The economic impact of the pandemic in India has been largely disruptive. For the past few months, the country has been under intermittent lockdowns putting non-essential activities on hold. The essential activities too have been impacted to various degrees and is currently facing unprecedented challenges. However, for the EdTech industry, this period has been one of considerable growth and opportunities.
With people getting more savvy on online learning and institutions waking up to the importance of digitising and adding digital component to traditional learning methods, it has been a period of many changes with positive impacts. There’s no denying that the human suffering has altered the course of life, but with this disaster, has come an opportunity to flourish for the EdTech Industry.
Helping learners continue their quest for knowledge in these difficult times is Edubull, India’s largest online learning platform with content for every learner and teaching technology with courses for School, Test Preparation, Skill Development and Job preparation.
Incepted in the Year 2018 with a vision to make learning accessible and affordable to all, Edubull is the first in India to roll out its Rs. 999/- model across age groups. The platform offers content access anytime, anywhere on all the devices.
The Founder, Mr Girish Sharma shares how he envisions a world, where anyone from anywhere can transform their life by accessing the world’s best learning experiences.
At present, what are your company’s range of services or offerings?
Edubull operates in both B2B and B2C segments. Our B2B Platform ‘e-professor’ is designed for Institutions and individual teachers. The app facilitates both teachers and students with a platform where they can interact, however through digital medium for further learning. e-professor technology, the first ever in India, shall empower Institutes with versatile online learning, administrating, teaching and communication tools.
Under the app, teachers, and institutions, can upload courses, create virtual classrooms for live teaching, share assignments, collect responses, create exams, track progress/attendance all on one interface. The app blends learning and Live teaching in HD with an integrated virtual classroom, enabling 2-way video and phone call option, whiteboard teaching, screen sharing, chats as well as lecture recording.
Designed with individual dashboards; admin, teachers, students, parents, each of them having access to tools to moderate and monitor. The technology aims to digitize the learning, help teachers to take their operations online.
Our B2C offering ‘Edubull’, is designed with content across age groups. Today we cover over 3000 courses and 10000 exams, and 50+ certifications, making Edubull the one stop destination for all learning needs. Our library of content is curated by academicians and professionals from IITs, IIMs and teachers from several prestigious schools and colleges. Our main goal is to transform learning experiences. Along with this, Edubull is also working closely with B2G segments.
How is Edubull strategizing to sustain competition in the respective industry?
India is home to the second largest number of EdTech brands, and what stands us apart from the competition is our feature rich platform with curated content, giving learners a personalized experience. Unlike other brands, tapping only the Millennial or select audience, the content we have curated suits across the age groups that too at the most affordable price point.
Due to Covid19 a significant amount of EdTech platforms have emerged and in order to sustain and stand out from this clutter, we have been working aggressively to enable better user experience with diverse course offerings across all ages.
Currently, we are also working on developing our proprietary technology with AI and other tools to ensure advanced features for more engaged learning, at suitable price points. Additionally, with our current and upcoming ventures as well as partnerships, we are planning to expand into the B2G realm efficiently.
What underlying challenges did you come across in the initial phase (or continue to face) of your company?
Like every startup, we too had our share of challenges to address. We launched a unique and affordable learning model, which is very different than the existing eLearning platforms. Our key challenge was to help consumers understand the differentiation, and also break the mindset that ‘Quality comes only at a price’, as we at Edubull have brought the most affordable learning solutions only at 999/-.
Rather than spending on aggressive advertising, we strategized winning trust of the consumers organically, which definitely had its share of trials too. Having said that, all of this is part of our learning and growth. We always look for ways to overcome whatever we face and so far, it’s been good.
Being a business leader and an industry expert, what advice would you give to the future entrepreneurs or those who aspire to start their own ventures?
My advice to the future entrepreneurs would be to “To market first and build later”. We often spend so much time perfecting a product that we overlook the most important aspect being gaining users. Plus, it’s always better to build as you get feedback, as that perfects the product comparatively more.
What do you envision for your company’s future, in terms of growth, expansion, or, other developmental aspects?
We want to use the current momentum to provide more quality education and make it accessible to everyone. We recently expanded into the B2B marketplace, so coming months are key to monitor adoption behaviour and growth. We are also stressing on bringing more interactive methods on Edubull and provide better learning experience to users.
About the Leader
Mr. Girish Sharma is a first-Generation Technology Entrepreneur and a part of the EdTech Industry for over 25 years. He started his journey with VISIONnet, the first in India to launch the CBT’s, in 1996 followed by launching the Education marketplace ‘Edubull’ in 2018’.
Being a true techy, he has identified and developed solutions for more than 2500+ institutions/clients. Under his leadership, Edubull has become India’s largest online learning platform in just a year of its establishment.
