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<keyword id="12287543" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="graphy" source="Orion">Graphy</keyword>, an <keyword id="6630114" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="unacademy" source="Orion">Unacademy</keyword> Group company, on Monday the acquisition of edtech software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform <keyword id="12287544" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="spayee" source="Orion">Spayee</keyword> for $25 million. Founded in 2014, Spayee allows content creators to produce customised courses in the form of audio and video tutorials, PDF documents, quizzes, assignments and live classes. On the other hand, Graphy was created as a platform for educational content creators to grow their audience, monetise their skills, and host live cohort-based courses. Graphy said the acquisition is aimed at strengthening its leadership position in the creator economy. "Spayee has built a winning proposition for creators. We are confident that having them as part of the Unacademy group will help us explore common synergies and build the world's largest creator community," said Sumit Jain, co-founder and CEO, Graphy. Graphy helps creators launch their own online school in under 60 seconds and has over 500 active creators. Post the acquisition, Spayee will continue to operate independently. Currently over 2,000 creators and businesses have launched their platforms using Spayee. Bengaluru-based edtech platform Unacademy was founded by Munjal, Saini, Hemesh Singh, and <keyword id="11780" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sachin-gupta" source="Orion">Sachin Gupta</keyword> in 2016. In August, Unacademy closed a Series H round of $440 million at a valuation of $3.44 billion. Unacademy, at present, has over 50,000 registered educators and more than 62 million learners. The startup offers learnings in 14 languages across 5,000 cities. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/defense/news/india-china-border-issue-india-china-border-issue-in-ladakh-india-china-border-india-military-power-china-military-power/articleshow/86929899.cms">India and China militaries fail to agree on a border line at Depsang and Hot Springs</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/enterprise/news/tcs-shares-price-down-despite-a-stronger-dollar-thats-good-for-future-profits/articleshow/86929360.cms">TCS shares plunge more than 6% despite a stronger dollar that’s good for future profits</a>

Unacademy's Graphy acquires edtech startup Spayee for $25 million

<ul><li><keyword id="6630114" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="unacademy">Unacademy</keyword> recently entered into a strategic partnership with <keyword id="6354267" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="sachin-tendulkar">Sachin Tendulkar</keyword> with the vision of spreading deeper holistic learning. </li><li>Tendulkar is also the brand ambassador of Unacademy. </li></ul>Unacademy has released a new film titled ‘The Greatest Lesson,’ to mark its association with cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and celebrate the relentless human spirit in its pursuit of excellence. The Master Blaster has been roped in to serve as a Brand Ambassador and a Mentor for Unacademy learners. The film celebrates the ‘never give up’ spirit by commemorating some of the most challenging times of the veteran cricketer’s career and his subsequent triumphs. Being an Education platform, Unacademy drives a message with the film that failures must be looked upon as stepping stones to success. The film starts with the audience cheering on the Master Blaster as he walks out onto the field and former pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar gets ready to bowl. A few frames later, Akhtar is seen hurtling down the pitch in his trademark style as Sachin takes guard. The film then cuts to Sachin’s ODI debut in 1989, when he was dismissed on a duck on the second ball he faced. From there on, the film depicts some of Sachin’s most notable dismissals including the ‘shoulder before wicket’ incident against Australia at Adelaide in 1999, and former umpire Steve Bucknor’s erroneous dismissal of the cricketer at Gabba in 2003. The disappointment of the fans and the consternation on Sachin’s face is palpable as the film progresses till it reaches a crescendo and the screen changes to read, ‘Failure. The fuel of champions.’ Thereon, the narrative changes as the film journeys through some of Sachin’s most momentous comebacks that made him one of the greatest cricketers in the history of the game, earning him the sobriquet, ‘God of Cricket.’ <div type="Youtube" id="7nYLfqkI8ZA" title="Unacademy | The Greatest Lesson" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/7nYLfqkI8ZA/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Unacademy recently announced a strategic partnership with cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar. As part of the deal, Sachin will share his life lessons, mentoring Unacademy learners through a series of live interactive classes, which will be available free of cost. Unacademy is also working on a deeper content-led integration with Sachin in the sports learning category. The details of this integration will be unveiled in the next few months. The film shattered viewership records within hours of its release, garnering over 2 million views across social media and digital platforms. This is the second major viral campaign for the EdTech major, whose IPL film titled ‘Cracking the Game’, won several awards and received an equally stellar response last November.

Unacademy's latest film is an ode to the life of its recent investor and Master Blaster, Sachin Tendulkar

<ul><li>Bengaluru-based <keyword id="1464841" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Edtech">edtech</keyword> startup <keyword id="6630114" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="unacademy">Unacademy</keyword> has been riding high. With a successful association with TVF on its show Aspirants and standout <keyword id="6354312" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="IPL">IPL</keyword> campaigns, the startup is ready with its <keyword id="6354839" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="marketing">marketing</keyword> plans for the IPL matches that resume in September.</li><li>We recently caught up with <keyword id="4878889" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Karan-Shroff">Karan Shroff</keyword>, Chief Marketing Officer, Unacademy, to understand the brand’s marketing journey so far, how its strategies have worked to bring new users onto its platforms and how it is going about ensuring it becomes a household name in the next few years.</li></ul>The last one and a half years have been challenging for most businesses across the globe. However, India’s edtech sector has witnessed a boom. With students stuck at home, having to move to online classes, online learning became a way of life, and the Indian edtech ecosystem gained from this immensely. 2020 also made investors realize the opportunity in the segment and the year saw India’s edtech startups raise over $2.2 billion in funding. And it was during this otherwise difficult year that <keyword id="1727930" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gaurav-Munjal">Gaurav Munjal</keyword>'s edtech startup Unacademy became a unicorn. The startup raised $150 million in a round led by SoftBank, valuing it at $1.45 billion, making it the second unicorn in the space, after BYJU’s. It also made six acquisitions through 2020. Unacademy currently boasts of over 50,000 educators and close to 49 million learners on its platform, a number that is steadily growing. Recently, they also released a film to thank both the learner and educator community for bringing them where they are today. The film said the platform has over 5 million monthly active users, learners from over 10,000 cities from across the country. The platform sees over 150,000 interactive classes conducted every month, in 14 different languages. Recently, it also revamped the app to make it more intuitive and interactive, adding features like hand raising, study groups and live mentorship. <div type="Youtube" id="0gjFof0m6ow" title="Unacademy Believe" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0gjFof0m6ow/mqdefault.jpg"></div> When it comes to its marketing strategies so far, the platform has tailored its approach keeping its learner ecosystem at its core. A lot of its recent campaigns have also been about grabbing eyeballs and reaching their target audience, where they are. While we saw Unacademy ‘hijack’ the IPL commentary box earlier this year, a novel idea, we also saw the brand partner with TVF’s widely popular show Aspirants. The aim has been to raise awareness about the platform and tell learners how it is different. We recently caught up with Karan Shroff, Chief Marketing Officer, Unacademy, to understand the brand’s journey so far, how its strategies have worked to bring new users onto its platforms and how it is going about ensuring it becomes a household name in the next few years. Unacademy’s marketing story The last one and a half years have been difficult for businesses the world over but Unacademy has been riding high. Most of its marketing strategies have worked in its favor too. Unacademy is the official partner for IPL for three seasons. In the first year, Unacademy’s film ‘Cracking the Game’, was well-received and won several awards. This year too, its campaign in the form of a commentary box highjack helped it differentiate itself. The IPL associating has also helped the platform gain the necessary eyeballs as it can be believed that a lot of its target audience watches the league. So is Unacademy looking at this year’s IPL postponement as a speed bump? “I don’t think it is a bump. Once IPL restarts, we will continue being present. In fact, I see it as a good thing because IPL is a highly engaging event that runs nonstop for 55-60 days. So this year, the break I feel gives us a second boost,” explained Shroff. The brand has a few more campaigns planned for the second half of the event that will go live once the matches resume. On why it chose to associate with IPL, he said, “It was a strategic call to be a part of the league. IPL is the biggest cricketing league in the world, one that is watched by almost all of our country. The thought behind the association was that the Indian youth is entirely invested in the property, they love the intensity and energy of the league. With around 60 days of the league, it becomes difficult to miss a brand that advertises during the matches. We wanted to create awareness and become a household name. IPL has worked as a catalyst for us. With millions of people watching the league, we could leverage the reach and get the eyeballs but also it helped us build awareness and top-of-mind for the brand.” Unacademy had also launched an inspirational film titled ‘The Greatest Lesson’, taking viewers through the ups and downs of Sachin Tendulkar’s career, a film that was very well-received. The aim behind capitalizing on sports, especially cricket, has helped the brand stand out for many young people, after all the sport is still a religion in India. <div type="Youtube" id="7nYLfqkI8ZA" title="Unacademy | The Greatest Lesson" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/7nYLfqkI8ZA/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Its latest partnership with TVF for Aspirants, through which it tried to target UPSC aspirants, has also worked in the brand’s favor. Unacademy wanted to deep-dive into the segment, bring up real stories, and tell the stories through relatable characters. Shroff also revealed that it is going to be a multi-season association with TVF and there will be more seasons to the show. So did the last one year throw no curveballs, when it came to its marketing plans? “One of the things we did when we started working from home with restricted physical access to each other from an office space perspective, we started making multiple plans, be it a shoot, a campaign or a simple social media post, we always had multiple plans and options to fall back on. We did this because it was a pandemic and nobody really knew what was in store and what lay ahead of us. So having a Plan B and C really helped us. And that has been one of our biggest learnings in these past months,” said Shroff. On driving differentiation According to estimates by <keyword id="50041" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="KPMG">KPMG</keyword>, India today has over 3,500 edtech startups, so driving differentiation becomes critical ingredient in the recipe for success. On how Unacademy has been trying to differentiate itself, Shroff said, “Our thought-process is fairly simple, we keep the consumer or in our case, the learner, at the heart of everything we do. So everytime we build a campaign we sit back and think, why, when and how. Why is of course, always for the consumer. So if the ‘Why’ doesn't feel like its adding value to the learners, we usually don't go ahead with it. Everything that we do costs marketing dollars and as long as your focus is on learners and the consumers, they're at the heart of everything and you're sure that your communication is reaching them, its then just about crafting a good communication.” The vision for Unacademy Going ahead, Shroff wants to focus more on building the brand presence on various properties. On what his larger vision for the brand is, Shroff added, “It’s to become a household name, and while there is still some ground to cover, I think we are moving in that very direction. We want to build a legacy of sorts, the way brands like Colgate and Maggi have done. If you are known from a communication and awareness perspective, it makes it so much easier to become a part of the consumer’s life and that’s what we are aiming for.”

We want to become a household name and are already moving in the right direction: Karan Shroff, Unacademy

Bengaluru, July 14 (IANS) Bengaluru-based edtech platform Unacademy on Tuesday announced that it has led a strategic investment of $5 million (approximately Rs 37.7 crore) to acquire a majority stake in Mastree, a leading K12 learning platform. Started in October 2019, Mastree recognised the gaps in foundational learning and the challenging transition to middle school for both students and parents. Founded by Shrey Goyal and Royal Jain, the company's mission is to help bridge this gap by strengthening the foundation and inspiring students to achieve excellence. Mastree is building a one-stop subscription product for STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) courses, for classes 5-8, which will include Live Classes in small groups for mathematics, science, public speaking, creative writing, Vedic mathematics, and others. Along with Live Classes, students can also utilise various features like doubt solving, unlimited personalised practice, Live quizzes, etc. "Unacademy and Mastree have a shared vision, and together we want to create an impact and make quality education accessible and affordable," Gaurav Munjal, Co-Founder and CEO, Unacademy, said in a statement. "Mastree is building a highly impactful subscription product, and it will change the way students learn. We are very happy to have Mastree as part of the Unacademy Group." With this investment, Mastree will join the Unacademy Group, which consists of Wifistudy, Kreatryx, PrepLadder, and CodeChef. In addition to the investment, Unacademy has provided Blume Ventures an exit. --IANS gb/na

Unacademy leads $5mn investment in learning platform Mastree

<ul><li>With students moving to remote learning setup, edtech companies like Gradeup, Vedantu, Simplilearn, <keyword id="2008319" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Upgrad">upGrad</keyword>, Unacademy, Masai School and others are hiring across roles including educators and product managers. </li><li>According to a <keyword id="769079" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="ManpowerGroup">ManpowerGroup</keyword> estimate, there are approximately 12,000 job vacancies for permanent roles across edtech companies in India, as of June. </li><li>Another 90,000 job openings are for contractual roles in the edtech sector. </li><li>Krishna Kumar, CEO and Founder of Simplilearn believes that the lockdown has been a ‘game-changer’ for the edtech sector as there has been a sudden surge in enrollments from students as well as working professionals.</li></ul>As schools and universities move to online modules for learning continuity, edtech has emerged as one of the top sectors that have been hiring aggressively despite the lockdown. With students moving to remote learning setup, these edtech companies like Gradeup, Vedantu, Simplilearn, upGrad, Unacademy, Masai School and others are hiring across roles including educators and product managers. Krishna Kumar, CEO and Founder of Simplilearn believes that the lockdown has been a ‘game-changer’ for the edtech sector as there has been a sudden surge in enrollments from students as well as working professionals. Over 1 lakh job opening in edtech companies for permanent and gig roles <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/jobs/situations-vacant-12000-jobs-on-offer-in-edtech/articleshow/76175565.cms">According to</a> a ManpowerGroup estimate, there are approximately 12,000 job vacancies across edtech companies in India, as of June. And that constitutes only the permanent job roles. Another 90,000 job openings are for contractual roles in the edtech sector. Simplilearn now has over 100 job openings for permanent roles and 500 vacancies for specialised or gig roles. “At Simplilearn, we witnessed a 30% jump in enrollments between March and April, 2020. While hiring was always part of the plan, the current phase has also triggered the need for more manpower to cater to this rising demand,” Kumar told Business Insider. However, as far as appraisals are concerned, Kumar said that the company is in a ‘wait and watch’ mode. “But all bonuses and variables are paid as per plan,” he added. Masai School is also planning to add nearly 20 people by the end of June. This includes Lead instructors, curriculum leads, technical mentors, marketing manager, admissions counselor and subject matter experts. “In addition to this, we have also rolled out appraisals to the existing team, for the year,” said Prateek Shukla, CEO &amp; Co-founder of Masai School. The demand for educators increase as the learner base grows Whitehat Jr, on the other hand, is doubling the number of employees and teachers to meet the 100% month-on-month increase in student enrollments. The company plans to hire 1,500 teachers and 400 other staff almost every month, CEO Karan Bajaj <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/jobs-at-whitehat-jr-edtech-startup-profile-experience-salary-and-other-details/articleshow/75687582.cms">said </a>in an earlier interview. Unacademy too, plans to onboard over 500 educators over the next one year while it is also focussing on recruiting across teams such as sales, operations, confirmed Tina Balachandran, VP, HR at Unacademy. The edtech companies attribute the rise in jobs to the increased demand for online learning. “Due to the increased demand for online learning, we are definitely ramping up our backend and technology and have plans to hire 1500 employees across all levels and with domain expertise in the field of technology, product, finance, strategy &amp; HR,” said Vamsi Krishna, CEO &amp; Co-founder of Vedantu. The platform says that its revenue grew by over 80% with the students spending an average of 18-20 minutes per live class daily. Gradeup also witnessed nearly 25% surge in daily enrollments, especially live classes for JEE &amp; NEET aspirants. “With Covid 19 and the lockdown due to increase in demand, our requirements in academic positions have specifically gone up. At the same time we are also scaling up on the sales team to cater to the demand of online classes which were provided by offline institutes in the past. For the next quarter, we will hire technology, product and sales professionals. We have been hiring 30-40 people for these categories since May,” Shobhit Bhatnagar, CEO and Founder of Gradeup told Business Insider. Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/education/news/media-mogul-turned-education-entrepreneur-ronnie-screwvala-says-coronavirus-might-have-usher-a-new-era-of-online-learning/articleshow/74550344.cms">upGrad</a> onboarded senior staff including CEO Arjun Mohan and VP Puneet Tanwar, amid the lockdown. “We have closed a couple more senior management positions too, on the product and business side and they will be joining us in the next 4-6 weeks. All our hiring procedures have been shifted to online with immediate effect, which includes video calling at the time of shortlisting the candidate, followed by another round of interview call with the HR and the respective team manager,” Mayank Kumar, Co-founder &amp; MD, upGrad said. The hiring and onboarding has also witnessed a shift. Companies are virtually onboarding employees via video conferencing tools — leveraging technology and digitisation. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/digital-skills-that-experts-believe-you-need-to-survive-the-current-job-crisis/articleshow/76167406.cms">Digital skills that experts believe you need to survive the current job crisis</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/education/news/indian-government-may-allow-schools-to-open-after-august-15/articleshow/76252838.cms">Indian government may allow schools to open after August 15</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/education/news/iit-bombay-kharagpur-roorkee-and-kanpur-students-will-not-have-to-sit-for-final-year-exams/articleshow/76167610.cms">IIT Bombay, Kharagpur, Roorkee and Kanpur students will not have to sit for final year exams</a>

Edtech hirings at an all-time high — over 4,100 job openings in Unacademy, Vedantu, Simplilearn and more

New Delhi, Feb 19 () Digital learning platform Unacademy on Wednesday raised USD 110 million (about Rs 780 crore) in a funding round led by social media major Facebook and General Atlantic. The funding round saw investment from fresh investors including Sequoia India, Nexus Venture Partners, Steadview Capital and Blume Ventures, Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy and Udaan co-founder Sujeet Kumar, according to a company statement. "We are seeing great learning outcomes through our subscription where learners can take live classes by these educators. We now have more than 90,000 active subscribers. We thank General Atlantic and Facebook who have joined us in this journey and our existing investors who continue to be a part of the journey by supporting us," Unacademy co-founder Gaurav Munjal said. In addition to raising the funding, Unacademy also provided exits to some of the angel investors, the statement said. "With this investment in Unacademy, we are reinforcing our commitment to the Indian start-up ecosystem as well as investing in a company that is transforming learning in India. We love that the company is fundamentally democratising education and driving innovation in new learning models," Facebook India Vice President and Managing Director Ajit Mohan said. Unacademy expects to earn an annual recurring revenue of USD 250-300 million (around Rs 1,775 crore to Rs 2,130 crore) on the back of rise in paid subscribers and expansion of its offerings. The company offers test series, personalised feedback and one-on-one interactions with educators for various competitive examinations, including UPSC. Currently, it has more than 20,000 registered educators and over 18 million learners. As on February 1, Unacademy Plus had hit USD 30 million ARR. Generally, ARR refers to yearly value of a single subscription. Munjal had earlier told that the company is planning to offer online coaching for state service examinations in Kerala, Maharashtra, West Bengal and other states. PRS RVK

Unacademy raises USD 110 mn led by Facebook, General Atlantic

<ul><li><keyword id="6630114" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="unacademy">Unacademy</keyword> has raised $50 million in a series D round of funding. </li><li>The startup has investors like Steadview Capital, Sequoia India, Nexus Venture Partners and Blume Ventures.</li><li>The Indian <keyword id="6379645" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Online-Education">online education</keyword> space has players like Byju’s which has also reported profitability.</li></ul>Indian online education startup Unacademy has raised $50 million in a series D round of funding from investors like Steadview Capital, Sequoia India, Nexus Venture Partners and Blume Ventures. The investment, which will go towards bringing on board more educators and better the product, also saw the founders Gaurav Munjal and Roman Saini participate in the round. “In the last few months, we have taken bigger strides toward achieving this mission. We have more than 400 top educators from across the country taking live classes every day on Unacademy Plus. This is available to every student, irrespective of their location,” said Munjal. Unacademy plus is the startup’s subscription plan which has more than 50,000 learners. The startup, which was founded in 2015, has over 13 million learners. “We are seeing unprecedented growth and engagement from learners in smaller towns and cities, and are also very humbled to see that top-quality educators are choosing Unacademy as their primary platform to reach out to students,” said Munjal. This also shows the growth trajectory of Indian online education space. Online education industry in India is expected to hit 9.6 million by 2021 user base, which was 1.6 million in 2016, as per a KPMG report. In fact, a survey by education startup GradeUp also shows that students are counting on online teaching for competitive exams — JEE, NEET, GATE, SSC and banking exams. Meanwhile, the big player in Indian <keyword id="1974983" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Edutech">edutech</keyword> space remains Byju’s – which had recently reported profitability with an increase in the number of paid users. Its revenue has tripled to reach ₹14.3 billion in the financial year ending March 2019, though it has not shared the net profit numbers. This volume of numbers has also brought in the renewed interest of investors, who are betting on the Indian education technology space. Interestingly, Sequoia is a common investor between Byju’s and Unacademy. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/indian-students-prefer-online-coaching-for-jee-neet-gate-ssc-and-banking-exams/articleshow/69956565.cms">Indian students prefer online coaching to offline classes</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/mukesh-ambani-reliance-jio-and-byju-feature-in-meeker-report/articleshow/69770325.cms">Mukesh Ambani’s Jio and a startup Byju's are in global spotlight as India’s internet users exceed that of US</a>

Unacademy raises $50 million as Byju’s success draws top dollars into online education in India

<ul><li>The edtech company will be <keyword id="6357342" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="hiring" source="Orion">hiring</keyword> 800 people across tech, product and marketing teams this year.</li><li>It claims that out of 800 people, 20% or 160 would be freshers and college graduates.</li><li>In the coming months, it will also be recruiting a CXO, vice president, and a senior vice president both for India and the US.</li></ul>Bengaluru-based edtech <keyword id="1309724" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="simplilearn" source="Orion">Simplilearn</keyword> is expanding its workforce by 800 people this year. It will be hiring across tech, product and marketing teams. “The ongoing hiring is a part of our company's expansion plan, in India and abroad, as we look to substantially invest in our workforce by the end of 2022," said Krishna Kumar, founder and CEO of Simplilearn. It claims that 20% of its hiring or 160 employees would be freshers and college graduates. In the coming months, it will also be recruiting a CXO, vice president, and a senior vice president both for India and the US. In the US, it aims to appoint various C-suite level executives who will assist in strengthening and structuring the team present in the country. Kumar believes that the demand for upskilling and reskilling will prevail in the industry. “Over the past couple of years, the shift to online training and education led to a growth spurt in the number of providers in the industry. The industry is currently witnessing a transition phase with hybrid models of work and study,” he added. Founded in 2010, the company claims to conduct more than 3,000 live classes, with an average of 70,000 learners who collectively spend more than 500,000 hours each month on the platform. Its peers like Unacademy, Vedantu are laying off its workforce due to lower funding. Overall, the edtech industry has reportedly laid off 8,000 people due to economic slowdown. While, Indian startups have collectively laid off 6,000 people in the last five months and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/60000-jobs-in-startup-companies-may-lose-their-jobs-this-year-in-india-experts-say/articleshow/91804572.cms">may lay off another</a> 60,000 this year. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/not-just-money-lack-of-flexi-working-is-making-software-developers-quit/articleshow/92179884.cms">Not just money, lack of flexi working is making software developers quit</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/nearly-four-lakh-fliers-are-thronging-airports-every-day-and-indigo-is-flying-half-of-them/articleshow/92179593.cms">Nearly four lakh fliers are thronging airports every day and Indigo is flying half of them</a>

Edtech startup Simplilearn bucks the trend — to hire 800 people this year

<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>

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