The world is engrossed in progressing in every sector. But to be the best in everything, the most important aspect is to enhance the capabilities of the kids and students on whom the future of humanity is entirely dependent. While there are number of competition, Arsym is going strong with a different approach.
In an interview with Insights Success, Manmeet Nayyar, the Founder & CEO of Arsym has given some insightful answers of his futuristic thoughts and vision.
- Kindly brief us about the company. Enlighten us with the foundation story and a brief detail on the initial days of the company.
Arsym is a team of old stagers that wish to build a global growth platform and has successfully proffering pioneering services across Edutainment, Business Consulting, Application Development, Marketing Process Outsourcing and Relationship Analytics with worldwide operations.
Though Arsym reached great heights of success in its endeavor of building a growth platform for Indian Companies by adopting advanced processes & technologies, it wasn’t enough for me. Hence, I started RACE BHARAT, a global conclave uniting Corporate, NGOs, Educationalists and Researchers to help build a brighter India through Re-engineering, Analytics, CSR and Education.
Soon, I realized that without empowering the kids, who spend hefty time in memorizing facts & figures in schools, achieving a wholesome growth for the country is impossible. Consequently, I brought forth a more innovative, scientific yet fun-based learning approach that promotes development of all quotients of intelligence: Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, and Emotional.
Headquartered in New Delhi, India, SpieQ has its global sales offices across Dubai, Singapore, Melbourne, San Francisco and Toronto.
- Brief us about the Founder/CEO of the company. What kind of ethics, principles and manner of working does he observe while running the business? Please share with us the major contribution towards the development of the company.
I have more than 18 years of professional experience in leading senior management roles with large Global Companies such as GE, American Express and Tech Mahindra and compelling Technology Start-ups such as Global eProcure and TrustSphere.
I hold M.S (Computer Engg) from USC-Veterbi School of Engineering and MBA from SPJIMR. Also, I am an alumnus of Columbia Business School (Certified Digital Transformation Leader) and MIT-Sloan (Certified Innovation & Design Thinking Expert) besides being ITIL and Six Sigma Certified consultant.
My passion to work towards building an egalitarian society was the bedrock of founding RACE BHARAT, a social initiative for Inclusive Growth in India by collaborating with Corporate, NGOs, Educationists and Researchers.To bring this change since inception, I decided to target the K-12 student community, the future of India and instill in them the needful skills and values to be successful in 21st Century.
- What Problems in Education Space do you plan to address? What are your products or services addressing these problems?
- School curriculum is not engaging and focusing only on IQ based high scores.
- Holistic development and value education is not available to children in a defined way.
- Emphasis on Experiential Learning is missing from core education.
- Parents and children don’t have a platform to engage in meaningful activities together.
- Time spent by children on digital platforms is engaging but unproductive
- Existing toys and digital games do not offer great learning.
- The struggle or hardship story or the challenges that worked as the strength behind the success of the company, please talk about that.
Start-ups never grow without overcoming challenges and for SpieQ the challenge was to create an innovative value proposition for Holistic Development of children. It needed cross functional intelligent team members across science, arts, design, education and management backgrounds and build synergies amongst them.
Demonetization was another challenge for SpieQ. However, the desire to bring science education from lab to doorsteps of both urban and rural India in a cost effective manner has always kept SpieQ on the track. We’ve invested in technology to reduce our inventory cost and made a backward integration to start an e-waste management enterprise, reducing our raw material cost significantly.
Our key strengths have been Agility and Perseverance, we always looked upon every problem as an opportunity to gain competitive edge.
- Please tell us about the business model which makes the brand unique in the middle of the cut-throat competition.
Here at Arsym, our Design Thinking and Customer-Centric approach differentiates us from our competitors. In the case of SpieQ, we are the only company that has established an immersive story telling methodology for teaching STEAM and inculcating 21st Century values and skills. Our integrated Online (platform engagement, cartoon series, books & more) + Offline (STEAM & Holistic Development Kits Boxes) offerings will provide unique proposition.
- Tell us about the business policies, principles and agendas you follow.
We pick the best brains, a group of like-minded people with strong commitment and deep expertise to bring innovation in how education is provided. We have a flat hierarchy for innovation and all ideas are welcomed. SpieQ is committed to Scientific Social Responsibility and has incubated this culture across its stakeholders with its values of – Innovation, Inclusive Growth, Women Empowerment, Entrepreneurship and Environmental Sustainability.
- Brief us about the future of the company or the goal it has set to mark its exceptionality in the future.
We continually evaluate the education system & learning patterns, and identify gaps to re-build innovative kits & intriguing learning materials. We wish to launch an easy to access, web-based platform providing affordable edutainment in Non-English speaking states and countries.
- Advise for the budding entrepreneurs who are trying to embark in the same field.
The world is going to need new skills in the 21st century such as complex problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, people management, and more. In future, our competition will be with advanced machines, powered by Artificial Intelligence. As such, it is crucial for us to get our children learn those skills that enable them to survive the storm of automation.
- Please tell us about the accomplishments and acknowledgements of the company.i. Awarded the Most Influential Global CEO in Education for 2018 by CV Magazine (UK) – Corporate Excellence Awards.
ii. Featured amongst Top 25 Products & Services Companies in India for 2018 by CEO Insights Magazine Awards
iii. Awarded the Best Company in India for Experimental Learning for 2018 by CV Magazine Corporate Excellence Awards
iv. Featured in Top 15 Start-up Kick-offs for 2018 at Entrepreneur India Forum Awards 2018
v. Featured in Top 10 Global Entrepreneurs for 2017 by Silicon Review Magazine Awards (USA)
vi. Awarded by Ministry of Science & Technology India for exceptional contributions on founding RACE BHARAT in 2016
- What are your views about the current industry scenario?
Global Toy Industry is expected to reach to US$135 Billion by 2020 and the promising areas include Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Latin America. Key Market drivers include –
- Growing Affluence of the Middle Class Population in the Developing Countries
- Increasing demand for Activity and Construction Toys
Asia-Pacific is set to be the largest market. The Indian Toy Industry in 2017 is INR 13,000 Cr and is expected to grow to INR 25,000 Crores by the year 2020. With One third of the population under 14 years of age, Indian toy industry to set to observe greater opportunity to expand. Indian Market is seeing both Global and Indian players but there is no Brand that has built a positioning for Holistic Development. Only 10% of the market constitutes of organized sector.
Only 10% of the market constitutes of organized sector, leaving great scope for a Holistic Development Brand to create structured impact and influence Children Mindshare.
spieq.com, arsym.com, racebharat.com
