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<ul><li>The pandemic has helped the <keyword id="4222766" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="edtech-sector">edtech sector</keyword> in India flourish. Many players have witnessed impressive growth since the lockdown led to closure of educational institutes. </li><li><keyword id="3395125" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Cuemath">Cuemath</keyword>, an edtech platform focused on Math and coding grew 3X last year and is expecting to top that this year. It is also confident of becoming a unicorn by 2022.</li><li>We talk to <keyword id="1390946" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Arvind-Iyer">Arvind Iyer</keyword>, Marketing Director, Cuemath who tells us about the platform's growth story and all that its doing to bring more students to its platform.</li></ul>The last one year has been a blessing in disguise for the edtech industry. While over the past few years the sector had being growing steadily, the pandemic gave the sector just the tailwind it needed. According to a recent report released by transaction advisory firm RBSA Advisors, the <keyword id="11507888" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-edtech">Indian edtech</keyword> sector will take off, from its current market size of about $700-800 million to $30 billion in the next 10 years. While we have seen players that cover the entire spectrum of education, multiple subjects, test preparations, competitive exams, there also are subject-specific platforms that are making their presence felt in the domain. Cuemath was started in 2013 by <keyword id="3395126" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Manan-Khurma">Manan Khurma</keyword> who had just graduated from <keyword id="55119" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-Institute-of-Technology">Indian Institute of Technology</keyword> (IIT) Delhi. After graduating, he started teaching, predominantly Maths, to a lot of aspirants to help them crack the JEE. His experience with many of the students made him realize that most of them did not have clarity on the fundamentals of the subject. Resultantly, they were struggling with advanced concepts like trigonometry and calculus. That led to the genesis of Cuemath, that started out in an offline format but has now gone online. The platform, in the initial few years, found growth primarily through word-of-mouth. What started in India soon found takers in other countries too, considering every child, across the globe, has to learn Math. In fact, currently, Cuemath is present in 20 countries, a number that the leaders hope to take to 50 by the end of this year. “Math is a universal need. It’s not a niche need. Every kid around the world needs to do Math. Therefore, every student is our target student. We are therefore creating and enhancing our market. And since Math is a basic global requirement, we get an edge over our competition,” said Arvind Iyer, Marketing Director, Cuemath. Currently, Cuemath’s key markets are across four regions, North America and Canada; the Middle East, especially Dubai and Qatar, UK and Europe, where its business is growing steadily. The startup currently has plans of scaling 3-4X times in the US alone this year. “Cuemath is present in 20-odd countries, and it wants to reach over 50 countries by the end of this year. This plan includes strengthening its presence in North America, APAC, UK and Europe, and the Middle East, as well as entering countries in Africa and South America,” explained Iyer. The platform also underwent a rebranding recently to represent its evolution in the past 1.5 years, primarily its pivot from an offline to an online entity. The rebranding entails a new logo and colour palette. <div type="image" title="cuemathTwitter" msid="83830583" hostid="261"></div> Explaining the thought behind the rebranding, Iyer said, “We want to make parents and students believe in the power of math and its potential to unlock innumerous possibilities. We intend to project ourselves as a brand of consequence where intuition for math trumps marks and performance in exams. Being a company that works at scale across geographies, we needed a winning strategy that will be in alignment with our mission to be a Global Math Leader of the future - to portray trust, expertise, and freshness, globally. This needed a fresh way of looking at our brand, our visual identity, and our communication objectives which are: to come across as trustworthy but not formal, to sound lighthearted but not juvenile, to have academic rigor but not be strict and to be viewed as innovative not newfangled.” It has also refreshed its tagline to ‘Get better at Math, Get better at everything else’. When it comes to marketing, the platform has been following a targeted approach, while monitoring its funnel conversion metrics closely. “We are constantly improving our communication assets to make them work harder for the parent, and get them to discover the Cuemath method. We believe in always adding value to the lives of parents, students and teachers. Everything we do is a reflection of what they seek and find useful. Having said that, our focus this year is going to be on building brand awareness and performance marketing to acquire new students through all our social, digital, TV and PR channels,” explained Iyer. If a recent estimate from <keyword id="50041" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="KPMG">KPMG</keyword> is to be believed, India has more than 3,500 <keyword id="2989202" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="edtech-startups">edtech startups</keyword>. So how does one break the clutter? “I strongly believe that the pedagogy we adopt here at Cuemath is a major factor to give us an edge over our competitors. We are obsessed about having this constant zeal to help the child so that his or her learning graph just keeps going higher. We take pride in portraying math as a life skill which can make children better at everything by enhancing their critical and analytical thinking which many of our competitors don’t do,” he added. Owing to the fact that the knowledge of Math is a universal requirement, Iyer is confident that they will be able to capture the global markets too. Since 2017, it has grown over 10 times, from Rs 15 crore to now a Rs 150 crore company. From 7000 students on its platform in 2017, the platform grew to 60,000 students in 2020. From 1000 in 2017, it increased its teachers count to 10,000 in 2020. “We have very strong unit economics, which means we don’t lose any money on a consumer acquisition but on an overall level since we are re-investing all of our revenue back into growth, we aren’t profitable yet. So profitability right now isn’t a goal, but growth is the focus. The Math market around the world is a 20 Billion Dollar market and we plan to win that market. Our focus is to drive growth and become a unicorn, a billion dollar company by the end of 2022,” concluded Iyer on an optimistic note.

Our aim is to become a billion dollar company by the end of 2022: Arvind Iyer, Cuemath

<ul><li>The COVID-19 virus caused a nationwide closure of academic institutes which led to concerns about its consequences for students, parents, and educators as they had to adapt to digital learning overnight. </li><li>However, EdTech has been a game-changer in the <keyword id="12656644" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="academic-space" source="Orion">academic space</keyword>. </li><li><keyword id="10489232" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mahadev-srivatsa" source="Orion">Mahadev Srivatsa</keyword>, VP – Marketing and Brand Strategy, <keyword id="1326581" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="practically" source="Orion">Practically</keyword> looks back at the past year and a half of the pandemic and shares a few marketing lessons he learnt from his COVID experience. </li></ul>EdTech has been a game-changer in the academic space. The concept of online learning though new for Indians picked up pace rapidly during the pandemic owing to its features of accessibility and affordability. With the endemic now in sight, the blended learning scenario is very much looking like the norm, thereby establishing ed-tech as an essential part of our lives going forward. The COVID-19 virus caused a nationwide closure of academic institutes which led to concerns about its consequences for students, parents, and educators as they had to adapt to digital learning overnight. The onset of the pandemic was a watershed moment for the <keyword id="12086661" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="edtech-industry" source="Orion">EdTech industry</keyword>.When the pandemic struck, people were forced to work remotely. Several players mushroomed and almost overnight offered everything from e-learning tools to financing to high school management and many more niche solutions. According to the RBSA report, India received $2Bn investments in EdTech in 2020 alone, the highest in the last five years. With more emphasis on technology, corporates are inking partnerships with Edtech players for skilling and upskilling their employees to match global standards. They also sense the necessity of developing holistic learning to further attract investments and propel growth. This has now kick-started early consolidation in this sector, which will soon become a trendsetter. Today, an EdTech company has to establish and drive itself as a ‘Brand’. It has to be capable of generating awareness and offering credibility in its services and offerings. An e-lesson in branding is to live to tell the tale amid cutthroat competition.This has become essential to drive consideration amongst the TG in a super cluttered market. Precisely the reason why the marketing teams have had to work harder than ever to carve a niche for their own brands. Some adopted a wait and watch approach while many went digital in the last year..But a few were able to hold their fort with innovative features and a 360 degree integrated approach, which is the need of the current hour. For every brand and marketing enthusiast, Covid has caused a tectonic shift making it more exciting and challenging than ever to find new ways and optimally utilise communication channels to stay ahead of the curve. It also disrupted the traditional season/quarter-led marketing campaigns with Unlock taking centre stage for all activities. At the end of it all brands have learned and the current stint has only made marketeers tougher and more adaptable. The lessons learnt will only help brands in this space to either revisit or efficiently plan their way forward. Invest in brand building Education was never a brand but a reputation and heritage oriented space. From the famous Doon school to IIMs, these institutions have won admiration because of the learning culture they have cultivated. While this stands true for traditional institutions, the internet demands a completely different niche. Branding in the Edtech space becomes increasingly important because the consumer doesn’t have a tangible offline connection with you. From the colour of your logo to your narrative, build a consistent equity that consumers can recognize easily. This early investment and attention to details will set you apart. While building your brand, ensure that your creative articulation is true to your product deliverables. With the adoption barrier for ed-tech gone, consumers now are looking at quality and differentiated offerings and this is where a brand will help garner attention and eventually build trust. Understand Your Target Audience A thorough understanding of the end target audience is a must in the education space. To simplify, for a working professional most decisions are taken by them sans any need to consult parents but they are likely to rely on customer feedback or word of mouth before signing up for a program. However, they are the end decision makers and winning their confidence is important for the brand. On the other hand, for brands catering to children and young learners (K-12 audience), consumers and customers are different. The parents are customers and the children are consumers. A constant challenge here will remain to appeal to the students and win the trust of their parents. Often parents see services while kids look at the fun,engaging aspect of the product. And hence as a marketeer one needs to coin communication that appeals to both audiences. To ensure a foolproof campaign make note of your TG and address their specific need. Go beyond the Integrated Marketing jargon The most overused term doing rounds in the marketing vertical is ‘Integrated Marketing.’ Largely, it implies a mix of traditional, digital, OOH &amp; digital mediums to create enough buzz for consumers. Edtech is a largely sensitive space and overburdening your customers with thoughtless marketing will do more harm than good. Right at the beginning, plan the needs and objectives of your campaign. Are you launching a new product or introducing a new feature? Are you tackling pressing issues? Or simply creating a brand recall? In any case, go beyond a rote advertisement plan and rather find means to demonstrate the product to the consumer through strategy. Plan in advance to ensure that the campaign is released simultaneously and be meticulous about the choice of mediums. Any out of the box idea that makes the consumer aware and in a way engage with your product or feature directly will always cut the cake especially when you want to drive differentiation. For instance, the recent Scan Anything feature launch by Practically introduced consumers to the option of experiencing the feature right within the print ads in regional and national dailies making them understand its revolutionary prowess.. Result -3X scans came in on the day when print was released demonstrating the power of the idea. Seize The Moment The combination of being socially distant and homebound made us realise the importance of days and moments we take for granted otherwise. From Children’s Day to Women’s Day, plan a way to stay connected to your consumers, develop a communication strategy that isn’t pocket heavy but helps you show the consumers that you are aware and you care. Moment marketing if done right gets an organic positive buzz for the brand in the digital space at hardly any cost. Marketing as a function has to be flexible enough to adapt to any external or internal changes. In the harshest of times, marketing teams have been known to create revolutionary campaigns or come up with thought provoking ideas opening a pathway for others to follow. By the looks of it, Covid may seem like a daunting challenge for companies but in reality it has unlocked more possibilities of staying connected with the end consumer making the best use of online and offline mediums. And one will continue to see these strategies get more refined as we transition into the blended learning world facilitated by ed-tech.

Practically's Marketing Vice President shares important marketing lessons EdTech learnt during the Covid era

Ed-tech platform <keyword id="2016957" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vedantu">Vedantu</keyword> on Tuesday said it aims to <keyword id="46280" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="hire">hire</keyword> 2,500 employees in the next three months across the board, like product, technology, academics and business, to make deeper inroads into smaller towns and cities. Currently, the company employs 6,000 people and the strength will grow to 8,500 after the expansion. According to the company, the new hires will be at entry and <keyword id="4512110" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="mid-level">mid-level</keyword> from <keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword>'s premium B-schools and engineering institutes. "With the boom in online learning adoption, we aim to hire highly driven and inspired individuals who can become a part of the Vedantu mission. We are further expanding our presence in tier 2 and 3 markets," said Vamsi Krishna, CEO, and Co-Founder, Vedantu. The e-learning platform last month acquired Instasolv, a doubt-solving app for students from Class 6 to 12 for science, mathematics, IITJEE and NEET, for an undisclosed sum. According to the company, the acquisition will enhance its doubt-solving and reinforce presence in tier 2 and Tier 3 markets. This was Vedantu's first acquisition in an EdTech company to strengthen its focus in the instant doubt-solving space. Last year, Vedantu invested $2 million as part of a pre-series A funding in Instasolv. Vedantu has witnessed six to seven times growth with 75 million hours of classes delivered across its platform last year as millions stayed home. The number of students attending Live classes on the platform grew to 6.3 million across the K-12 category and competitive exams such as JEE and NEET, the company informed. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/craftsman-automation-has-fixed-a-price-band-of-14881490-a-share-for-its-150-crore-ipo/articleshow/81408729.cms">Auto components maker Craftsman Automation’s ₹150 crore IPO to hit the capital markets next week — price band fixed at ₹1,488–1,490</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/india-is-using-the-quad-alliance-to-get-help-from-the-us-japan-and-australia-to-match-chinas-covid-19-vaccine-push/articleshow/81408044.cms">India is asking the QUAD for money to boost vaccine production and counter China’s moves on the global stage</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/elon-musks-net-worth-has-eroded-60-billion-in-just-two-months-as-teslas-market-cap-falls-35/articleshow/81407453.cms">Elon Musk’s wealth has eroded $60 billion in just two months as Tesla's market cap falls 35%</a>

Vedantu plans to hire 2,500 people over the next three months as it take ed-tech to smaller towns

While all eyes are on <keyword id="2900267" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="byju" source="Orion">BYJU</keyword>'s much-awaited FY21 financial results that were set to be revealed on Wednesday, the edtech major has registered nearly Rs 9,991 crore in revenues in its FY22 financial results and its core K12 education business is growing very fast, top sources have revealed. In six months from February 2022 till July 2022, the company logged Rs 6,175 crore revenue, breaking all previous sales records, three people close to the matter told IANS. This is a substantial gain from its FY20 financial report, when the company registered revenue of Rs 2,434 crore with a net profit of Rs 51 crore. BYJU's investors were ecstatic at the company's growth in the core business in the recently-concluded meeting, sources told IANS, as the company logged 50 per cent growth (year-on-year) in its core K12 India business at Rs 1,205 crore, leaving no competition anywhere near it. After getting acquired by BYJU's for $1 billion last year, <keyword id="3406091" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="aakash-educational-services" source="Orion">Aakash Educational Services</keyword> (AESL) has transformed into a hybrid edtech firm, expanding rapidly across the country, which is one of the key reasons behind BYJU's FY22 success. Meanwhile, after nearly 18 months delay of "ironing out the complexities", edtech major BYJU's was all set to reveal its financial report for FY21. The company had received an 'unqualified' report from auditor <keyword id="6358918" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="deloitte" source="Orion">Deloitte</keyword> late last month. According to sources, there may be a substantial difference between the projected sales and the audited revenue in BYJU's FY21 financial results. Last valued at $22 billion, BYJU's has so far raised over $6 billion in funding, and aims to file an IPO in the US through the <keyword id="6767232" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="special-purpose-acquisition-company" source="Orion">Special Purpose Acquisition Company</keyword> (<keyword id="1817616" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="spac" source="Orion">SPAC</keyword>) route. The company is likely to raise over $500 million (nearly Rs 3,900 crore) at a valuation of around $23 billion soon. SEE ALSO : <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/amazon-moves-delhi-hc-against-1-lakh-ccpa-penalty-in-pressure-cooker-case/articleshow/94190091.cms">Amazon moves Delhi HC against ₹1 lakh CCPA penalty in pressure cooker case</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/jaiprakash-power-ventures-avassa-ferro-alloys-among-successful-bidders-for-commercial-coal-blocks/articleshow/94190360.cms">Jaiprakash Power Ventures, Avassa Ferro Alloys among successful bidders for commercial coal blocks</a>

BYJU's logs nearly  ₹10K crore revenue in FY22, tops estimates

<ul><li><keyword id="11618280" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="birla-brainiacs">Birla Brainiacs</keyword> is looking to raise $5-10 million in an external round of funding and is in talks with investors, according to the founder of the company.</li><li>The e-learning startup, which was launched last year in April, is also planning to hire 1500 teachers in the next two years.</li><li>A report by PGA Labs and IVCA says that India’s education sector is poised to grow from the current $117 billion to $225 billion in FY25.</li></ul>Mumbai-based edtech startup Birla Brainiacs is looking to raise $5-10 million in an external round of funding and is in talks with investors, according to the founder of the company. <keyword id="6623023" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="nirvaan-birla">Nirvaan Birla</keyword> — the founder of the startup who is the son of Yashovardhan Birla, the chairman of the Yash Birla group — said that the company is in “the market for funding” and that it has appointed an investment agency for the fund raise. He did not reveal an exact timeline on the closing of the funding round. He also said that the startup has “approached a couple of investors” without disclosing further details. The e-learning startup, which was launched last year in April, is also planning to hire 1500 teachers in the next two years, according to Birla. “In the next two years we plan to hire 1000 plus teachers actually only for the tuition segment. Other than that we will be recruiting 100-200 teachers for other courses as well. Total 1500 teachers will be hired in the next two years,” Birla added. At present it has around 50 staff members onboard with a mix of research and development, subject heads and experts, counsellors, and sales and marketing teams. The platform caters to the needs of students from grade 1 to 12 with live sessions, video content in the form of “Flip Tales” — using cartoons and action heroes to explain the concepts. Other than that, there are also added skill development courses like vedic maths, coding, and communicative English. Due to the global pandemic, some parents have been seemingly expressing their concerns for the safety of their children while sending them to tuition centres. “The idea behind this is to give them the holistic platform on which they can not only progress academically, but also completely replace the needs of tuitions, because I believe after they take the app they don’t need tuitions,” Birla told Business Insider over a phone call. Birla Brainiacs, which was incorporated in July 2019, is registered as Birla Brainiacs LLP. It is a partnership firm with two designated partners — Nirvaan Birla and Narrindraa Mohan Shetty. He told Business Insider that the company, which initially got funded by his sister company, is now looking at an acquisition of a gamification company or a tie-up with them. Birla said he is already in talks with an Australian company, which is in the preschool space, for the same. He did not reveal the name of the firm. The Yash Birla group has been at the centre of a storm in the not-so-distant past. Yash Birla, who runs the Yash Birla Group, was declared a wilful <a href="https://www.livemint.com/news/india/uco-bank-declares-yashovardhan-birla-willful-defaulter-1560660742531.html">defaulter</a> by lender UCO bank with an outstanding dues of over ₹67 crores. During the pandemic-induced lockdown when all schools were shut, most school-going kids stayed at home and learned online. This gave birth to the demand for homeschooling. It is also known as home-education in which parents choose to educate their children at home only rather than sending them to schools. Homeschooling is still a relatively new concept in India. According to research done by the company, big cities like Pune, Mumbai and Hyderabad were the biggest markets for homeschooling. Birla Brainiacs claims to be the first edtech platform to introduce the concept of homeschooling. The homeschooling feature is available only till class 8, which includes all subjects along with development skill courses. When asked about what makes Birla Brainiacs different from other edtech players in the market, he said that, “If you look at other edtech players, they either teach in huge masses where they have one teacher over 100-200 students together or they have one teacher over a student... where one teacher teaches only one child at a time. It’s not a two way interactive class. It's more like pre-recorded classes where the teacher is mainly talking.” It is through collaborative learning style and using Flip Tales for video content that Birla Brainiacs is trying to stand out from other edtech biggies like Byju’s, Vedantu, Unacademy and so on. However, the startup is still a newbie in the edtech sector and still has to go a long way to survive amidst cut-throat competition. Birla Brainiacs currently has around 5,000 paid users out of which 2,000 users have subscribed to the basic package. The company claims that they add close to 2,000 paid users every month and now are targeting 5,000 paid users from next month onwards. “In the next 3-5 years, we’re looking [at a] turnover of ₹4-5 hundred crores and in terms of revenue [growth of] around 50-60% year on year, and we are planning to reach around 10 lakh paid users in the next 3-5 years,” says Birla. Birla also told Business Insider about his plans to get the company listed in the future. “Once we hit our 5 year target turnover and 10,00,000 users… we could probably look to get into [an] IPO,” he added. India stands second after the United States in the number of edtech startups, according to an <a href="https://community.nasscom.in/communities/product-startups/india-and-edtech-a-post-pandemic-potential-growth-story.html">Inc42 analysis</a>. A report by PGA Labs and Indian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (IVCA) says that India’s <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/india-edtech-in-charts-how-the-shift-to-online-learning-meant-money-valuation-and-users-for-the-likes-of-byjus-unacademy-and-others/articleshow/80040270.cms">education sector</a> is poised to grow from the current $117 billion to $225 billion in FY25. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/travel/news/indians-planning-to-travel-more-as-covid-19-restrictions-relaxed-in-many-states/articleshow/83867486.cms">Indians are making big plans of ‘revenge travel’ as COVID-19 restrictions get lifted in many states</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/if-you-want-to-work-from-home-these-are-some-of-the-hottest-freelancing-jobs-in-high-demand/articleshow/81228585.cms">If you want to work from home, these are some of the hottest freelancing jobs in high demand</a>

Nirvaan Birla’s edtech startup Birla Brainiacs plans to raise up to $10 million, to hire 1500 teachers in the next two years

Online learning platform <keyword id="6630114" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="unacademy">Unacademy</keyword> is now valued at $3.44 billion after the latest round of fundraising, where it got investments to the tune of $440 million. Over the last 18 months, the valuation of the <keyword id="9578177" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="unacademy-group">Unacademy Group</keyword> has risen almost 10 times, the company reportedly said in a statement. This was the Series H round of funding for Unacademy where Aroa Ventures, the family office of hotel chain <keyword id="2808667" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO">OYO</keyword>’s Founder Ritesh Agarwal, and Deepinder Goyal, Co-Founder and CEO at Zomato, participated. Some angel investors of Unacademy have exited in this round. Aside from these, existing investors like General Atlantic, Tiger Global and <keyword id="3749718" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="softbank-vision-fund">Softbank Vision Fund</keyword> put in more money.This is the second investment by Tiger Global, and General Atlantic who increased their stake in Unacademy in January this year. The different shades of India’s booming edtech The six-year old startup founded by Gaurav Munjal, Hemesh Singh and Roman Saini, Unacademy has a growing network of more than 50,000 registered educators and over 62 million learners, in 14 Indian languages across 5,000 cities. Unacademy is known for its offerings that help students prepare for competitive exams and it has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the shift to online learning. Unacademy differentiates itself from Byju’s, which relies on pre-recorded content, and Vedantu that is known for its live-tutoring. India’s edtech industry, which had an annual revenue pool of $700 million at the end of March 2020, saw its business double in the following year due to the pandemic, according to data from Goldman Sachs. The global investment bank expects the entire edtech space to be worth $30 billion dollars by March 2024 as Indians spend the most on education, as a proportion of household consumption, after China. Unacademy has been acquiring other startups amidst an edtech boom Late last month, Unacademy announced that it has acquired game streaming platform <keyword id="11725251" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rheo-TV">Rheo TV</keyword>. Rheo TV is a platform that helps professional game streamers livestream their gameplays and monetise those feeds. In February, Unacademy acquired TapChief, a professional networking and "future-of-work" platform, at a valuation of ₹100 crore. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/byjus-last-two-acquisitions-and-a-deal-with-disney-reveal-its-american-dream/articleshow/84783749.cms">Byju's last two acquisitions and a deal with Disney reveal its American dream ⁠— one that is anchored in India</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/personal-finance/news/six-red-flags-for-investors-to-avoid-becoming-a-victim-of-misselling-by-agents-or-financial-advisors/slidelist/84782913.cms">Six red flags for investors to avoid becoming a victim of misselling by agents or financial advisors</a>

The founders of OYO and Zomato pump in money to make edtech startup Unacademy worth $3.4 billion ⁠— a ten fold jump in 18 months

<ul><li>Around 76,000 students applied for internships every day in 2020, reveals a survey conducted by recruitment and training platform, <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/jobs/76000-students-applied-to-internships-every-day-in-past-year-survey/articleshow/81967814.cms?from=mdr">Internshala</a>.</li><li>Internships have become an integral part of a college's student’s career trajectory in India, irrespective of their educational background.</li><li>These companies are hiring interns for different roles in different parts of the country.</li></ul>Students who want to enter the job industry, ideally, should get some hands-on experience with internships. Around 76,000 students applied for internships every day in 2020, reveals a survey conducted by recruitment and training platform, <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/jobs/76000-students-applied-to-internships-every-day-in-past-year-survey/articleshow/81967814.cms?from=mdr">Internshala</a>. Internships have become an integral part of a college's student’s career trajectory in India, irrespective of their educational background. There was a 35% rise in students seeking internships in 2020 as compared to 2019, revealed the report. Business development, content writing, human resources, digital marketing, social media marketing, marketing, and research are some of the good profiles for a fresher to pursue. These companies are hiring interns for different roles in different parts of the country — 1. <keyword id="10387" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Microsoft">Microsoft</keyword> — Research World’s biggest multinational software company is looking to hire <a href="https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/job/931311/Research-Intern?utm_campaign=google_jobs_apply&amp;utm_source=google_jobs_apply&amp;utm_medium=organic">Research interns</a> where interns will learn and collaborate with experienced researchers. Eligibility: Candidates must be enrolled in a university as part of either doctoral, masters, or undergraduate programmes or be a recent graduate from such a programme. 2. <keyword id="15491" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Airtel">Airtel</keyword> — Business Development The telecommunications company is seeking to hire <a href="https://internshala.com/internship/detail/business-development-sales-internship-in-multiple-locations-at-bharti-airtel-limited1621837165">Business Development</a> interns at various locations -- Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Gandhinagar and Rajasthan for three months with a comprehensive stipend of ₹10,000 per month. Job role: Interns will have to handle distributors, work on channel sales and drive prepaid business, reporting, process compliance and generating revenue. 3. BYJU’S — Marketing Ed-tech company is looking out for <a href="https://internshala.com/internship/detail/marketing-internship-in-multiple-locations-at-byjus-the-learning-app1620706014">Marketing interns</a> at various locations for four months with a stipend of ₹18,000 per month. Job role: The candidates will have to interact with school personnel and inform them about the ongoing projects, achieve weekly targets of interaction and closure, and meet the prospects for the business. 4.<keyword id="8681398" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Urban-Company">Urban Company</keyword> — Operations Urban Company (earlier UrbanClap), a home-service marketplace is looking for interns in <a href="https://internshala.com/internship/detail/operations-internship-in-chennai-at-urban-company1622180187">Chennai</a> and <a href="https://internshala.com/internship/detail/operations-internship-in-bangalore-at-urban-company1622197584">Bangalore</a> for one month with a stipend of ₹10,000 per month. Job role: The selected intern would have to work on supply on-board, quality control of supply base and initiate the user friendly flow. Urban Company also has a vacancy for Human Resources interns who can <a href="https://internshala.com/internship/detail/human-resources-hr-work-from-home-job-internship-at-urban-company1622456109">work-from-home</a> for two months with a stipend of ₹10,000. Job role: The selected candidates will take interviews of prospective candidates,design the interview and reporting structure of the team. 5. Just Dial — Human Resources (HR) The local search services firm is hiring an <a href="https://internshala.com/internship/detail/human-resources-hr-internship-in-chandigarh-at-justdial-limited1621499461">HR intern</a> in Chandigarh for three months with a stipend of ₹5,000 per month. Job role: HR will have to make cold calls to preferred candidates, organise job fairs and events. 6. ByteDance (TikTok’s parent company) — Digital Marketing This global internet giant is actively looking for <a href="https://internshala.com/internship/detail/digital-marketing-work-from-home-job-internship-at-bytedance1621925865">Digital Marketing</a> interns who can work-from-home for three months with a competitive stipend of ₹18,000 per month. Job role: The selected candidates will have to handle the daily operations of teachers on Youtube platforms, complete Youtube data collection, and establish partnerships with influencers in different industries. 7. IIT Bombay — Content Creation Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay is looking for <a href="https://internshala.com/internship/detail/content-creation-work-from-home-job-internship-at-iit-bombay1621335538">content creators </a>who can work from home for six months with a stipend of ₹1,000 per month. Job role: The chosen candidates will have to come up with catchy stories to structure content, creating high quality power presentations. 8. IDBI Federal Life Insurance Company — Marketing The multinational insurance firm is looking for <a href="https://internshala.com/internship/detail/marketing-internship-in-kolkata-at-idbi-federal-life-insurance-company1620757275">Marketing interns</a> in Kolkata for the period of two months with a comprehensive stipend of ₹5,000 per month. Job role: The selected candidates will have to formulate new ideas to add value, set and achieve performance targets, develop and enter into alliances and affiliations with other organisations. It is also hiring <a href="https://internshala.com/internship/detail/human-resources-hr-work-from-home-job-internship-at-idbi-federal-life-insurance-company1620757033">Human Resources</a> interns who can work-from-home for three months with a stipend ranging between ₹4,000 - ₹7,000 per month. Job role: Candidates will have to plan, develop and implement a strategy for HR, establish and maintain appropriate systems for HR development. 9. Freecharge — Business Development The payment platform is hiring <a href="https://internshala.com/internship/detail/business-development-sales-internship-in-multiple-locations-at-freecharge-payments-technology-private-limited1622193927">Business Development interns</a> in Gurgaon, Noida and Delhi for three months with a stipend of ₹7,000 per month. Job role: Candidate will be responsible to contact new partners, work on merchant acquisition and operations. 10. Zoomcar — Graphic Designing The car rental startup is hiring graphic designing interns who can work-from-home for three months with a stipend of ₹5,000 per month. Job role: The selected candidates will assist the creative team and art director, work on multiple projects simultaneously, maintain high standards of graphic designs with quality control, according to the firm. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/these-are-the-hottest-jobs-in-the-cyber-security-industry-right-now-with-a-salary-package-of-up-to-23-lakh-per-annum/articleshow/82629876.cms">These are the hottest jobs in the cyber security industry right now, with a salary package of up to ₹23 lakh per annum</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/if-you-want-to-work-from-home-these-are-some-of-the-hottest-freelancing-jobs-in-high-demand/articleshow/81228585.cms">If you want to work from home, these are some of the hottest freelancing jobs in high demand</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/earn-money-online-here-are-some-exciting-part-time-work-from-home-jobs/articleshow/82449228.cms">These are some exciting part-time work-from-home jobs you can do to earn a few extra bucks</a>

Microsoft, Airtel, BYJU’S, IIT-Bombay and more — here is a list of companies looking for interns

It’s undeniable that the pandemic has had a profound impact on the global workforce, redefining the norms surrounding how people work and even how they think of work. The Great Resignation or “Big Quit” has spanned across virtually all industries and age groups, and even globally, though under different names. All you need to do to understand the context is review the numbers being released regularly. The U.S. Labor Department reported that<a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/jolts_03112021.htm"> 34.4 million Americans</a> quit their jobs in 2021 with over 24 million having done so since April 2021. The <keyword id="393980" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="bureau-of-labor-statistics" source="Orion">Bureau of Labor Statistics</keyword> found that<a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm"> 4.2 million Americans</a> left their jobs in October 2021 with the largest losses in leisure and hospitality, retail, manufacturing, and health services. According to<a href="https://ms-worklab.azureedge.net/files/reports/hybridWork/pdf/2021_Microsoft_WTI_Report_March.pdf"> Microsoft’s 2021 Work Trend Index</a>, up to 41% of global workers are considering leaving their jobs. While it is common to see an uptick in people departing from their jobs when the economy is facing turmoil, the rates we’re seeing now are unprecedented.<a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w29336?utm_source=npr_newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=20211018&amp;utm_term=5879628&amp;utm_campaign=money&amp;utm_id=4858467&amp;orgid=&amp;utm_att1=money"> Economists</a> are pointing to the rise in remote work as a catalyst for recontextualising the way people view their lives and opening new possibilities related to work. Remote work has also accelerated the trend of <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/edwardsegal/2021/08/03/freelance-workforce-could-increase-by-10-million-what-that-means-for-employers/?sh=662c9fd4502e">workers choosing to become freelancers</a> due to the freedom and flexibility that it offers. Further, it has been <a href="https://www.slideshare.net/upwork/freelancing-in-america-2017/1">observed</a> that freelancers are 50% more inclined to upskill themselves than full-time employees. So, as we look at the future of work, a few dominant themes are emerging – greater flexibility, greater mobility, greater work-life balance, remote work, greater upskilling, and reskilling. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Preparing for the new future of work" comment="subhead" text="Preparing for the new future of work">Preparing for the new future of work</cmsannotation> The education industry, and online learning in particular, will need to play a key role in shaping the workforce, helping prepare employees of all ages and experience levels to reach new heights by advancing their current career or expanding into an entirely different field. Given rapid <keyword id="50691" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="digital" source="Orion">digital</keyword> transformation in recent years, in part motivated by the pandemic, many traditional jobs have been transformed or even eliminated and new jobs have been created. Digital communication tools like video conferencing have become a commonplace necessity connecting employees, sometimes thousands of miles away, and enabling employers to increase the scope of their talent search without being bound by city or state limits. Industries that had previously been slower to adapt to the burgeoning digital landscape were forced to change, and quickly – for example, schools had to base curriculums around remote learning, and healthcare providers needed to incorporate telehealth capabilities. In order for employees and employers alike to be prepared in this world of constant change and disruption, adopting a mentality of lifelong learning is crucial for success. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Upskilling benefits for professionals" comment="subhead" text="Upskilling benefits for professionals">Upskilling benefits for professionals</cmsannotation> Newly released research from the McKinsey Global Institute suggests that across the world’s eight largest economies over 100 million people, one in every 16 workers will need to transition to new roles by 2030. Learning new skills through guided online development courses, like the kind offered at <keyword id="6559242" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="great-learning" source="Orion">Great Learning</keyword>, can not only prepare employees for a future or current role but open their eyes to additional facets of an industry previously unknown to them or uncover a new passion. They also offer hands-on experience to further develop skills previously underutilised or not yet learned. Great Learning’s highly personalised learning model, featuring faculty from and offered in collaboration with top universities such as MIT Professional Education, Stanford Center for Professional Education, Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Education, the <keyword id="159191" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="university-of-texas" source="Orion">University of Texas</keyword> at Austin, <keyword id="6811197" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="wharton-online" source="Orion">Wharton Online</keyword> and others, and facilitated by expert industry practitioners is enabling transformational learning outcomes for its learners with completion rates of over 90%, among the highest globally. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="The enterprise case" comment="subhead" text="The enterprise case">The enterprise case</cmsannotation> Businesses also benefit from encouraging employees’ professional development. While hiring skilled new talent is a big part of the equation, the bigger challenge—and opportunity—lies in training existing employees to adapt and grow in tandem with the organisation. As new technologies like machine learning and AI get increasingly adopted, businesses stand to benefit from having their employees, who already understand their business and have deep domain knowledge, now become skilled and fully equipped to use these technologies to improve and innovate business operations. Companies that adopt new technologies in relevant ways will not only be more innovative, but will also stand out from the competition and in turn attract new clients and the best talent. Savvy business leaders understand that encouraging and providing ample opportunities for employees to set aside time for professional development is a great way to keep current employees engaged and make them feel valued. Making an investment in the future development of an employee shows a willingness to help them reach their full potential at the company and demonstrates a belief in their ability to continue to grow as the business expands. It also keeps employees feeling challenged, reducing turnover and ensuring top talent remains at the company for longer. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="To conclude…" comment="subhead" text="To conclude…">To conclude…</cmsannotation> The Great Resignation has led to an abundance of open positions that need to be filled, and now more than ever, professional development and upskilling are crucial to prepare both individuals and businesses to fill the labour gaps. For professionals, it’s an incredible opportunity to move up within a current company or even take on a new position. For businesses, it’s a great time to rethink and reshape company culture to nurture talent and determine what areas of expertise are lacking. Digital learning enables people from all backgrounds, generations, and experience levels to dive into a new topic and gain new skills at any time or place. Easily accessible education, in the form of professional development, will play a vital role in helping to grow the economy by bridging the skills gap and creating a more robust workforce. With greater access to a highly-skilled talent pool, businesses will be better equipped to solve complex problems and drive innovation forward. Companies will also be more likely to retain top talent by investing in employees’ professional growth and development, because employees will feel more valued, challenged, and engaged. Investing in education creates a thriving labour market, which contributes to a more prosperous economy, that then cycles back to boost the American economy and the workers within it. The author is founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Great Learning, an edtech startup. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Business Insider India.

OPINION: Companies will be more likely to retain top talent by investing in employees’ professional growth and development

According to an education survey conducted by HSBC, <a href="http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/minorityview/indian-parents-have-very-high-expectations-about-their-childrens-education-and-careers/">educating their children is the ultimate goal of 51% of Indian parents</a>. So, it is not surprising that education is the next front on the horizon of the entrepreneurial Indians leading to the emergence of many interesting edtech concepts. 
 Most of the <keyword id="2989202" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="edtech-startups">edtech startups</keyword> comprise faculty pool, <keyword id="6379645" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Online-education">online education</keyword> material and technology working in tandem. Most of them cater to various sections of the student community, ranging from schoolchildren to working professionals and budding entrepreneurs. 
 
While there is some focus on tuition for school-going children, others help in cracking entrance tests, and a few others focus on providing professional certification courses. Indian education system has come a long way from classroom education to redefining the way children are taught, and these edtech <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/topic/Startups">startups</a> are responsible for this revolution. 
 
<h3>
	<a href="http://www.embibe.com/">Embibe</a></h3>
Embibe is an online portal that consists of a team of entrepreneurs, who help students to get coaching for various entrance examinations like JEE, AIIMS, AIPMT, CET and many more. Founded by an ex-TCS employee, 33-year-old Aditi Avasthi, wanted to change the way students prepared for competitive exams. 
 
At present, Embibe boasts of over one million student users. Last year, this edtech venture raised $4 million from early-stage investor such as Kalaari Capital and Lightbox. 
 
<h3>
	<a href="http://www.careerguide.com/">CareerGuide</a></h3>
<h3>
	CareerGuide is an edtech platform targeted to provide answers to all the career related queries of an aspirant. They have a marketplace of renowned career experts from various fields and a student can connect instantly to get their query resolved.</h3>
How it is different than the other players? Well, Artificial Intelligence (AI) may be the answer. CareerGuide boasts of an AI-led algorithm that connects students with the best possible career guidance expert based on their query. Further, their psychometric assessments help students in figuring out their true aptitude, interest, motivation and personality to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/6-Tips-To-Landing-A-Job-At-A-Startup/articleshow/27654867.cms">take informed career decisions</a>. CareerGuide has most definitely emerged as the one of the hottest names in the edtech business as of now. 
<h3>
	<a href="http://www.vedantu.com/">Vedantu</a></h3>
<h3>
	Looking for a personalised teaching while you sit at home? Vedantu, the live online tutoring edtech company, is conceptualized to bring personalization back into education where a teacher will teach according to the requirement, pace and level of a student and the student will interact with the teacher online.</h3>
The founders claimed the existing teaching system to be “institutionalized and generalized”, which quite possibly was the motivation behind this concept. 
 
According to Vamsi Krishna, cofounder and CEO, “The current system is teacher-centric and learning happens, predominantly, one-way. We want to change that.” 
 
Vedantu raised a $5 million from Accel Partners and Tiger Global Management last year in May. 
<h3>
	<a href="http://www.edukart.com/">EduKart</a></h3>
<h3>
	EduKart is an online entrance coaching site that caters to the needs of almost every individual. Apart from courses for high school students appearing for various competitive examinations, the company offers undergraduate and post graduate courses for everyone who seeks help in management, engineering, medical, civil services, business, Law, and various other interesting courses.</h3>
The startup acquired $1 million funding from Holostik Group’s United Finsec, Yuvraj Singh’s YouWeCan Ventures, 500 Startups, and a bunch of other investors in June ‘15. EduKart projected 5x growth for themselves last year. 
 
<a href="http://www.upgrad.com/">UpGrad</a> 
 
If you are a working professional and want to upgrade your skill set, UpGrad is the place for you to explore. This startup offers online higher education programs for working professionals. With a highly experienced faculty forming academia advisory board, this company provides one-to-one academic and non-academic support for all its students by providing them with live projects, case studies, group assignments, access to live lectures and interactive content and many more. 
 
“With UpGrad, we aim to revolutionise the online education industry by bringing credibility and scale. The response to our first course is a strong validation that we are on our way of achieving our vision,” said UpGrad founder Ronnie Screwvala. 
 
<h3>
	<a href="http://www.toppr.com/">Toppr</a></h3>
<h3>
	This super-interesting edtech firm focuses on giving training to students aspiring for IIT JEE, pre-medical and also the foundation courses (starting from class 8) for various competitive examinations. They provide the students with unlimited practice tests along with learning material and students’ doubts will be answered personally on live chat.</h3>
 
Till date, Toppr has raised $12.2 million in three funding rounds from four investors, such as Fidelity Growth Partners India, Helion Venture Partners, SAIF Partners, InnoVen Capital India and Powai Lake Ventures. 
<h3>
	<a href="http://www.wiziq.com/">WizIQ</a></h3>
<h3>
	WizIQ believes in delivering high impact online teaching and training through mobile apps by making virtual classrooms possible. Their online academy builder includes live classes, integrated cloud storage, mobile learning, tests and assignments and many other interesting features.</h3>
Hailed as the 'best virtual classroom provider' at the World Education Congress, one should expect a promising 2016 from WizIQ. 
 
<h3>
	<a href="http://www.iprofindia.com/">iProf India</a></h3>
<h3>
	iProf claims to be India's biggest Tablet PC based education content delivery company and digital education library that offers “smarter way” of studying through its advanced android based application that works on offline mode (without internet connection). Their USP is their content, which can be accessed both online and offline via pen drives, memory cards, tablet PCs in a secured and scalable environment.</h3>
iProf has raised $15 million in total funding through Series A &amp; B rounds from Daily Mail Group Information, IDG Ventures India and Norwest Venture Partners – NVP. 
 
In a nutshell 
 
The Indian edtech market is pegged at over $70 billion by 2017. The space breakup is estimated with higher education sector closing on 50 per cent, K12 at 40 per cent, and coaching/tutoring taking up 10 per cent. These emerging and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Top-10-Indian-startups-that-are-going-places/articleshow/49090916.cms">successful startups</a> are surely creating an impact and are making their presence felt. Books cannot be updated real time but these start-up can push updates on an app and this can be distributed to millions with no incremental cost which makes edtech definitely one of the most exciting sectors in the Indian consumer market. The funding battleground could perhaps change the face of this sector as well. 
 
(The article has been authored by <a href="https://plus.google.com/+UtkarshSahu9?rel=author">Utkarsh Sahu</a>, a digital strategist with over three years of writing experience for business magazines, such as Business Insider, Huffington Post, Tech Radar, etc. He admires technology with paradigm-shifting attributes, and digital marketing, social media and content are his current beat. An analytics enthusiast, he likes to break down key performance drivers of a robust digital marketing campaign. You may connect with him on <a href="https://in.linkedin.com/in/utkarshsahu9">LinkedIn</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/UtkSahu">Twitter</a>.) 
 
(Image: Thinkstock)

8 Indian Edtech startups to watch out for in 2016

The good news is it is offering a 16-week intensive mentorship and product realization program to any<a href="http://If you have an Edtech startup, you may want to know about EDUGILD - the first EdTech startup accelerator in the country."> EdTech start-up</a> in the world. Here’s what you need to get inside - Participants should have creative, technology-based ideas to improve and enhance the learning experience in any field. 
 In its first year, the program received applications from 300 entrepreneurs' focused on the education sector from all over India. Of these, <keyword id="3252614" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Edugild">EduGild</keyword> selected four companies for its accelerator programmes - Classboat, Instafeez, Simulanis and Gradopedia. They were provided with mentorship and guidance regarding instituting a start-up, pitching to venture capitalists (VCs), business management and customer acquisition, marketing and help in scaling up business. 
 
The accelerator recently announced the launch its 2nd batch of acceleration program and have shortlisted startups from India and overseas. 
 
"The EDUGILD program is meant to enhance as many opportunities for our startups to engage with key game changers and decision makers within the knowledge management industry. After the successful completion of the first batch where a few of them have received funding from external sources as well as generating inbound interest as anticipated, EDUGILD looks forward to create an enhanced ecosystem that will further help and build a stronger base for the second batch,” said Rishi Kapal, CEO, Edugild. 
 
So if you are wondering what could land you up as one of the startups being incubated by Edugild, take a list at these 7 shortlisted start-ups of the second batch and what they really do: 
 
Abroad Shiksha 
Based in Gurgaon (NCR), Abroad Shiksha facilitates Indian student’s admission to premier universities abroad, offering them access to various scholarships and providing test prep classes for overseas competitive / aptitude exams. 
 
Edorble 
Based in Santa Barbara, California, Edorble aspires to make online learning and meetings more personal, playful and powerful with the use of emerging 3D/VR technologies across all devices. They plan to change the way people communicate and collaborate in the online education and corporate meeting space. 3D environments are known for being able to bring a sense of presence and immersion to online interactions. Edorble is making a 3D world that is built for collaboration and which will leverage next-generation VR hardware. 
 
EKIN Knowledge Based in <keyword id="6354321" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bengaluru">Bengaluru</keyword>, EKIN Knowledge is a holistic personalization platform, with an instructional design engine, which makes it easy for teachers to build next generation learning solutions. This includes, project based and blended learning by use of technology for pedagogical choices and connects the users’ learning assessment progress to the parents. 
 
ProctorEdu 
Based in Moscow, provides credible online exams, anywhere, anytime and on any device. The solution makes online exams secure, convenient and cost-effective with required authentication, monitoring, recording and review of the exam. The target audience includes universities, online learning platforms, and corporate learning solutions. 
 
ReadRush 
Based in New Delhi, believes in demystifying knowledge by creating crisp summaries of any book, by the chapter, that can be read in 25 minutes. Each summary is called a RUSH. The solution captures the main ideas and learning of the book, without actually spending hours on it. The Rush can also be used to revisit the learning of the past readings- helping buyers make an informed decision about a book to buy. 
 
Tiny Tapps 
Based in Pune, Pre School -Digital solutions for early learning. Visually stimulating and interactive concepts for children below 6 years of age. The solution is a complete early learning system, which is multilingual, instructional, and affordable with 1000+ learning activities and games.

A
look at the startups which are being incubated at Edugild, India's first
Ed-tech startup accelerator

It's natural for startups to feel skeptical when entering a space which has not taken off yet or has a poor track record, but that is also where some of the biggest opportunities lie. For <a href="http://www.simplilearn.com/">Simplilearn</a> - an education startup which kicked off six years ago along with a few other online players, it was a risky affair to dive into the Ed-Tech space considering the general mood of investors was negative owing to the failure of several other education portals. 
 For some reason, nobody seemed to have been getting their model right until <keyword id="1309724" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Simplilearn">Simplilearn</keyword> emerged. It slowly raced ahead of everybody else and that too in no time. It was able to win the confidence of some of the biggest investors. That meant there was money in its pocket and the startup had wings to fly. 
 Little had the firm’s founder <keyword id="104932" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Krishna-Kumar">Krishna Kumar</keyword> anticipated that his once personal blog where he would post free video lessons and practice tests during the 2009 financial crisis just to kill his boredom would soon emerge as a firm with over 500 employees training over 5 lakh professionals across the globe! 
 At a time when others were struggling to find the right model and make their mark in the Indian market, Simplilearn had got it right not just in India, but globally. In a candid chat with <keyword id="687315" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kashyap-Dalal">Kashyap Dalal</keyword>, the Chief Business Officer at Simplilearn, we learnt some of the reasons why this Ed-Tech portal proved to be the best in the crowd: 
 
The idea with which this Startup was launched 
"The entire business started off more with the realization that there are sectors which are developing and growing so fast that normal academia does not have the ability to adapt to its pace. Typically, the cycle of curriculum updation at schools and colleges is 3 to 5 years. However, if you have to look at emerging fields like big data, cloud computing etc, every six months there's something new which is very critical for people to know. This is the reason we are clearly focused on extending education in some of these fast emerging technology areas," says Kashyap. 
 
The Market they decided to cater to and why 
He shares that the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Certificate-courses-for-your-career/articleshow/53618254.cms">Simplilearn customers are working professionals</a>. 
 
“The goal is to give them competency in emerging fields so that they can go ahead in their career. Right from the beginning, we have been focused on building our courses in such a way that people who use Simplilearn get hands-on skills, and not just theoretical knowledge. We build courses thinking – if I wanted a person in my Big Data Team, what should he know. Apart from the professionals, the other market that we cater to is enterprises who want to train an entire team. This is again a very large line of business for us," says Kashyap. 
 
The experts they got onboard for imparting education 
They wanted people who are “on top of their game”. 
 
Kashyap says – “It is just incidental that most of the experts we have are based in the US. We just want people who are really on the cutting edge of the field and who can predict the future, as opposed to someone who is stuck in legacy systems. Their experience and knowledge helps us be on the cutting edge as well.” 
 This forms one of the major reasons for Simplilearn’s success. We asked him how they were able to rope in thought leaders like <keyword id="3565625" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="joseph-steinberg">Joseph Steinberg</keyword>. What Kashyap said makes for one more crucial success mantra and that is..... 
 
This Ed-Tech portal didn’t go the typical way 
“Simplilearn started off on a global level. It is different compared to companies which start in India and then test the waters globally. Because the online footprint of Simplilearn is not that of an Indian startup, things have not been as difficult for us. More importantly, when you tell someone about your company, they don’t see where it is based; they see the online footprint and what people are talking about you. If it looks great to them, there is no reason why they would feel skeptical about joining us and I think that is what happened with us too,” says Kashyap. 
 
Experts here are just not consultants, they are Advisory Board members 
He adds – “Also, we give our experts the opportunity to become our business partners. They are not with us for part time assignments or on a consulting basis; they are our Advisory Board members. Therefore, we make it really very meaning for them to associate with us. It’s simple; you need to have technology and a very large set up to be able to run a business. We tell them we have it, you give us the expertise and knowledge and we will drive the business.” 
 
The Way Simplilearn Courses were built 
Their courses are highest on engagement. There are reasons behind this, Kashyap explains – “When a person starts a Simplilearn course, he decides his study plan, whether he wants to devote 3 or 6 hours a week to the course depending on his personal comfort. The system immediately starts building his course according to the inputs provided. On not adhering to the plan, reminder emails would go to him. More importantly, the courses are designed in a way that the first 15-20 minutes can get a user excited about pursuing it. It would talk about the industry, the high end education that the course will cover in the module and builds that entire context as to why it makes sense to do the course. So, before even starting out, the person has a bird’s eye view on the path he is going to take and that makes it very easy for them to adopt the course and stay on, otherwise often when suddenly online courses dive into hard core learning aspects, user loses interest because he fails to understand what is being taught.” 
 
With nearly 40% revenues coming from both the US and the Indian market, even as this online education portal has become the market leader in India and is striving to sustain its place, in the US, Kashyap says, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done considering the dynamics there are different and the US market definitely has more competition in the Ed-tech space. 
 
This company has a 70% course completion rate as opposed to rivals who are still at 14-15%, and you now know how folks at Simplilearn have been able to strike a chord with India’s professional community and stay ahead of the curve. 
 
<a href="http://www.asilahspanish.com/top-9-advantages-of-online-learning/">(Image source)</a>

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