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Cloud-based education platform <keyword id="1928389" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="WizIQ">WizIQ</keyword>, which offers a collaborative and multilingual interface for delivering online courses, has launched new apps for <keyword id="75489" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="IOS">iOS</keyword> and <keyword id="693128" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Android-tablets">Android tablets</keyword> that enable <keyword id="6356089" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Teachers">teachers</keyword> to <keyword id="1974534" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Conduct-live-online-classes">conduct live online classes</keyword> using these devices. 
 Earlier, only students had access to these apps so that they could attend online classes from anywhere and from any device (<keyword id="6365259" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="PC">PC</keyword>, <keyword id="101239" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="iPad">iPad</keyword> and <keyword id="6355645" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="android">Android</keyword> <keyword id="6361927" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Tablets">tablets</keyword>). However, teachers had to conduct classes either from their <keyword id="168469" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="desktops">desktops</keyword> or <keyword id="6367615" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="laptops">laptops</keyword>. With the upgraded apps in place, teachers can now access the <keyword id="1974537" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="WizIQ-Virtual-Classroom">WizIQ Virtual Classroom</keyword> through their <keyword id="996019" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="tablet-devices">tablet devices</keyword> and stay connected with students while on the go. The new versions also include a number of teacher-centric features that will add value to the <keyword id="675888" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="learning-experience">learning experience</keyword>. The <keyword id="1974542" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="WizIQ-App">WizIQ App</keyword> is free and can be downloaded from Apple’s <keyword id="95161" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="itunes">iTunes</keyword> Store or <keyword id="963171" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Google-Play">Google Play</keyword>. 
 The new versions of the WizIQ App allow teachers to conduct online classes, anytime and anywhere; use all whiteboard tools; upload and share audio/video files; <keyword id="1974545" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Extend-class-duration">extend class duration</keyword> and <keyword id="1974547" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Record-live-classes">record live classes</keyword>. 
 Commenting on the launch, WizIQ <keyword id="5645" type="POSITION" weightage="100" keywordseo="CEO">CEO</keyword> <keyword id="222685" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Harman-Singh">Harman Singh</keyword> said, “The upgraded WizIQ (tablet) App promises to take teaching experience to a whole new dimension by enabling instructors to teach their students live, through their own devices.” 
 Mohali-headquartered WizIQ successfully operates a marketplace where teachers can sell their courses to its 3-million-strong student community. Nearly 250,000 teachers, <keyword id="180251" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="trainers">trainers</keyword> and <keyword id="1974553" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Teaching-organisations">teaching organisations</keyword> are currently registered on WizIQ. Besides <keyword id="13178" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Mohali">Mohali</keyword>, the company has offices in <keyword id="6355033" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bangalore">Bangalore</keyword>, <keyword id="6354552" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="hyderabad">Hyderabad</keyword> and <keyword id="6397385" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="North-Carolina">North Carolina</keyword>. For more information on this <keyword id="1974551" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Edu-tech-firm">edu-tech firm</keyword>, read our earlier <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/From-IITs-To-Universities-Abroad-This-Virtual-Classroom-Is-Going-Places/articleshow/25305478.cms">coverage</a>.

Edutech Firm WizIQ Launches iPad & Android Apps For Teachers

Education start-ups in India seem to be the hottest targets right now, going by the kind of <keyword id="6357455" type="EVENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="Funding">funding</keyword> they are attracting from local and global investors. A couple of days ago, Delhi-based start-up <keyword id="1974964" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Avanti-Learning-Centres">Avanti Learning Centres</keyword> raised an undisclosed amount in <keyword id="948731" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="seed-funding">seed funding</keyword> from <keyword id="1894311" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Pearson-Affordable-Learning-Fund">Pearson Affordable Learning Fund</keyword> (<keyword id="1954796" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="PALF">PALF</keyword>). Two more <keyword id="6365770" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="angel-investors">angel investors</keyword> also took part in the round. Avanti will use the <keyword id="1974977" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Seed-round">seed round</keyword> to develop an <keyword id="1974975" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Online-offline-learning">online-offline learning</keyword> &amp; monitoring system, create more <keyword id="755302" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="educational-content">educational content</keyword> and build new <keyword id="68244" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Learning-centres">learning centres</keyword>. Currently, the <keyword id="1044076" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="education-start-up">education start-up</keyword> operates stand-alone and in-school centres in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kanpur, Roorkee and Puducherry, besides helping the <keyword id="3216" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="students">students</keyword> in three Tibetan schools in Uttarakhand and Karnataka. 
 
This is the second investment in India that Pearson has made through PALF, and the third overall since the fund was launched in July 2012. 
 In November this year, <keyword id="1954793" type="POSITION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Global-education-leader">Global education leader</keyword> Pearson’s inaugural <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/These-2-Peer-selected-Start-upsShared-150K-Investment-To-Boost-Low-cost-Education/articleshow/26512179.cms">edupreneur programme</a>, jointly launched by PALF and US-based investor Village Capital, came to a close with <keyword id="1954794" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Experifun">Experifun</keyword> and <keyword id="1467859" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Sudiksha-Knowledge-Solutions">Sudiksha Knowledge Solutions</keyword> walking off with a seed funding of $75,000 each. The <keyword id="6362476" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="investments">investments</keyword> will enable the start-ups to further develop their low-cost education ventures and assist underprivileged school children. 
 Pearson launched PALF in July 2012 with a capital of $15 million. Investments are made into private companies that offer <keyword id="1974987" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Affordable-educational-services">affordable educational services</keyword> and schooling in Asia, <keyword id="12925" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="80" keywordseo="Africa">Africa</keyword> and Latin America. 
 Set up as a <keyword id="456748" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="non-profit">non-profit</keyword> in March 2010 by <keyword id="258061" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Akshay-Saxena">Akshay Saxena</keyword> and <keyword id="1974967" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Krishna-Ramkumar">Krishna Ramkumar</keyword>, Avanti Learning Centres supports students from low-income families (those with a family income of $5,000 per annum or below) and prepares them for <keyword id="1974989" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="College-entrance-exams">college entrance exams</keyword>, especially the highly competitive engineering and medical entrance tests. Students can study up to 18 hours a week at a centre and need to pay only $20 per month. Costs are kept low as a large network of volunteers and partners, including universities, public schools, policy makers and private sector businesses, help with teaching and administration. 
 Instead of traditional lectures, Avanti follows a comprehensive programme including <keyword id="1951606" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="book-learning">book learning</keyword>, <keyword id="144248" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="Videos">videos</keyword>, <keyword id="1974990" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Peer-learning">peer learning</keyword> (developed by Dr <keyword id="1974994" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Eric-Mazur">Eric Mazur</keyword>, the company’s chief academic advisor and a physics professor at <keyword id="53675" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="harvard">Harvard</keyword>), <keyword id="956032" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Self-study">self study</keyword> &amp; <keyword id="969316" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="group-work">group work</keyword>, <keyword id="1974991" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Recorded-lectures">recorded lectures</keyword>, <keyword id="140811" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="mentoring">mentoring</keyword> and doubt-solving. Students are enrolled after a highly selective two-stage process. 
 “It was the commitment from Akshay and Krishna to focus on improving the <keyword id="1974995" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Education-of-low-income-communities">education of low-income communities</keyword>, combined with an <keyword id="1974993" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Innovative-learning-model">innovative learning model</keyword>, which was the most attractive aspect of the <keyword id="718769" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="investment-opportunity">investment opportunity</keyword>,” said PALF executive director, <keyword id="1974962" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Katelyn-Donnelly">Katelyn Donnelly</keyword>. 
 “Avanti is particularly exciting because it is a non-traditional pedagogy with very strong initial results. Our investment allows us to partner with a mission-led company to bridge a crucial gap between secondary and <keyword id="6375224" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="higher-education">higher education</keyword> for low-income learners. PALF is enthused to support the Avanti team to successfully grow across India, and we look forward to working with them to deliver on their long-term vision,” she added. 
 Commenting on the funding, Saxena said, “Once we decided that a <keyword id="1975001" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="For-profit">for-profit</keyword> model was the best way to reach scale, we knew we would need expert strategic insight and advice. We are incredibly excited to be working with the Pearson Affordable Learning Fund as they bring unrivalled education expertise to the table that can help us achieve our long-term objectives. We look forward to building upon the relationship with Pearson as we improve outcomes for low-income learners in the years to come.” 
 
Recent fundraising by education start-ups 
uFaber: Mumbai-based <keyword id="1975002" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="uFaber-Edutech">uFaber Edutech</keyword> (http://www.ufaber.com/), which runs an <keyword id="1975003" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Online-education-marketplace">online education marketplace</keyword> for <keyword id="1975006" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Professional-skill-development">professional skill development</keyword>, hobbies, crafts, academics and vocational training, got Rs 37 lakh from <keyword id="1975007" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ah-Seeders">Ah! Seeders</keyword>, the seed funding network of <keyword id="1975008" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Club-Ah">Club Ah!</keyword> It is the network’s maiden investment in India after its launch in the country. Ah! Seeders puts its money into very early stage companies and typically invests in the range of Rs 25-50 lakh. 
 
<keyword id="1573710" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Meritnation">Meritnation</keyword>: Delhi-based <keyword id="1962741" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Applect-Learning-Systems">Applect Learning Systems</keyword>, which runs the online education and assessment site Meritnation.com (http://www.meritnation.com/), secured Rs 10 crore from <keyword id="80004" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Info-Edge">Info Edge</keyword> (India) Ltd, the biggest consumer Internet company in India by market value. With this fresh round, Info Edge has put in a total of Rs 71.5 crore and holds around 55.81% stake in Applect (on a fully diluted and converted basis). 
 
<keyword id="900714" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="InOpen-Technologies">InOpen Technologies</keyword>: Mumbai-based InOpen Technologies (http://inopen.in/), a start-up developing educational content and <keyword id="1975016" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Teachers-training-solutions">teacher’s training solutions</keyword>, received an undisclosed sum in Series A from <keyword id="1975017" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Japanese-education-firm">Japanese education firm</keyword> Benesse Holdings, Inc. In August 2011, the company raised $500,000 in seed funding from <keyword id="1975018" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ventureast-Tenet-Fund-II">Ventureast Tenet Fund II</keyword>. 
 
MangoSense: The Pune-based edutainment start-up (http://mangosense.com/) got an undisclosed amount from <keyword id="164924" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mumbai-Angels">Mumbai Angels</keyword>. Its products include <keyword id="1975022" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="MangoReader">MangoReader</keyword>, <keyword id="1975023" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="MangoReach">MangoReach</keyword> and <keyword id="1975025" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="MangoSocial">MangoSocial</keyword>, through which users can create a fun and social environment for reading books and sharing them with friends. 
 
<keyword id="1975033" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="K2-Learning">K2 Learning</keyword>: Bangalore-based hybrid (online-offline) start-up K2 (http://k2learning.in/) secured Rs 8 crore in angel funding from <keyword id="244269" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Radheshyam-Agarwal">Radheshyam Agarwal</keyword>, founder and director of <keyword id="1975034" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Calcutta-Tube-India">Calcutta Tube India</keyword>. The start-up specialises in <keyword id="1975035" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Commerce-content">commerce content</keyword> and plans to set up <keyword id="1974968" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Tab-Labs">Tab Labs</keyword> in more than 100 <keyword id="37181" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="colleges">colleges</keyword> that will get special tablets with <keyword id="1975036" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Pre-loaded-commerce-data">pre-loaded commerce data</keyword>. 
 
<keyword id="1309724" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Simplilearn">Simplilearn</keyword>: Bangalore-based <keyword id="1974963" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Simplilearn-Solutions">Simplilearn Solutions</keyword> (www.Simplilearn.com), a company offering <keyword id="1309739" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="professional-certification-courses">professional certification courses</keyword> online, secured $10 million in <keyword id="1095983" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Series-B-funding">Series B funding</keyword> from <keyword id="309606" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Helion-Venture-Partners">Helion Venture Partners</keyword> and existing investor <keyword id="1397792" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Kalaari-Capital">Kalaari Capital</keyword>.

Another Education Start-up From India Gets Seed
Round From Pearson Affordable Learning Fund

If you are sceptic about run-of-the-mill online courses or can’t decode the learning materials on your own, it’s time to go for the best of both worlds. How about <keyword id="1928389" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="WizIQ">WizIQ</keyword>, a <keyword id="406113" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Virtual-classroom">virtual classroom</keyword> that can be accessed from anywhere, from any device, while teachers handhold students just like they do in a physical institution? But there’s more to it. Even premier institutions such as IIT-Delhi, Vellore Institute of Technology and <keyword id="59489" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Indian-School-of-Mines">Indian School of Mines</keyword> (Dhanbad) are tying up with this Mohali-headquartered firm for certificate courses and distance learning programmes. Overseas organisations using the solution include <keyword id="1928396" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Atlantic-University-in-Virginia-Beach">Atlantic University in Virginia Beach</keyword> and Des Moines Area Community Colleges in Iowa, among others. The SaaS-based (<keyword id="753967" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="software-as-a-service">Software-as-a-Service</keyword>) education platform is hosted on the Cloud and successfully operates a marketplace where teachers can sell their courses to its 3-million-strong student community. 
 WizIQ offers a collaborative and flexible platform for delivering and enhancing any online course – be it high school maths, hybrid courses for university students or employee training programmes. What sets it apart from other <keyword id="1928409" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="edu-tech">edu-tech</keyword> companies is its focus on teacher-and-learner-centred methods instead of just providing gigabytes and gigabytes of content. It is also an excellent interface for conducting <keyword id="1071995" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Massive-Open-Online-Courses">Massive Open Online Courses</keyword> (<keyword id="1539483" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="MOOCs">MOOCs</keyword>). Best of all, WizIQ’s Virtual Classroom software works cross-platform – on PCs, <keyword id="75489" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="IOS">iOS</keyword> and <keyword id="6355645" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="android">Android</keyword> devices. It can also be integrated with <keyword id="1928395" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="learning-management-systems">learning management systems</keyword> like Moodle or Blackboard or with an organisation’s own website. 
 True to its global stature, the platform has a multilingual interface and supports 19 languages. The company also opened an office in Bangalore yesterday in a bid to expand further. WizIQ has other offices in Hyderabad and North Carolina as well. Here is a snapshot that captures the vision and viability of the <keyword id="13178" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Mohali">Mohali</keyword> start-up gone global. 
 
Who runs WizIQ: The venture was started by <keyword id="222685" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Harman-Singh">Harman Singh</keyword> (CEO) in 2007. The parent company is <keyword id="1696366" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Authorgen-Technologies">authorGEN Technologies</keyword>, which was founded in 2002 by Harman and late Harbir Khurana. Harman holds a master’s degree in Computer Science from <keyword id="283601" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="North-Carolina-State-University">North Carolina State University</keyword>. Prior to WizIQ, he had also founded authorSTREAM, an online PowerPoint sharing platform. 
 
What inspired the venture: The concept of making quality education accessible to all at reasonable charges. Harman came up with the idea during his graduation years and the goal was to make teaching and learning easier for everyone. 
 
What’s the pitch: Do more than stand and deliver – engage your students. Content might be the king but at WizIQ, teachers are back where they belong and replicates the classroom experience online. That creates a distinctive style and ensures a great engagement model. 
 
How it works: WizIQ enables teachers and trainers to hold ‘live’ classes and share tutorials in all possible formats – PowerPoint presentation, PDF, Word document, virtual whiteboards, voice and video. Learners only need an Internet connection to ‘attend’ those classes and don’t require to download anything or pre-install cumbersome client software. An integrated chat is there as well to make each session interactive. 
 
Technology: The platform leverages Microsoft technologies. For real-time communication between students and teachers, it uses Flash Media Server (FMS) and Flex at front-end. Amazon S3 is used for data storage and wherever heavy computation power is needed, Amazon EC2 service is used. To optimise the ‘live class’ experience, servers are placed at multiple locations like the US, Singapore, Sao Paulo and Ireland. 
 
Claim to fame: Traction and awards. WizIQ claims that over 250,000 teachers and 3 million learners are using the platform across 100-plus countries. The company also says it has the largest collection of paid courses created by educators on the Internet and hosts more than 2,500 live classes daily via WizIQ Virtual Classroom. Teachers and organisations are also using WizIQ to conduct successful MOOCs. 
 
Show me the money: It is essentially a paid platform for teachers looking to conduct online classes. Fee starts at $19 per month (or $190 a year) and can go up to $69 per month (or $690 annually). WizIQ offers a freemium model and some features on this platform are free. For instance, teachers can hold 2 classes per month free of cost and there’s a 30-day free trial for those who want to try out its advanced features. Around 8,000 of the total 250,000 teachers are paid members, the company claims. 
 Unlike many other start-ups, this one has been well funded all along. Educomp, India’s largest <keyword id="255607" type="TECHNOLOGY" weightage="100" keywordseo="education-technology">education technology</keyword> company, invested an undisclosed amount in the very first year. In January 2013, WizIQ also raised a Series B round of $4 million from education-focused PE firm <keyword id="342246" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Kaizen">Kaizen</keyword> and German media major Bertelsmann. 
 
Biggest challenge: Poor Internet penetration and stiff competition from those in the same space. But the toughest one is positioning. Web-enabled distance learning is definitely looking up in India, but it is yet to catch up with mainstream courses administered offline. Until that happens, scaling up will remain a major problem.

From IITs To Universities Abroad, This Virtual Classroom Is Going Places

<ul><li>Startups in India raise multiple rounds of funding even before reaching series A stage, diluting their equity in the process. </li><li>However, they have learnt a lesson and are now holding on to equity. </li><li>Investors too believe startups should not give away large equities early on.</li></ul>Indian startups aren't afraid of not finding funding anymore – but in return they might be giving up stakes in their own companies a lot sooner than they should. A growing worry in the Indian startup community is that many early stage startups are increasingly giving up equity – or ownership in companies – too quickly. That often leads to the founder-entrepreneurs eventually having little or no say in those startup in the later stages. The issue of dilution of equity is especially significant now as more and more startups are seeing multiple rounds of funding even before they reach the ‘series-A stage,’ leading to the crowding out of investors. “So very often the founding team is 25% or lesser by series A. This is something that affects entrepreneurs and investors alike. If the founders have given up 70-80% of the company at Series A, it’s still a journey of 8-10 years after that to get to being a sizeable company. Founders need to have that incentive to continue for long,” said Alok Mittal, a prominent angel investor and co-founder of Indifi technologies. Driven by the mushrooming of startups in India, and partly the success of few Indian unicorns, several investors including venture capital firms are increasingly chasing promising companies with potential for innovation or success at the early stages. A total of 386 companies got seed funding in 2018 for a total amount of $303.72 million. Only few years ago VCs had restricted themselves to late-stage startups and tighter due diligence that included investing in companies with large revenue base and market share. And now VCs are investing both directly or through accelerator programs. Recently, Sequoia India launched Surge, an accelerator program for early-stage startups – showing its clear interest in creating a roadmap for Indian startup founders in the early stages. Startups, for their part, don’t seem to mind giving up equity just to have a bigger VC in their kitty, say experts. One of the consequences of giving up too much equity quickly is losing control of the company. A recent conversation on Twitter included the top VCs discussing the dilution of equity of startups in the early stage. Shailendra Singh of Sequoia tweeted, “Met a promising company yesterday that diluted 35% in seed round for ~$1M... this was ok 5 years ago, but hope this changes now” (sic), to which Siddharth Pai of 3one4 capital replied that startups “Must not dilute more than 8-10% on seed round as it will no longer be aligned with founders vision.” Another reason why entrepreneurs seem to give up equity sooner is underestimating how the company might fare in the future – in the early stage, startups are still looking at finding their way through the business, for instance. “But in the beginning, we take equity dilution etc casually, only understanding about it later, in hindsight. At that point of time, when the business picks up, how your cap table looks becomes as important to the investor as everything else,” said Akshay Chaturvedi, co-founder of edutech startup Leverage Edu. In Leverage Edu’s case, even though the startup did not raise capital on ‘day zero’ however, after a certain while, as the company started to pick scale, it decided to pick money mostly from ‘angels who they knew’ instead of venture, since it did not wanted to dilute as would happen in a proper round, wanted more time to build around the fundamentals etc. “With a lot of things in place, and when ready to scale, Leverage Edu raised a VC round that was led by DSG Consumer Partners and Blume Ventures. I had worked in startups before, so that definitely helped,” he said. However, most early stage investors will not worry about early stage dilution as long as the valuation is on an uptick, said Mittal adding that the issue is when the overall level of dilution is high. As funding availability has grown in the country, at least startups have learnt the lesson the hard way – to not head for funding when there is no revenue, product road map or validation. “We raised seed funding without these and so we didn't have much leverage to negotiate on the valuation and ended up diluting quite a bit. Back then, we thought 50L was a big amount but in reality it was not. Within a year we were again desperate for next round of funding. So when someone is raising money they need to raise an amount which would at least give 2-3 years runway,” said Naren Krishna Madhurakavi, founder of Stockroom.io. There’s also an argument presented by investors. With more and more successes being witnessed in India, startup founders believe that smaller equity could be lucrative as well. “Interestingly enough when startups see examples of successful companies say when a Flipkart is acquired by <keyword id="80487" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="walmart">Walmart</keyword>, it encourages them to scale up faster and dilute as well because then even a small percentage of equity can be cashed out for a large sum,” said Mittal.

Indian startup founders are giving up ownership too early – and that's a bad idea

It was one of the first to steer its way through a turbulent Ed-tech Space successfully a few years ago. <keyword id="1309724" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Simplilearn">Simplilearn</keyword> has not failed to surprise us yet again. One of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/This-is-what-makes-Simplilearn-one-of-the-most-effective-Education-Startups-in-recent-times/articleshow/53672539.cms">the most effective Ed-tech portals in our country</a>, it is now also one of the first in the online education space to have announced a placement assistance service to bridge the gap between job aspirations of candidates and skill expectations of hiring companies. 
 
With this, Simplilearn graduates will be put in front of some of the top-most hiring companies for listed and un-listed middle, mid-senior, and senior level job openings, based on industry skill requirements. This step is believed to have a potential to make a real difference to the lives of several professionals, who otherwise may not have been able to highlight themselves in front of top companies despite being trained in emerging fields. 
 
Also, with this move, it is being expected that <a href="https://www.simplilearn.com/">Simplilearn </a>will be positioned among rivals as not just a professional certification training provider helping professionals up-skill, but as one of the only Ed-tech portals in India helping its students connect with employers who are hunting for talent in high-growth domains. On the other side, it will also prove as a boon for companies, considering it is a difficult task for them to find talent in Big Data, Data Science and Digital Marketing - areas where the Indian market still lacks talent. 
 Ahead of the product launch, <keyword id="687315" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kashyap-Dalal">Kashyap Dalal</keyword>, Chief Business Officer at Simplilearn, revealed how <keyword id="4101867" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="jobassist">JobAssist</keyword> works, what are the company's plans around it, how will Simplilearn have a competitive advantage with this new product and much more, in an exclusive interaction with Business Insider. Here's what he had to say: 
 
- Can you explain the hiring process via JobAssist right from the time your placement cell showcases the resume of a Simplilearn Graduate to companies till the final hiring takes place? 
 
We are offering JobAssist exclusively to our learners upon successfully completing the course. On course completion, professionals interested in new opportunities will apply for JobAssist through our website. They would be required to share details with our placement team regarding their experience and career journey. Our team actively engages with leading companies in our JobAssist domains and looks at mapping the openings they are aware of with relevant profiles of professionals. It will share the relevant resumes with the companies. 
 
Once the resumes are shared, the companies will further screen the candidates based on parameters such as performance, experience, and other requirements as each company has its own guidelines. Once a candidate will be shortlisted for an interview, a representative of the specific recruiting company as well as someone from the Simplilearn JobAssist team will coordinate with our student on next steps and rest of the process. 
 
The JobAssist process continues for a period of 12 months or until the candidate gets a job offer through the JobAssist process or decides to opt out of the process due to any other career developments. 
 
- Who constitutes the Simplilearn Placement Cell? 
 
Simplilearn Placement cell has a dedicated unit of 10 members that works towards building network with top hiring companies. They also match profiles to relevant openings across these companies to maximise the chances of conversion for students as well as the companies finding relevant candidates. Our team has extensive experience in acquiring talent for Fortune 500 companies and fast growing start-ups.- 
 
- How many Companies have you tied up with so far? 
 
Currently, we have tied up with five leading IT/ITes companies and the plan is to expand these partnerships with all large enterprises and top ranking startups in India across sectors by the end of this year. The hiring companies that we partner with are those focuses on growth areas in the digital economy and have huge need for quality professionals in areas such as big data, digital marketing, cloud computing, mobile, DevOps and so on. 
 
- Will you be facilitating Overseas hiring as well? 
 
We definitely see potential to use our business scale across India and US (as well as Middle East, UK and Australia) to open up overseas opportunities in the near future. At this time, however, our focus is to help our alumni with relevant and exciting opportunities in the domain of their course and career interest. 
 
- Do you charge an extra fee from students to avail the JobAssist service? 
 
Job Assist is a free valuable service provided to Simplilearn learners. There is no separate fee chargeable. The only condition is that this service is available only to students who successfully complete the course objectives and requirements. 
 
- Do you feel by connecting the professional trained by you to companies relevant to their skills, you have closed the last gap in your offerings as an Edu-tech portal? 
 
With JobAssist, we are definitely a step closer to the larger mission in helping professionals and enterprises succeed in the digital work age. Advanced technologies are changing the dynamics of businesses so frequently. It's becoming challenging for companies to keep up with this pace, especially in hiring skilled talent in large numbers. Similarly, job portals and consultancy firms are not equipped enough in processing quality resumes of deserving candidates with technical expertise. At Simplilearn, we want to be the career partner and help in bridging the gap between career aspirations and industry needs. 
 
- With JobAssist, are you looking at having a Competitive Advantage over others who are merely providing education/training in emerging fields? 
 
Our high touch learning model has benefited our learners, which has led us to an industry high course completion rate at 72 %. It was one of our milestones last year and gave us a competitive edge in the professional training space. JobAssist is an initiative that we are very excited about as it allows us to add value directly to the career of our students, not just through providing them the right skills but also by connecting them to the opportunities that exist in high growth industries. 
 
What are your Short-term and Long-term Goals for Job Assist? 
 
The short term goal is to work towards placing all of our learners for the select courses on Big Data, Data Science and Digital marketing for Masters programs as well as the online classroom courses. This will be facilitated by our dedicated placement cell. The mid to long term goal would be to build JobAssist as a platform which companies searching for quality talent in digital economy skillsets naturally veer towards. 
 
Anything else you may want to share with us to write about Job Assist? 
 
We invite all employers who struggle with shortage of skilled talent in areas like Big Data, Digital Marketing to reach out to us and work with us to get access to job ready talent in these areas. 
 
The industry-resource equilibrium remains disturbed owing to India's huge demand-supply challenge. It all boils down to a defunct Indian education system that has failed to keep up with the times as well as lack of job opportunities in the Indian market. 
 
At a time like this, Simplilearn has emerged as a saviour because its skilled Graduates are getting a chance to be in front of companies which require them. It remains to be seen, however, how effective 'JobAssist' will really prove to be and whether it will achieve what it has set out for. Who knows, we may be in for another surprise soon!

EXCLUSIVE: Simplilearn is no longer just helping professionals up-skill, it can now get you hired by Top Indian Companies

New Delhi, Feb 19 () Homegrown early-stage venture capital firm, Blume Ventures on Wednesday announced the final close of Blume Ventures Fund III at USD 102 million (about Rs 730 crore). After a first close in late 2018, the final close was completed in December 2019, a statement said. Blume started in 2011 raising an entirely domestic Rs 100 crore fund from HNIs (high net-worth individuals) and subsequently raised a USD 60 million fund (Rs 400 crore) in 2016. It claimed that its the first entirely homegrown fund to raise a third fund and raise over USD 100 million in a single fund. "Blume's newest fund will continue to back early stage startups focusing on the two distinct opportunity sets that India offers, opportunities that leverage the mobile-led explosion of the Indian digital-first economy and Indian engineering and science translated to global market opportunities," it added. The fund III portfolio already includes more than 10 investments including HealthAssure (healthcare), Taaraka, Stage3 (consumer), Jai Kisan, TartanSense, Procol (agri), Classplus, Tapchief and LeverageEdu (edu-tech). Through Fund I and II, Blume had invested in companies like Unacademy, Grey Orange, Spinny, Turtlemint, Dunzo, Healthifyme, Purplle, Railyatri (IntrCity) and others. "We are very proud of our founders and team who have delivered outstanding performance over the last three years, thereby strengthening the Blume brand and track record immensely," Karthik Reddy, co-founder and managing partner at Blume Ventures said. SR SHWSHW

Blume Ventures announces final close of Fund III at $102 mn

<ul><li><keyword id="253799" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Yash-Birla">Yash Birla</keyword> has been named as a <keyword id="2493710" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Willful-defaulter">willful defaulter</keyword> by <keyword id="49007" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Uco-Bank">UCO Bank</keyword> for non repayment of a loan of ₹676 million. </li><li>Birla’s company Birla Surya Ltd is the one to have defaulted in the payment. </li><li>UCO Bank, before it was nationalized, was founded by Birla’s great grand uncle GD Birla.</li></ul>Indian businessman Yash Birla, who comes from one of the most prestigious families of India, has been <a href="https://www.livemint.com/news/india/uco-bank-declares-yashovardhan-birla-willful-defaulter-1560660742531.html">declared</a> as a willful defaulter by the Kolkata-based UCO Bank. His company Birla Surya Ltd failed to repay loans worth ₹676 million. Birla was sent several notices regarding the repayment of the loan. His company was given a credit limit of ₹1 billion to manufacture multi-crystalline solar photovoltaic cells. Interestingly, Birla has been issued a notice for being a willful defaulter by UCO Bank – the same bank that was founded by his great grand uncle Ghanshyam Das Birla in 1943. The bank was later nationalized by the Government of India in 1969. “Due to non-repayment of dues to the bank, the account was declared NPA (non-performing asset) on 3 June, 2013. The borrower has not repaid the dues owed to the bank despite several notices. The borrower company and its directors, promoters, guarantors were declared as willful defaulters by the bank and their name reported to the credit information companies for public information," UCO Bank said in its <a href="https://www.livemint.com/news/india/uco-bank-declares-yashovardhan-birla-willful-defaulter-1560660742531.html">notice.</a> Yash Birla, head of the <keyword id="169144" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Yash-Birla-Group">Yash Birla Group</keyword>, is not new to financial troubles. Over the years, financial problems have been mounting on Birla, who was also bailed out by his billionaire cousin Kumar Mangalam Birla, in the past. In January 2019, three of Yash Birla’s <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/business/companies/mca-asks-sfio-to-probe-three-yash-birla-promoted-firms-5529347/">firms</a> – Birla Cotsyn India Ltd, Birla Shloka Edutech Ltd and Zenith Birla (India) Ltd – were under investigation for fraud as directed by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. In <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/sbi-sends-recovery-notice-to-yash-birla-s-firm-117041301197_1.html">2017</a>, the State Bank of India had sent a recovery notice to Birla’s firm for the repayment of ₹178 million in debt. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/from-today-black-money-cases-cant-be-settled-by-paying-up-dues/articleshow/69818885.cms">From today, black money cases can't be settled by paying up dues</a>

Yash Birla declared ‘willful defaulter’ by a bank that was founded by his great grand uncle

<ul><li>Bengaluru needs to turn into a deeptech hub too </li><li>Bengaluru is the only Indian city to be among the top 30 global startup ecosystems of today. It jumped two ranks up in the world’s top 30 startup</li><li>The city is known for its Edtech and Fintech startups but has been facing challenges due to weak environment policy in India.</li></ul> Bengaluru might be India’s <keyword id="6357722" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="silicon-valley">Silicon Valley</keyword> but it is in dire need of a strong framework to develop and commercialise “deep tech” like smart cities, robotics, autonomous systems, <a href="https://startupgenome.com/reports">said</a> the Global Startup Genome Report 2019. <a href="https://startupgenome.com/gser2019">Startup Genome</a> is an independent research firm that provides data and insights to startups. Bengaluru is the only Indian city to be ranked among the top 30 global startup ecosystems ranked by the report. It jumped two ranks this year in the world’s top 30 startup ecosystems list, according to the report. There are 30 global cities that it said have the potential to become the “next” hubs including Bengaluru. Bengaluru is home to a number of unicorns and is known for its edtech and fintech startups. However, it has been facing several structural bottlenecks. “A weak policy environment in India, as well as relatively low levels of research production, means that <keyword id="6355033" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="bangalore">Bangalore</keyword> might face more challenges in deep tech startup sub-sectors — those requiring tangible IP — than it did in Software, the report explained. It further said, “Potentially, this might become a significant hindrance in the ecosystem, threatening its future growth,” said the report. The city is also facing challenges due to “quality” of funding. The past growth “Bengaluru, Sydney, Stockholm, and Berlin stand out for their relatively low levels of Funding Quality, driven by lack of local, experienced VCs compared to other ecosystem”, said the report. Edtech and fintech hub India has witnessed exponential growth in co-working spaces over the last year which has fueled expansion in fintech and edutech hubs in India, with about 42% of startups based in Bengaluru. A recent India FinTech Report 2019 by global innovation platform MEDICI says that India is the second biggest Fintech Hub after the US with over 2,000 startups nourishing in the zone. Almost every top ecosystem has a strong national regulatory environment that encourages IP commercialization, according to the report.Here, too, Bangalore, along with Beijing and Shanghai was an exception. “Bangalore has all of the ingredients to create a world class tech ecosystem - investors, engineers, clients, experts - and the potential to build high-quality global startups at a fraction of the cost.” <a href="https://startupgenome.com/reports">said</a> Varun Chawla Founder, 91springboard in the report.

You Searched For "Indian edutech firm" and got 8 results

Edutech Firm WizIQ Launches iPad & Android Apps For Teachers

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Another Education Start-up From India Gets Seed Round From Pearson Affordable Learning Fund

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From IITs To Universities Abroad, This Virtual Classroom Is Going Places

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EXCLUSIVE: Simplilearn is no longer just helping professionals up-skill, it can now get you hired by Top Indian Companies

Anushree Singh

Blume Ventures announces final close of Fund III at $102 mn

PTI

Yash Birla declared ‘willful defaulter’ by a bank that was founded by his great grand uncle

Here’s what Bengaluru needs to do in order to keep its crown as a global startup hub

Preeti Soni

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