Women-Led Startups which are Empowering the Ed-Tech Sector

Imacutus Learning's corporate partners include KPMG, IBM, Deutsche Bank and Citibank, co-creating courses and offering placement opportunities. The courses that they offer falls in the price range of INR 70,000 and INR 1.7 lakh per course. The platform holds a stunning placement record of 65 to 85 percent led by their 15-member placement team.

Educational technology or ed-tech, in simple terms, refers to the use of computer technology to facilitate learning.

With the increase in smartphone users and digital learning models, the ed-tech industry in India has levitated with great numbers in the recent years. Statistics estimate that the ed-tech industry of India will touch the height of about $30 billion in size in the next decade.

Digitalization has impacted almost every sector in our daily life. From electronic payments to e-tickets the impact of digitalization is reflective in all aspects of our life. In that context, digitalization did not leave behind the education sector.

The onset of Covid-19 pandemic greatly increased the need for digital educational models. We all are now familiar with ed-tech enterprises like BYJU's, Unacademy, Teachmint and many others.

Here are two home grown ed-tech ventures by two Indian woman:

Shreyashi Singh: Founder of Harappa Education

Shreyashi Singh worked with many media agencies for over a decade. She explored the various fields of media from broadcast and print media to becoming a published author.

Singh was also the editor of Inc, the iconic American magazine on entrepreneurship. While she was working with the Inc, she came in terms with her passion for entrepreneurship and tech-enabled businesses. She decided to set her foot on the path of entrepreneurship.

According to Shreyashi, she gained an experience in Inc which was equivalent to receiving a PhD in entrepreneurship.

Shreyashi's words stated that she was very delighted to meet many entrepreneurs and hear their stories. She was interested to know the things that those entrepreneurs have fought for. All the amazing ideas, culture and productivity, which she was experiencing made her think that if she was a CEO, she would do those exact same things. According to her this immersion into entrepreneurship was what marks the beginning of her journey.

She served at as the Director of Careers at Vedica for two years and during that time she realized that higher education is her calling.

She started researching with her brother about online education and explored the ed-tech industry. She gave birth to an idea in her mind to create a curriculum and not limit her venture to being a marketplace.

Singh and her brother felt that the crisis revolving around education in India was related to its curriculum. She states that the curriculum is not updated, or practical or contemporary enough. Moreover it does not offer timely response to the changing industries. She also decided that the they would not do technical and domain skills, since there already existed many players who were doing very good work in providing the mass these skills.

She incorporated Harappa Education as a company in the month of March 2018. Subsequently she launched the courses from May 2019. Presently, about one lakh learners have enrolled themselves on the platform.

Shreyashi wrote the book Wealth Wallahs. According to Singh, the ed-tech platform's faculty is their biggest USP. They have 60 team members belonging to different spheres, who deliver rich and contextualized content, which is properly tailored to 21st century leaders.

Harappa Education functions on a B2B model with campuses and corporate. In the campus scenario, it works with IIT Gandhinagar, Punjab Engineering College and Lovely Professional University.

Their corporate clients include leading IT services brands, FMCG, and financial services.

Sonya Hooja – Founder of Imacutus Learning

Imacutus Learning, another ed-tech platform possesses an annual average growth rate of 40 per cent. This startup caters specially to provide skilling in the fields of finance, technology, analytics, and management. This has facilitated the company in partnering with about 480 countries.

The startup began in the year 2012. This was a time when online learning was

The startup had a humble beginning in 2012, a time when online learning wasn't even a topic of discussion.

Sonya Hooja is an MBA graduate from INSEAD, France. She completed her graduation with a Bachelor's Degree in Economics and Information Technology from Rutgers University in the US.

Sonya's work life includes her working with Accenture Singapore in strategy development, prior to her entering the entrepreneurial train.

Initially, her company took fresh graduates, trained them in certain specific skill sets and then took the complete responsibility for their placements.

Imacutus Learning's corporate partners include KPMG, IBM, Deutsche Bank, and Citibank, co-creating courses and offering placement opportunities. The courses that they offer falls in the price range of INR 70,000 and INR 1.7 lakh per course.

The platform holds a stunning placement record of 65 to 85 percent led by their 15-member placement team. '

The authority of the company ensures to upskill them on specific skillsets so that they can dive into significant depth, instead of overloading them with the entire knowledge of the domain. In this way they enable value for both the learners as well as the corporates.

This startup by Sonya raised a $2 million from CBA capital as part of their Series A funding. In the initial round they invested an amount of Rs 5 crore from friends and family.

Ever since its inception, the startup has been fruitfully profitable. Presently, they are on the lookout for strategic investors who can contribute to the vision and growth of the company.

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