalyst Group where the idea was to be able to provide high-quality education at an affordable cost to many. Initially, when they launched through YouTube (catalyst group YouTube), they had roughly 100 students and in the short span of only two and a half years, they are having around 2 lakh students learning on the platform.
Catalyst Group – Name, Tagline and Logo
“Catalyst means something that accelerates the process and here we are doing the same thing by connecting teachers with students,” says this genius entrepreneur.
The Catalyst Group is accelerating the careers and process of learning for students. And so the logo is rocket-shaped that is about to launch!
The Catalyst Group Logo
Catalyst Group – Startup Launch
The Catalyst Group launched through YouTube channel from where they got the first 100 customers. The YouTube video lectures were appreciated by everybody which helped them in getting the base right.
The Catalyst team believes that the primary quality is very important for any product. And secondly, people should know that you have a quality product. That’s where marketing comes into the picture. The team’s continuous point of focus is improving the quality of the lectures and hiring the best faculties to deliver the lectures.
The Catalyst Group’s revenue model works both ways B2C and B2B. They offer online courses that students can directly purchase from the website for Fees ranging from ₹2,000 to ₹38,000. The Catalyst Group also offers business to universities where they can sell the courses to students pan India.
Catalyst Group – Startup Challenges
One of the major challenges for The Catalyst Group was to gain the confidence of the students in their online classes as in India students feel more comfortable in the conventional system of learning where they regularly have to go for classes and can see the teacher standing in front of them.
To gain their trust they had to first give them free online lectures to make them aware and comfortable with online classes. Because the courses this platform is providing has great quality, the Catalyst team could dodge this challenge successfully.
According to the current stats, they are operating in Jaipur, Patna, Lucknow, and Pune. They also have partnered with institutions like NIT Srinagar, NIT Jamshedpur, BITS Pilani, LPU, Thapar university. The idea of empowering thousands of students with quality education at the mere thought of it sounds so noble. And that’s exactly what we need to build a bright future for our nation.
FAQs
Who is Akhand Swaroop Pandit?
Akhand started working as an IES officer and later went on to start Catalyst Group.
What is education empowerment?
Empowerment is the “process by which individuals and groups gain power, access to resources, and control over their own lives. In the field of education, empowerment theory is often associated with the classic work by Paulo Freire (1972/1986), in Pedagogy of the Oppressed.
How does education empower people in general?
Education empowers people with the knowledge, skills, and values they need to build a better world. The belief that quality educationcan help reduce poverty and inequality comes from a recognition that education is a basic human right—similar to food and shelter—and that it is vital to protecting human dignity.
How do you empower students to design their future?
5 Ways to Empower Students:
Give Students Decision-Making Power in an Area of Curriculum.
Give Your Students a Voice Through Forums for Student Feedback.
Encourage Meaningful Technology Use in the Classroom.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by My Class Campus.
The advent of Edtech is certainly a boon for the education sector. Edtech is not only making learning easier, interesting and fun for students but has also made managing schools and educational institutes simpler. There is a lot to take care of when it comes to managing an educational institute.
Stock management, account management, tracking student performance, managing time tables, maintaining regular communications with parents and guardians and a lot more needs to be done to run an educational institute smoothly. There is a need of education ERP software which could make it smooth.
ERPs allow systematic management of all these tasks under one platform. My Class Campus, an all in one campus management ERP with 40+ ready modules, is helping educational institutes to manage various tasks better and with ease. My class Campus provides one of the best school ERP software.
My class campus is an Ahmedabad based startup founded in 2015. It provides a complete ERP for educational institutions. It Provides ERP software for educational institutes.
Besides, My Class Campus also builds app for educational institutes and offers a DIY website designing platform for these institutes. Their school ERP app increases productivity of teachers and give better experience to students & satisfaction to parents.
“All in one solution is the biggest gap in educational ERP domain and we at MyClassCampus are providing that.”, says Rachit, Co-founder, My Class Campus
Having a simple and easy to use system is also another problem for schools as admin staff is not very tech savvy. 80% of schools buy a system but couldn’t utilize effectively due to complexity in use and technical glitches. MyClassCampus is crafted with a vision to provide the simplest solution which anyone can learn to use. Also, their dedicated expert tech team is keeping the system error-free for a better experience.
My Class Campus Founders
Rachit Dave, Rutvij Vora and Raj Kothari, Founders, My Class Campus
My Class Campus was founded by Rachit Dave, Rutvij Vora and Raj Kothari. All the three founders are engineering graduates from Birla Vishwakarma Mahavidyalaya, Anand (Gujarat).
Rachit Dave is the CEO of My Class Campus. He is a BE in Electronics and communication and is also an MBA in Human Resource. Rutvij Vora is a BE in Information Technology and M.Tech in Cyber Security and Incident Response. Raj Kothari is a BE in computer engineering and also holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management.
Besides My Class Campus, Rachit, Rutvij and Raj are also associated with another startup CareerKhojj, which is a platform giving career guidance and facilitates knowledge sharing and communication between students and teachers.
How was My Class Campus Started
It was in 2014 when a huge section of the Indian population was doing everything from booking tickets to shopping, online and through apps. Rachit, Rutvij and Raj had the thought that if shopping and ticket booking, which are not daily activities, are being done digitally, why the educational institutes were still following the old techniques of managing operations, data, resources and communication.
They wanted to develop something which could help the educational institutes to manage different tasks and operations digitally and thus easily.
“We felt, there is a strong need of Mobile And cloud driven advanced yet easy to use system. That’s when we started building My Class Campus, which is one of the most popular and fastest growing Educational ERP Companies.”, said the founders.
My Class Campus offers a complete ERP for educational institutes. My Class Campus is a cloud-based ERP platform. It is simple, easy to use and connects management, teachers, students, parents and other stakeholders of an educational institute. Besides, My Class Campus can be used for a single branch and also can be used by educational institutes having multiple branches through a single account credential.
It has 40+ advance dynamic modules which cover all the requirements to make an institute completely digital and go paperless. It offers a right based access to the system which helps in managing an institute more effectively.
Some USPs of My Class Campus are-
Quick and easy set up
Multi-branch enabled
Dedicated Support Team
Regular new updates and features.
Some of the features of My Class Campus ERP are-
Classroom, Student and Faculty management
Dynamic calendar, Time Table, and Holiday and year planner
Besides the ERP solution, My Class Campus also develops customized apps for schools and offers a DIY platform where educational institutes can design their own dynamic website.
“Any educational organization dealing with more than 50 students can use our system. We have a very dynamic system which can be used by school, college and private institutes dealing with any kind of classroom management and teaching process.”, said Rutvij.
My Class Campus – Price
My Class Campus provides the system in the range of 100-150 Rs/student/year pricing model depending on the packages. The company has three subscription packages: Basic, Advance and Premium. Based on need, an institute can choose which package to go for.
My Class Campus Pricing and Packages
My Class Campus – Revenue Model
My Class Campus charges per student basis with an annual fee. The company has three subscription packages: Basic, Advance and Premium. Based on need, an institute can choose which package to go for.
My Class Campus – Funding and Investors
My Class Campus raised seed funding of INR 1.5 Cr through a private investor group.
“We are already generating and growing good MoM revenue. However, our dream is to serve 10s of thousand educational organizations around the globe through our solutions. We are not in a hurry to raise funds however right kind of investment partner who could see our vision would definitely add more value and speed to our goal.”, said Raj.
My Class campus will utilize a part of the fund for research and technology development to bring more excellence and another part for strengthening of the sales force to increase customer base PAN India and in the International market too.
My Class Campus – User Acquisition
Acquiring the first set of customers was not an easy task for My Class Campus. After launching the minimum viable product in March 2016, My Class Campus team started approaching small coaching classes and schools. While it was a new concept and internet speed being a problem, there were very few institutes which showed genuine interest. The first user was a coaching institute which purchased the system at the very first visit.
“As it was quite a basic product, we used to visit small coaching classes and schools. We used to get a lot of rejection with answers like who will pay the cost of the internet? Our teachers don’t use smartphone. Our parents are not tech savvy etc. We used to tell them, a few years back you weren’t using WhatsApp but now you do use right? Same was this. It is going to become very common in coming time. Very few used to trust us. Still, we kept going with a vision that someday, the problem of the internet will vanish. And then with a surprise, in 2017 Jio came. It totally changed people’s perspective on the use of smartphone and suddenly people started accepting our idea” , recalled Rutvij, Co-founder, My Class Campus
Today, more than 2,000 educational organizations are registered with My Class campus. More than 3 lakh students and 6 lakh parents receiving regular updates through the system.
It was very tough for My Class Campus to build the product initially without having funds and sustain. It was tough to meet expenses even after the MVP was launched. The company required expert developers for building a strong product, but hiring good manpower without funds was a challenge. The company hired freelancers to meet with its early manpower needs.
“At one point of time, paying our monthly rent was difficult and it went due for 3 months.”, said Rachit.
My Class Campus – Competitors
There are few platforms which have a very large number of schools registered with it. Major companies are working region wise with few hundred to 1000 customers. My Class Campus is building a tool, which will be the easiest way to get started with the best experience and customer support to win a large mass of educational organizations.
“Our product innovation and processes are already helping us to win many customers who were already using some reputed companies’ products previously”, said Raj, Co-founder, My Class Campus
My Class Campus is planning to launch an interesting communication tool with data analysis around June 2020. This tool will change the way communication happens with all the stakeholders. The company is also aiming to enable 100s of educational organizations to go cashless in 2020-21.
“By end 2020, we want to enable 1000+ educational organizations to go 100% cash and paperless for their operations, communication and data management.”, said Raj.
Find a real problem you’re passionate to solve. Don’t worry about the competition. If you feel there is a market, you can definitely build a good business providing you’re innovating on product, pricing and go to market strategy.
If you are ready to give your best honestly and focus on customer needs and keep hustling to strengthen your revenue channels then as a startup it’s not too tough to achieve something. We are on the journey to success however we are enjoying it a lot.
It provides a complete ERP for educational institutions. Besides, My Class Campus also builds apps for educational institutes and offers a DIY website designing platform for these institutes.
What is My Class Campus Price?
My Class Campus provides the system in the range of 100-150 Rs/student/year pricing model depending on the packages. The company has three subscription packages: Basic, Advance and Premium. Based on need, an institute can choose which package to go for.
What are the products offered by My Class Campus?
Academics, Accounting, Admission, Attendance management, Courses, and Batches Management, Database backup/restore (Management), Document Management, Event Management, Examination Management, Fee Management, Financial Management, etc., are some of the features.
Who are the Founders of My Class Campus?
Rachit Dave, Rutvij Vora, and Raj Kothari founded My Class Campus in 2015.
What is school ERP software ?
A school ERP software is a set of programs, designed to manage all the administrative tasks of a school in an effective manner. It manages attendance, online fee payment, transport management, library, and examination management, circulars and report cards, and more.
Many of us today criticize the Indian education system for transforming individuals into people of theory with minimum or no practical experience. In such a competitive world, one has to stand out in the crowd to be successful. A smart student wants to study, learn, and gain experience at the same time.
Parents have always focused on good grades, admission to a prestigious college, and finally securing a high pay scale job. That’s true, but it is not as easy as it seemed to have been before. The cut-throat competition and constant technical upskilling and upgradation means only the best survive in the industry. And these skills can be acquired when students work and learn through internships and jobs.
In India, the concept of internships is picking pace and is progressing rapidly. One of the key catalysts in making internships available online in India is Internshala. This article covers Internshala in-depth.
Internshala was launched as a WordPress blog initially. The blog dealt with education, technology, and issues about gaps in skills. It was then transformed into an internship portal. It is a free portal for both interns as well as employers. Currently, Internshala has more than 3000000 student visits and 80000+ companies registered on its website. Internshala also offers online educational training in various streams.
The courses on offer are on a chargeable basis but can be downloaded along with the supporting materials such as videos for offline reference. Internshala’s courses are largely divided into Summer Training and Winter Training. Internshala offers different kinds of internships—full time, part-time, and work from home. One can find both paid and unpaid internships on Internshala.
Internshala – Founders
Sarvesh Agrawal is the Founder of Internshala.
Sarvesh comes from a business family and was born and brought up in Nawalgarh, a small town of Rajasthan. He completed his bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in 2006. After his Master’s, he started working in Capital One company in Nottingham (United Kingdom) as a Business Analyst in the product innovation team.
After a year, he came back to India to work with Barclays Bank’s credit card analytics division. In the year 2010, he switched to Aviva Life Insurance in Gurgaon to set up a Business Analytics team for the organization.
Sarvesh Agrawal – Founder of Internshala
How it Started?
Sarvesh always had an interest in the field of education and learning. While he created blogs to generate awareness about the same, he was asked many questions about internships. It was a stark realization that the domain of internships was one area where nothing was happening in India; it wasn’t as mainstream as in the West.
Sarvesh left his job and began building a team and a portal. An incident occurred when one of Sarvesh’s friends from his college days went on to pursue an MBA from London Business School.
During his semester break, he was looking for an internship in India and informed Sarvesh about the lack of internship opportunities in the country. This served enough motivation for Sarvesh to start a platform where people could get ample of internship opportunities at one place.
The name Internshala means a place where you will find Internships. If we break the name into two parts, then the word ‘Intern’ means a person who is seeking an internship in some firm and ‘shala’ is a Hindi word which means a place. On combining the two words, the meaning is clear—a place where a person can get internships.
The tagline of Internshala is ‘internships that matter’; it means that the company provides you a platform for seeking meaningful and helpful internships.
Internshala – Business Model and How it Works?
Internshala operates through its website and mobile app. A student has to register, create a decent profile, and apply for various internships listed on the portal. Internshala is a free platform when it comes to applying or searching for internships but earns revenue through two mediums:
Internshala charges some amount for its online training programs. These programs vary based on duration, category, and finances.
Internshala also charges fees from third parties such as advertisers who want to post ads, posters or email busters, etc. on its website.
Sarvesh Agrawal, the founder of Internshala, mentioned in one of his interviews that a big challenge faced by Internshala was attracting good talent as the business continued to grow. In the initial days, one of the main obstacles the team had to face was the lack of good technical talent at both the junior and senior levels. Sarvesh was from a non-programming background and had to struggle the most in this area.
Another challenge for the company was that employers were facing hurdles in finding interns as Indian students favored in-office internships during summer and winter breaks, making it difficult to hire interns during the rest of the months. There was a hindrance in matching the location and timelines of students and employers. In short, getting the students to be in sync with the companies providing internships was difficult.
Although Internshala is the biggest platform in India when it comes to providing internship opportunities, there is no dearth of competition. The top Internshala competitors are StuMagz, twenty19, Letsintern and Interworld.
Internshala – Internship and Training Sectors
Internshala provides internships in various sectors like web development, arts, management, science, IT, data analysis, law, engineering, architecture, and many others. The training courses include, but are not restricted to, Photography, Business Communication Skills, Computing, Excel, Design, etc.
Internshala – Future Plans
Internshala concentrates on helping students in learning, training, and garnering on-field experience. Internshala was launched with a mission to equip 30 million college students in India with practical knowledge and real-life skills to achieve their dreams and turn them into reality.
They are constantly working towards providing internships and training across cities, small towns, and villages. This is the driving factor for Internshala. In the coming years, Internshala wants to take the step of providing meaningful internships to students and individuals in tier 2 and tier 3 cities by creating awareness and bringing opportunities to them.
Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs
Is Internshala training free?
No, Internshala training is not free but the cost is kept at a minimum so that everyone can avail it.
Is it free to apply for internships on Internshala?
Yes, applying for internships – paid or unpaid – is free on Internship.
What is the Internshala business model like?
Internshala is a free platform when it comes to applying or searching for internships but earns revenue through two mediums:
Internshala charges some amount for its online training programs. These programs vary based on duration, category, and finances.
Internshala also charges fees from third parties such as advertisers who want to post ads, posters or email busters, etc. on its website.
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In 2018, Tamil Nadu Assembly Secretariat received 4,600 applications for the post of sweepers and sanitary workers. While nothing is fascinating about this news, what should bother you is the fact that the majority of these applicants were graduates and post-graduates! Again, the news of 93,000 candidates including graduates, postgraduates, and even Ph.D. holders applying for peon jobs in UP was also trending for quite some time. These are just two incidents among numerous others that prove the obsession Indians have towards government jobs. While this craze for ‘Sarkari Naukri’ would never cease, thankfully, preparing for government job examinations and tests undergone serious revamp.
Earlier, aspirants had two ways of preparing for such entrance tests: enroll in a coaching center which in many cases was quite expensive. The second option was of self-study that isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Moreover, it involves collecting lots of material for studying in the absence of proper guidance (this doesn’t mean that there’s a shortage of people who excel through self-study).
If one considers backward areas where the popularity and awareness of government jobs aren’t widespread, thousands of capable students altogether miss the chance of giving a shot at such exams. However, the advent of edtech has changed the scenario with the availability of resources, guidance, and what not at the tip of one’s fingers through the internet. Gurgaon based OnlineTyari is one such startup making it easier for the Indian government job aspirants to succeed in their attempts.
OnlineTyari, the brainchild of Bhola Meena and Rajveer Meena, is among India’s leading web/mobile app platforms for online preparation of different competitive exams in India. Headquartered in Gurgaon, OnlineTyari is turbocharged by the latest technologies for solving test preparation problems and facilitates the entire learning experience for serious aspirants. Its unique data-driven and deep analytical approach makes it unique in the field.
Enrolled students can avail mock assessment tests, test preparation e-books, and study material in three languages: Hindi, English, and Marathi. Students can also buy video lectures for various subjects and exams via OnlineTyari.
Also, coaching classes can tie-up with OnlineTyari for test prep solutions and other technical needs. The company recently established its offline presence by establishing Experience Centers in Patna and Jaipur, where students can take tests and have their doubts cleared. The company regularly generates engaging and informative content and sends alerts to the students about the exam schedules and application form deadlines.
“Our product was well taken and loyal users have been spreading good words about us in the student community. Keeping that vision in sight, we have kept product so simple that our users across geographies can use it.”, says Bhola Meena, founder of OnlineTyari.
OnlineTyari – Industry Details
Based on a report published by KPMG and Google, India’s online education market is set to grow to $1.96 billion by 2021 and the online test preparation segment is expected to burgeon at a CAGR of 64%. The market for government and public sector entrance exams in India is huge, with more than 20 million aspirants every year and counting.
OnlineTyari – Founders
Bhola Meena and Rajveer Meena co-founded OnlineTyari in 2014.
OnlineTyari Team
Bhola Meena, with a B.Tech degree in Computer Science and Engineering from IIT Kanpur, has been constantly employing his skills and hard-earned knowledge for pushing forward the online education trend in the country and is committed to bringing in innovations in this sector.
An entrepreneur by nature, Bhola has been instrumental in giving wings to two other start-ups in the past. He was a partner at HinKhoj.com—a platform for English to Hindi translation and English-Hindi learning. Prior to HinKhoj, Bhola co-founded and served as the CTO for GetMeCab.com, one of the first three taxi-hailing apps in India. He was also associated with firms like Microsoft and the Aricent Group.
Rajveer Meena (the co-founder) has over a decade of proven experience ranging from software development and product management, to business development. After earning his B.E. Degree in Computer Engineering in 2004, he joined Tata Consultancy Services as an Assistant Systems Engineer. He has had professional stints at Ramco and HPCL and established himself as an emergent business leader. With a PGDM from the prestigious IIM Lucknow, highly-motivated Rajveer embraces a consistent, deep-focus approach in his career.
Today, his stellar track record of building teams and implementing ideas has led him to become a key visionary for OnlineTyari. His expertise lies in decoding user behavior, spotting implicit needs, building a product roadmap, and delivering smart solutions. He shares with his team the art of solving problems from the root of successfully creating a strategic business differentiator.
OnlineTyari – How It Started
Both Bhola Meena and Rajveer Meena have known each other for the last 14 years and no, they’re not siblings! Bhola took an exit from Getmecab in 2013. While he was spending time at his ancestral village in Rajasthan after off-boarding Getmecab, some children from the neighborhood visited him to for some doubts related to their studies. One of them was preparing for a government job and requested Bhola to bring back certain books, guides, and mock papers from the renowned coaching institutes from Delhi upon his next visit to the village.
Deliberating further, he came across a number of students in the village who aspired and dreamt of doing something big in life but weren’t unable to live up to their potential due to a lack of resources. They neither had the right resources to prepare for national-level exams nor the awareness about the scores of government services related competitive exams being held across the country.
When he discussed this with a couple of friends including Rajveer, the ideation of OnlineTyari began. They identified a huge gap that had to be filled for making information accessible and organized to ensure the younger generation getting the jobs they truly deserve. They conducted some market research and organized surveys in a couple of cities such as Jaipur, Kota, and Delhi before starting. The initial response was overwhelming and they started working on OnlineTyari’s portal from Jaipur in 2014.
Bhola and Rajveer understood the real need of students and started delivering value through the OnlineTyari app and website.
OnlineTyari – Revenue Model
At present, OnlineTyari is working on monetizing its services through an annual subscription-based revenue model—TyariPlus. TyariPlus was launched in the last week of March 2018 and over 7500+ students have subscribed to this product —. They are hoping to touch over 25,000+ paid monthly subscribers in 4-6 months. Students usually appear for 5-10 exams in a year and end up spending an average of 3000 to 5000 for preparation courses. With TyariPlus, OnlineTyari is offering the same value at @1499 for an annual subscription. As an introductory offer, this plan is available at INR 399 for a limited period. Through TyariPlus, students get the following benefits:
Material for 25+ exams with 1000+ mock tests for the next 12 months.
Preparation materials in the following languages: Hindi, English, and Marathi.
A counseling session with experts.
Personalized analytics.
Student-driven forum.
Apart from TyariPlus, students can also opt for separate packages for different exams and subjects.
OnlineTyari has raised a total of $5.8M in funding over 2 rounds. Their latest funding was raised on Nov 9, 2016 from a Series A round.
Date
Stage
Funding Amonunt
Investors
September 2015
Angel Round
$750K
500 Startups, Mohandas Pai, Tandem Capital, Vikram Chachra and Aloke Bajpai co-founder & CEO of Ixigo
November 2016
Series A
$5M
Michael & Susan Dell Foundation
OnlineTyari – Initial Challenges
In the early years (2014-15), users’ response for paid courses was sluggish courtesy of factors such as low trust in online preparation resources, greater familiarity with traditional study methods, and lack of online payment infrastructure. But the team decided to stay on course and learned the art of survival in such crucibles. The vision to make an impact outweighed fleeting difficulties.
Gradually, students’ responses to the product improved and OnlineTyari started getting lots of inbound feedback on various fronts. The company did not look back and continues creating value for students. Edtech platforms have witnessed significant strides since early 2017. This is evident with the spurt in the adoption of paid learning platforms, and the blossoming of ventures like Unacademy, Neo Stencils, and Byju’s.
OnlineTyari – Competitors
OnlineTyari counts Unacademy, Oliveboard, Neostencil, Gradeup, Testbook, Toprankers as its competitors.
However, the vernacular approach has provided OnlineTyari the much-needed penetration in Hindi and Marathi speaking states and has helped it stay above others in the competition. The easy to use product coupled with the vernacular diversity has resulted in super growth that too without significant spending on marketing. This has given OnlineTyari an edge over its rivals. OnlineTyari’s daily submitted assessments are way more than those of its closest competitor.
OnlineTyari – Partnerships and Tie-ups
OnlineTyari has partnered with ePayLater to provide its customers with the convenient option of registering for online courses on job-oriented tests, and paying for them later. OnlineTyari has also partnered with various educational institutions, coaching institutes, and individual tutors who provide quality material for examinations like IBPS, SSC, UPSC, GATE, etc. The company also partners with various coupon sites and Paytm to sell its subscription.
With vernacular diversity and coverage for multiple examinations, the company has 8.5 million registered users and 7 million students have downloaded the OnlineTyari app. Presently over 5,50,000+ students us its services every day. Majority of the users in the case OnlineTyari hail from cities such as Patna, Jaipur, Indore, Lucknow, and Ajmer, in addition to large metros such as Delhi and Pune.
OnlineTyari – Future Plans
OnlineTyari aspires to become India’s No. 1 test preparation platform. To achieve this, the company will be expanding its offline presence in North India. It is also looking to include more languages on its platform soon. With a clear vision and strategy to leave its mark in the edtech sector, OnlineTyari endeavors to bring the youth of the country on a single digital platform and help them prepare for their dream government jobs.
FAQs
What is OnlineTyari?
OnlineTyari is a web and mobile app platform delivering educational contents, mock tests and guidance for students and job aspirants preparing for various exams in India.
Rishita Jain
