From dance and music to acting, YouForrte is enabling a channel to allow one’s creativity to become their career choice. With an endeavour to emerge as a go-to platform for securing professional opportunities based on creative abilities, the company aims to provide a medium to attract, retain, develop and deploy talent in the entertainment industry.

Addressing the prevailing challenges this tech platform will enable seamless integration of skill-sets with add-on benefits of paid assignments. Looking forward to redefining representations across a spectrum of talents, the platform aims to emerge as a haven for multiple young riders looking to advance their portfolios through contemporary channels.

According to Mohit Kaushal, Founder & CEO, YouForrte, “Over the years we have been witnessing a huge gap in the demand v/s supply across the media and entertainment industry. Also, India offers a pool of talent waiting for the right opportunity to showcase their strength and creativity in this dynamic and aggressively evolving industry. Therefore, YouForrte is trying to facilitate a medium to showcase the hidden gems and will help transform the industry through this modernized digital intervention.”

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With the available courses like Dance, Music, Acting, Disc Jockey, Yoga, Fitness, Fashion, Food, and Comedy, etc. students who were unable to pursue their passion or hobby due to pandemic and nationwide lockdown can now go after their interest along with the academic education with Klapus. Not just students but the people of all age groups who left their passion and interest due to any reason can now avail themselves the unlimited benefits of the platform at very economical prices.

Along with the skill enhancement education, Klapus employs the instructors and professionals in the CCA category to showcase their mastery in their expertise while teaching the same to the users.

COVID-19 made CCA learning very complex and entertainment came out as one of the most hit industries in India, a lot of entertainment professionals lost their job and CCA institutes were forced to shut. To overcome this Kapos Entertainment came up with the idea of Klapus which doesn’t only give a platform to learn but allows the professionals/ instructors to start teaching online being at home and earn money. 

Through teaching Klapus allows such professionals to build their followers and get their due recognition where learners can learn from unlimited industry experts by just subscribing to it.

Commenting on the occasion, Rakesh Das, Founder, Klapus, said “India, which is still dealing with the second wave of COVID-19, cases are rising and its effects are very much visible in every corner in each aspect but COVID cannot stop students from learning anymore, CCA education is as important as academic education. With Klapus, we aspire to inspire children to get back to learning their passion and improve their CCA skills and confidence which will lead to diminishing the stress, anxiety and will lead to good mental health too. Klapus make the education more interactive, interesting, and accessible to all.”

Klapus have well-curated courses with direct interactive sessions with the instructors and user-friendly interface which people of all age group can avail the benefits under rs49 to rs299 annual subscription and is available on Android and IOS.

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Abhay Gupta, Co-Founder, Board infinity says, “The corporates appreciate and are eager to employ job seekers who possess not only knowledge but also skills, comprising communication, critical thinking, problem-solving, etc. Our platform helps strengthen skills in and build confidence among them.”

The students will be taught by the industry experts who will learn about Grammar, Reading and Listening Comprehension, Interpersonal Communication, Formal Communication, Public Speaking, Vocabulary, Group Interaction Activities, Presentation Skills, Accent Modulation, Resume Building, LinkedIn & Social Media Profile Building. The highlight of the program is soft skills such as Positive Body language, Professional etiquette, Telephonic etiquette, Negotiation Skills, Persuasion, and Conflict Management. These soft skills are essential to improve lives and enrich relationships

The coaches for this program are Industry expert Trainers, Teachers, Soft Skills trainers, Content Writers who have had a strong career journey working in educational institutions & the corporate world. The Coaches include Mellita Fernandes, Urmi Dutta, Jairam Kshirasagar, Rashmeet Kaur, Aswathy Padmannabhan, Sabah Banau Farooqi, and Kadhiravan Jayachandiran.

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The WorldGrad programs are developed in partnership with overseas institutions and designed using international curriculum standards and latest learning design and analytics technology. Students learn from experienced international educators supported by local teachers to create a stimulating yet familiar learning environment for the students. Additionally, The WorldGrad boasts an award-winning personalized support program designed to maximize student success and satisfaction. Students can have 1-1 access to highly qualified and experienced tutors 7 days of the week to personalize learning and suit their study styles. It also offers a state-of-the-art Learning Management System (LMS) to streamline their study schedule.

Talking more about the platform, Abhinav Mital, Co-founder of The WorldGrad said, “The advent of Edu-Tech has empowered students, institutions as well as parents and has made them active participants in their education during Covid-19. India’s Edu-tech universe is growing rapidly, and with our platform we would like to create an ecosystem and gateway for students to affordable global education. Our Platform offers both offline and online experience for students and gives them ample choices to safely pursue education abroad. In the times, when technology has pushed students to the confines of their computer desk, we at The WorldGrad aim to bring back the nuances of campus education back on the table.”

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The process for enrolling under this initiative is very simple through The Catalyst Group e-learning portal. The student’s eligibility for enrolling under the initiative is based on the necessary information shared about their family income and source; prior education loan details and other college fee details that were deposited. There are a broad range of courses including SSC, JEE, UPSC, NEET under this initiative. All the regular online classes along with additional PDF notes are provided to the students enrolled under the program. More than 90% of the students have qualified different competitive examinations like UPSC and SSC under the initiative with all India ranks under top 10s and 100s. Most of the Catalyst’s students were also able to qualify the UPSC prelims this year. One of the GATE students Ritika with her exceptional performance cleared the exam scoring an all India sixth rank.

#AbHarStudentPadhega is in line with the brand’s strategic marketing positioning of making education accessible and affordable to every citizen of the country. The campaign looks to address the critical and long-term needs of reducing the digital divide of the country until whenever necessary. Through this initiative, The Catalyst Group has entered into remote areas of UP, Bihar, Maharashtra and Gujrat where online education has been underserved.

Commenting on the initiative, Akhand Swaroop Pandit, Founder and CEO, The Catalyst Group, said “The pandemic has created tougher times financially  for a lot of sections of people in India. Our campaign #AbHarStudentPadhega is to prioritize each and every student’s ambitions and help them achieve their goals without hindrance. We’ve witnessed almost a 200% growth with more than 3Lakh registrations under the initiative in just seven months. In today’s unprecedented times when COVID-19 is ravaging the world, we are trying to make every effort to mitigate any burden on the students who are the future of this country”.

Built and developed on The Catalyst Group online platform, the initiative was launched in April to give aspirants free access to education during these pandemic-related closures. The program has so far achieved great success, not only in terms of numbers but also in the kind of courses that was developed directly from it. The increased scope during such critical times by providing extra pdf notes and monthly magazines to substitute the online classes have helped the platform to run errands over the past year.

Ratnesh Singh, an ex-aspirant from Patna, Bihar under the initiative said, “ The unforeseen crisis due to the pandemic really shook us all up. I was forced to put a halt to my educational journey owing to the sudden crisis. However, when I got to know about the free SSC Course available by The Catalyst Group, it solved most of my problems. It came in our lives as a new ray of hope. The preparation was seamless with the help of the notes I received by the faculties here”. Ratnesh cleared the SSC examinations with all India rank 22 this year.

“In India, especially the people from tier II and III cities have not been very comfortable with online way of learning. It is generally because there’s a myth among students and parents that only offline or conventional classes can help achieve educational goals. However, the pandemic has been a catalyst for a shift in the entire education system by making online learning the core of  student experience. These upgrades will further only enhance the learning experience through a better approach towards specific job-relevant skills for the coming generation”, said Pandit.

About The Catalyst Group

The Catalyst Group is an EdTech Start-up providing valuable learning and skill enhancement through preparing its students for competitive examinations like UPSC, SSC, IIT, JEE, and other Medical entrance examinations. Starting with a handful of 10 students in 2018, there are more than 4 Lakh regular students registering and learning on the portal today. The Catalyst Group is a group of expert faculties including Civil Servants, Senior Professors, Authors, Senior Professionals working together with a common objective of making e-education available to everyone and to guide aspirants in a smart way, so that they can achieve their goal and fulfil their dreams with quality preparation. This group is created with a purpose to provide an easy access of education to all the section of students..

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The webinar was organised by Pearson’s Teacher Education and Leadership Academy and Access-School, an ed-tech start-up launching India’s 1st Hybrid-Flexible Learning Ecosystem and was divided into a 2-part online event series from September 28 to October 2.

Dr G. Balasubramanian, former Director (Academics), CBSE, said: “Education in India has been waiting for disruption for a long time. While the industrial revolution scaled to 4.0 generation, the education sector largely remained at 2.0. This long-overdue disruption received impetus from the new NEP 2020; naysayers have accepted the reality and value of technology in education during the COVID-19 pandemic.” 

He went on to say that “The very definition of schools is likely to change. Access-School is a kind of school which I am looking forward to in the future”. 

Ms Seshni Naicker, Director, Teacher Education and Learning Academy, emphasized that irrespective of technology and acquisition of digital skills, teachers would always be the heart and soul of teaching. These essentials skills of empathy, cooperation, confidence, growth which are the skills of the future would come from the teachers as models.

Teachers would need to provide literacy and numeracy curriculum knowledge on the one hand and develop skills, attitudes and values on the other hand, to enable students to become global citizens, she said.

Ms Manju Gupta, Principal, Kothari International School said, “A change in mindset and attitude of a teacher is a must, and a necessity in order to stay relevant to the needs of the students. Human education must be more emphasised in today’s schools. We need to remember that education is for the growth and development of a learner, not for competition. I look forward to a tomorrow where the teacher connects with the child and not the book.”

Day 1 commenced with a webinar and panel discussion on the topic ‘Expanding the Teacher’s horizon: The Future for Educators’. Days 2 and 3 focussed on developing teachers’ skills in teaching online through two professional teacher training sessions with an international trainer. More than 200 school educators, leaders, teachers and trainers took part in the event.

The webinar delved in detail on the present challenges and opportunities for educators as well as on future skills required to stay relevant; trends and changes that are taking place globally in the education industry; and the new landscape for schools and teachers. 

Amit Mathur Co-Founder, Access-School set the tone for the future with these insights. “Basis the pan India survey we conducted last year, three critical areas in the Indian Education System that require focus are Accessibility, Adaptability and Flexibility. We at Access-School leverage technology to cater to these 3 areas and create a HyFlex school which offers blended learning opportunities for students,” she said. 

At the end of 1st part of the online event series, an open panel session was held, moderated by Ms Ruvneet Bains, Chief Learning Officer, Access-School These panellists included Mrs Kaadambari Muttoo – Ex-teacher The British School, Ex-Director Academics for GEMS India, Author; Mrs Neerja Bhasin – Innovative Science Teacher, Ex-Systems & Design Analyst and Mrs Shoma Lahiri – English Teacher and Cambridge Coordinator, Ex-The Shri Ram School. 

The event series ended on October 2 with online teaching pedagogy training sessions for teachers by Sarah White, International Teacher Trainer with Pearson Teacher Education and Leadership Academy (TELA).

While, the Teacher Education and Leadership Academy develops Pearson’s professional learning courses and resources for teachers, Access-School is an ed-tech start-up providing India’s 1st Hybrid-Flexible Learning Ecosystem. 

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The launch comes at a time when there is uncertainty about job opportunities and disruption due to Covid-19. This has led students to a stressful job search.

Nikhil Chainani, Founder, Perspectico said: “With our research & development we have seen that college graduates when looking for a job become very confused as most of the job platforms are scattered.  Keeping this in mind, we built this common tech platform that will help not only have all the details on job opening but it will also prepare them to find their right job thus providing the right direction and guidance.”

According to the startup, the job preparation platform is India’s first relevant and guided job preparation tool. This will help the students with all the recommendations and evaluation which is required to get fully prepared for the job market.

The highlight of AI-based the platform is that it provides a marketplace for job openings across India to the college graduates on a real-time basis. In case a student’s profile is not suitable, the AI Engine will recommend the online course to improve their areas that need attention. A student can also undertake a self-evaluation test to measure competencies.  These tests include subjective, MCQ & Situational tests.

In addition, students are provided with Preparation materials, in-house courses, mentorship and interview guidance.

Established in November 2017, Perspectico (DU backed & uincept accelerator) is an AI-Tech startup which is working towards creating a positive job ecosystem.  Using its in-house Data Intelligence and Psychology, the company develops tech solutions for the hiring industry as per the job aspirant mindset and scalability thus providing competitive advantage.

In the last 3 years, Perspectico has grown manifold from being typical traditional to becoming fully digitized adopting new-age technologies like AI. It is also now building technology products suitable for the hiring and job ecosystem in India.

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Online learning platform Byju’s has raised $122 million or Rs 908.9 crores from DST Global in its ongoing Series F round. The investment fund floated by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner and Byju’s was founded by Byju Raveendran.

This was first reported by Entrackr. Edtech companies like Byju’s, Unacademy, Vedantu, Toppr, and Class Plus nearly effortlessly acquiring users and raising funds amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and lockdown.

According to some reports Byju’s was in talks with the Hongkong-headquartered VC firm to raise around $400 million.

The company is allotting 42,666 Series F preference shares at an issue price of Rs 213,042.13 per share for this deal and shows regulatory filings. Post allotment, DST will command a 1.2% stake in the ed-tech startup.

With this, Byju’s has raised $545 million across four tranches in Series F round in 2020 including a $200 million each from Tiger Global and General Atlantic.

As of now, the firm has raised over $1.3 billion from the likes of Tencent, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Sofina, and Lightspeed. Since March, it has raised $145 million across two tranches.

The promoters group at Byju’s that includes its founder Byju Raveendran, his wife Divya Gokulnath, and brother Riju Raveendran, retain close to 33.1% stake in the company worth nearly $3.3 billion. Prior to the latest capital infusion, the promoters owned a 33.45% stake in the ed-tech company.

Earlier this month it was reported that DST Global is close to investing as $400 million in Byju’s. The round appears to be an ongoing one and DST may invest more money in the ed-tech startup.

It has raised $400 million earlier this year was last funded by Bond Capital co-founded by Silicon Valley investment guru, Mary Meeker, formerly of Kleiner Perkins. Its rivals such as Unacademy, Vedantu, Toppr, and others are also fast-tracking their investments.

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Ed-tech startup Unacademy is finalizing a deal to raise around $150 million led by SoftBank boosting it’s pre-money valuation to $1.3 billion and become India’s most valuable ed-tech firm after Byju’s, which recently raised capital from Mary Meeker’s Bond Capital at a valuation of $10.5 billion, the Economic Times reported.

Unacademy last picked up $110 million from Facebook and PE firm General Atlantic in February, at a valuation of $510 million. Existing investors will also participate in the latest equity funding round, according to the sources.

Even though there are no comments from either Unacademy or SoftBank, if everything goes well the fundraising will mark the first investment in an Indian firm by SoftBank since December, when it had backed eyewear retailer Lenskart.

The famed technology investor has over the past year slowed down new bets globally, cutting fewer cheques following the IPO debacle at portfolio firm WeWork. Budget hotels chain Oyo and digital payments platform Paytm, SoftBank Vision Fund’s other big Indian portfolio companies, have also been under the scanner due to mounting losses.

SoftBank Vision Fund CEO Rajeev Misra, in April, said that the company was looking to make 15-20 investments in India over the next three months and that it was looking for the right valuations.

As schools and offline tuition centers remained shut due to coronavirus pandemic and nationwide lockdown, Unacademy saw a spike in the number of online learners in the days following the Coronavirus outbreak. According to the startup, it now has 200,000 subscribers compared to 90,000 in February which resulted in 80% revenue growth in April.

The ed-tech startup will also pip rival Vedantu, whose valuation rose to $600 million after it raised $100 million led by Coatue Management in July. Ed-tech is among the handful of internet sectors that have benefitted from the pandemic, with all major players like Byju’s, Vedantu, Unacademy, and WhiteHat Jr, reporting gains as more learners switched to online classes. The investments in leading Indian ed-tech firms also come at a time of consolidation in the sector.

Unacademy recently acquired Chandigarh-based PrepLadder in a $50-million cash-and-stock deal. Byju’s last week announced it would acquire WhiteHat Jr for $300 million to get a foothold in the US ed-tech market, while Vedantu recently invested $2 million in online instant doubt-solving app InstaSolv.

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Purpletutor an ed-tech startup in the coding space, has been showing a 100% growth rate every month. The startup has become a tool to empower children with a new skill by teaching them coding principles and basics to kids as young as six-year-olds. It is targeting kids in the age range of 6-14 years and helping them to build commercial-ready games, animations, and apps online using the fundamentals of coding.

According to Purpletutor CEO Gaurav Perti, “Pre-COVID we were growing 50% monthly, but after that, we’ve been growing at 100%. The era after the lockdown was where online learning took off on a different scale. Everybody wanted to move online, parents wanted their children engaged and this led to a hockey stick type growth in online learning.”

Founded by IIT Bombay graduates Gaurav Perti & Yatish Gupta in September 2019, Purpletutor aims to empower children of all ages to code. Early graduates of the course have created professional-ready apps downloadable on the App Store at ages as young as seven years old. All Purpletutor classes are taught in a live 1:1 online classroom by qualified teachers. Looking at the current technological advancements and how it’s transforming the world around us, it is safe to say that right now minimum computer literacy is required in almost every job.

Purpletutor teaches kids to code and it brings along a boost to their creativity and cognitive skills, improves memory, adds to their brainpower, and fuels present-mindedness. Children who learn to code achieve problem-solving skills and relate to the world around them better.

“Purpletutor’s goal is to make coding available to all, we want children to learn this critical skill so in the future they capitalize on it”, says Gaurav Perti.

The ed-tech startup has been experiencing a massive month on month growth after the lockdown. The pandemic has ensured everyone stays at home and this has led to a surge in enrollments. Purpletutor’s class curriculum and strict evaluation process for teachers who undergo rigorous training have been the reason for their growth & retention. Courses start from grade 2 all the way up to grade 9. Younger kids are exposed to block-based coding, whereas the older ones are introduced to python and syntax-based programming.

Atishaya Gupta (Age 12), a Purpletutor student says, “Learning coding was an excellent journey for me. I have learned different types of computer programming and I believe this would be very essential for my future life”. Purpletutor ensures that each age group has the right set of courses on offer and ensures customization to the child’s requirements to get the best outcomes.

The competition in coding for kids is heating up with a number of companies trying to capture students. Purpletutor’s mission is coding for all. The startup believes that technology is going to change the world, and the children of today will shape the world of tomorrow.

Purpletutor wants to empower these children with transformative skills via coding to survive and change the future. By inculcating the fundamentals of coding via algorithmic thinking Purpletutor wants to start this journey of children.

About PurpleTutor

PurpleTutor was started with a vision to provide “Coding for All”. We recognize how Coding or rather Computational Thinking has become as important as Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic today. Founded by educators and technology leaders from IIT, IIM, and Carnegie Mellon, PurpleTutor aims to build the next generation of creators by empowering them with the art of coding from ages 6 -16 yrs.

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