The pandemic has changed the working dynamics and urged Ed-tech startups to adopt a digital-first approach to scale up the ladder. According to experts, we are stepping into the decade of unicorns for India. India is the third-largest ecosystem in the world. With technology and innovation at the heart of the journey and industrial leadership, how can startups scale up?

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COVID-19 has spurred academic institutions, working adults, students, and families to adopt online courses in unprecedented ways. This has resulted in a surge in demand for simple-to-use online technologies or systems to enhance knowledge and skills. With its Voice features, platforms like YouTube and Google Cloud are aiding this educational revolution.

To sustain in this industry, how do you build industry leadership? What are the challenges in moving forward? To discuss this and more, we had an esteemed panel of industry leaders on our special series “Building It Up With Bertelsmann’. Our panel included;

Ashwin Damera, Co-Founder & CEO, Eruditus

Saahil Goel, Co-Founder & CEO, Shiprocket

Pankaj Makkar, Managing Director, Bertelsmann India Investments

Eruditus started its journey in 2010, offering executive education courses, and today, it is India’s fourth Ed-Tech icon giving ivy-league education to people globally. Talking about his journey and the evolution of the company’s vision, Ashwin Damera shared that their vision has always been to make high-quality education accessible and affordable. Their vision has remained constant, but what has changed is where they stand today. At first, it was all about classroom teaching, but today the shift is towards online learning. They are enrolling students from 80+ countries; it is a massive shift.

Eruditus caters to over 100,000 students across various countries. Sharing his insights on scaling this enterprise, Ashwin shared that many challenges exist when going global. Every market and approach differ, be it India, Latin America, or China. The Indian market helped sharpen their capabilities. Secondly, people drive your journey, and finding the correct local leadership is the key to half the problems.

Venture capitalists with a global presence are imperative for the growth of a startup. Ashwin said that Bertelsmann was instrumental in their journey. Backing many intriguing companies in the Ed-Tech space, they were the right partners for them. Before entering markets like China, America, and others, their research and guidance helped them steer through.

Speaking about the defining characteristics of Eruditus that helped in its global scaling, Pankaj Makkar said that when looking at investments, several factors come into play. With Shiprocket and Eruditus, they found highly passionate entrepreneurs. They defined their category and scalability, a DNA we consider exceedingly important. Next, their business model and the match in its transcending capability beyond the Indian markets is what he saw in these two companies.

We are witnessing a surge in the Direct-To-Consumer (D2C) brands globally. Talking about how Shiprocket’s Ed-tech asset model serves as a differentiating factor in this market, Saahil said D2C commerce has become utterly prevalent. The logistics ecosystem - whether cataloging or shipping - has seen an evolution. What people suffer with is managing the logistics and the post-delivery customer experience. It was because the infrastructure side of the supply chain was set up for the broader players; homepreneurs and small businesses suffered heavy losses. Shiprocket is trying to simplify the process by connecting retailers, merchants to the fuller network. Rather than becoming the infrastructure, they became the software infrastructure. If you set your mind to something, you can do it - an ideology he followed early on.

Talking about the D2C space, Pankaj shares his insights on the growth opportunities and scalability across different geographies. D2C is here to stay in India and abroad. It will reach the $100 GMV mark. Merchants need various services like shipping, logistics, content creation, and companies like Shiprocket are building to cater to these needs.

Do businesses need to keep several things in mind when catering to students abroad with teams in India? Shedding light on this, Ashwin says other marketing channels are common in India and USA. Leadership and talent also have a significant impact. Being local and market-facing is key to thriving across different markets.

With the Indian Ed-Tech space and ecosystem revolutionizing, these startup journeys are inspiring. They are defining and creating the rails to the global market, with no playbook to follow. Making their products accessible to the entire world is the opportunity they are grabbing. With the right skill set, vision AI-based tools, and enablers like Google Cloud, this space will thrive.

This is a Partnered Post

First Published:Dec 18, 2021 2:21 PM IST