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betterU Education $BTRU.ca Provides Corporate Update $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 8:27 AM on Friday, June 5th, 2020

OTTAWA, June 05, 2020 — betterU Education Corp. (TSX VENTURE: BTRU, Frankfurt: 5OGA) (the “Company” or “betterU”) would like to provide an update on the development of the Company.

Corporate Update

  • betterU launches Software as a Service (SaaS) Learning Management System (LMS) – To support betterU’s B2B Ready-To-Go mobile platform, the company has developed and fully integrated a skills development LMS that enables corporate clients, schools and government clients to manage their teams, assign skills programs, access robust reporting and much more. betterU’s skills development LMS integrates seamlessly with the Ready-To-Go mobile platform and assessment system creating a more comprehensive skilling solution for the market.

    The Skills Development LMS has already received high reviews from betterU’s clients. The skills development LMS provides betterU with the ability to manage scale more effectively, putting control in the hands of companies, with the governance, structure and backend being managed by the betterU team.

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/df31a720-9d8b-47dc-919b-b0a38fc327a4
  • Corporate Clients – betterU continues to work closely with Positive Ventures Group in Canada and Paramount Staffing in the USA for the development and growth of their programs. betterU has the completed tools and resources to effectively support growth opportunities within both these clients, and their clients as well. The Company announced on April 8th 2020 the signing of Paramount Staffing as a new client. Paramount Staffing, is a subsidiary of Proman, based in France, a multibillion-dollar staffing company with over 50,000 global employees and more than 20,000 corporate clients. betterU, by focusing on Paramount’s needs to support their teams across the USA and Canada, opens opportunities to support the entire organization.  
     
  • Corporate Visibility – betterU has officially launched its social media programs across multiple social media platforms. If you are not following betterU already, please follow on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. betterU has surpassed over 130,000 followers on Facebook. The social program provides highlights about company advancements, new products and services, the TIPS (Tackling Ideas that Provide Skills) program and much more. In addition to providing awareness through social media, the company will be launching this quarter their newsletter and blogging portal that will be available at https://corporate.betteru.ca/.  
     
  • Funding – the Company has been approved for a $40,000 interest free 2-year loan and a $41,000 IRAP IAP grant to support employees over the next three months as well as to support current business needs. The Company has applied for additional non-dilutive funding through other such government programs.

About betterU Education Corp.

betterU is an education-to-employment technology company offering an end-to-end solution leveraging business intelligence to automate skilling, reskilling and upskilling for companies operating on domestic and global scales.

betterU has integrated into its platform the content, technology and support for tailored skills assessments, learning pathways and training modules from 100+ of the world’s leading online education providers. betterU’s eco-system includes detailed job, skill, employer, and educational profiles spanning 3,000+ standardized jobs. betterU’s integrated platform is the most efficient solution to address evolving skilling challenges for employers and employees through the employment lifecycle from entry level to executive. We don’t sell content, we help build better people.  

For more information, please visit https://corporate.betteru.ca/corporate-gov/

Contact:

Brad Loiselle, CEO
1-613-695-4100
[email protected]

betterU Education Corp.
Investor Relations
Email: [email protected]

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

betterU LMS
betterU LMS supports corporate, schools and government clients in assigning and managing their skills development programs. betterU’s LMS comes pre-loaded with over 500 skills development programs supporting various departments and individual skills requirements.

#Edtech Boom Boosted by Experiences in Lockdown – SPONSOR: BetterU Education Corp. $BTRU.ca $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 1:43 PM on Monday, May 25th, 2020

SPONSOR:  BetterU Education Corp. aims to provide access to quality education from around the world. The company plans to bridge the prevailing gap in the education and job industry and enhance the lives of its prospective learners by developing an integrated ecosystem. betterU / Ottolearn launch FREE COVID-19 mobile resource toolkit to fight the global crisis – Click here for more information.

Edtech Boom Boosted by Experiences in Lockdown

  • Coronavirus lockdown opens new paths for online education
  • The edtech field may see its growth accelerating even faster because of pandemic
  • The world of education and worker retraining has been upended by the coronavirus, with many changes that could have long-lasting impacts

By: Bruce Rule

Teacher Kai Frazier had a hard time persuading venture capital investors to consider her online education startup, which provides virtual-reality tours of museums and historic sites for children. Then the deadly coronavirus caused societies to shut down worldwide.

“VCs thought that this was only for poor kids who couldn’t afford to go to museums,” Frazier told Karma. “COVID-19 took that argument out” and led potential investors to reconsider Kai XR, she said. Now, Frazier is in the midst of a funding round that may net between $500,000 and $1 million.

With almost 1.2 billion children locked out of schools and millions of adults out of work around the globe, the deadly coronavirus pandemic is forcing the world to re-examine how best to educate and retrain people. That may spur even faster growth of online education, a field that was already expected to surge to $319 billion by 2025 from $188 billion last year.

“COVID-19 is a terrible thing, but what it also did was break down structures that weren’t serving a lot of people,” Frazier said. “Online education may quickly become the classroom experience.”

Her company produces virtual reality tours — like this one of the Obama portraits — that will be viewed online for a monthly subscription fee on a platform that launched last month. The company has seen a 200% increase in people signing up for a free demonstration because of the pandemic.

With VR tours, a child can have a wide range of experiences — from touring a Negro League baseball museum to seeing how a windmill works — that might not otherwise be available because of cost or distance, Frazier said. Online can provide a “diverse education.”

Investors certainly are betting so. A record $18.7 billion was invested in edtech companies worldwide last year, according to research firm Metaari. The pandemic doesn’t seem to have killed enthusiasm for the field. In March, online education company Yuanfudao of China raised $1 billion in a finance round led by Tencent Holdings and private equity firm Hillhouse Capital Group.

According to education research firm HolonIQ, a lot of that growth will eventually be in emerging markets in India, Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa, “where multi-billion dollar funds are being set up to deploy capital into education and other ESG and impact sectors.”
   
Worker retraining also has become a hot topic, with a White House advisory panel last week saying new pathways are needed for the unemployed to upgrade their skills and learn new ones so they can find jobs in fields that are expected to rebound first.

Guild Education is responding to that need. The edtech company was founded in 2015 to help employers including Chipotle, Disney and Walmart create education programs for workers by connecting companies with higher-ed programs at nonprofit universities.

Earlier this month, Guild launched the Next Chapter platform, which enables employers to
provide laid-off workers with access to reskilling programs and hands-on coaching to help them qualify for new positions in areas where demand will increase as the economy reopens.

“Next Chapter was created to help workers make the leap to higher wage” positions, Rachel Carlson, Guild’s CEO, said in an email to Karma.

Investors are also jumping into the field of worker training. Online training platform GO1.com announced this week it raised $40 million in Series C funding.
 
“What has been made clear through this pandemic is the importance of disseminating knowledge across borders, companies, and all parts of society,” The World Economic Forum said in a report last month. “If online learning technology can play a role here, it is incumbent upon all of us to explore its full potential.”

Source: https://karmaimpact.com/edtech-boom-boosted-by-experiences-in-lockdown/

#Edtech Startups Look For Permanence Beyond The #Covid19 Lockdown Boom – SPONSOR: BetterU Education Corp. $BTRU.ca $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 12:07 PM on Wednesday, May 20th, 2020

SPONSOR:  BetterU Education Corp. aims to provide access to quality education from around the world. The company plans to bridge the prevailing gap in the education and job industry and enhance the lives of its prospective learners by developing an integrated ecosystem. betterU / Ottolearn launch FREE COVID-19 mobile resource toolkit to fight the global crisis – Click here for more information.

Edtech Startups Look For Permanence Beyond The Covid-19 Lockdown Boom

  • Since the lockdown, Indian edtech companies have reported major spikes in their user registrations and engagement
  • Upskilling has emerged as a growing trend among Indian adults as the lockdown increased downtime for employees
  • Edtech startups believe that online learning will be largely immune to the post-lockdown decline in digital adoption

By: Yatti Soni

It’s no surprise that the countrywide school and college shutdown has brought edtech to the fore. While earlier, it felt like a luxury, online learning is pretty much the only option now for students, teachers and schools. Right from the very first week of the lockdown in India, edtech platforms moved to capitalise on the growth wave and it resulted in an unprecedented spike in user registrations and time spent on online learning platforms. 

According to SimilarWeb, based on a study of 35 top online learning platforms, the edtech segment saw a 26% increase in user visits between April 2019 to March 2020, as compared to April 2018 – March 2019. Further, the first 28 days of lockdown in India edtech segment saw 128.8 Mn visits (on average, 4.6Mn daily visits) as compared to 102.2 Mn average visits between April 2019 – Feb 2020.

Read More: https://inc42.com/features/edtech-startups-look-for-permanence-beyond-the-covid-19-lockdown-boom/

betterU $BTRU.ca restructures Board of Directors to advance the Company’s global efforts $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 10:05 AM on Friday, May 15th, 2020
http://www.smallcapepicenter.com/BTRU%20Square.png
  • Company has augmented the Board of Directors to include international Board of Directors and Board Advisors
  • Joining the Board of Directors is Duncan Cowie, CPA-CA, and as a Principal Advisor to the Board of Directors, Ambassador Vishnu Prakash

OTTAWA, May 15, 2020 — betterU Education Corp. (TSX VENTURE:BTRU) (FRANKFURT:5OGA), (the “Company” or “betterU”) is pleased to announce that as part of the Company’s 2020 restructuring plan the Company has augmented the Board of Directors to include international Board of Directors and Board Advisors. Joining the Board of Directors is Duncan Cowie, CPA-CA, and as a Principal Advisor to the Board of Directors, Ambassador Vishnu Prakash. The new board support will advance the Company’s expertise in the areas of the education marketing, global business development, financial management, M&A, public markets and board governance. The Company will also continue its efforts over the months to come, to add more expertise to support the Board of Directors and Company leadership.  

Board members Praveen Varshney, Robert Kang and Rajeev Dewan have agreed to step down from the board of Directors effective immediately to allow for the restructuring of the new board and advisors to take place. “With the transformation of our business in early 2020, the advancements of our North American B2B SaaS focus and clients, along with our international growth plans, it is time to bring in new leadership and governance that can help transform and advance our global growth. I want to thank the exiting board members for their time and commitment to the company over the years. Both myself and my Board Chairman, Tony Keenan will continue to work at advancing the strength and support our leadership to be successful in 2020 and beyond”, said Brad Loiselle, President and CEO betterU.   

In early 2020 betterU started advancing their innovative B2B Ready-To-Go platform resulting in several new North American clients. While the betterU team continues to advance their automation and AI capabilities to support the scale of international users, the new Board and Special Board Advisors will provide greater insight, financial governance, investor, public support and connections to help accelerate betterU’s global growth in revenues and strategic partnerships.

About Duncan Cowie

Mr. Cowie has over three decades of holding senior executive positions including as the CEO Global Connect-China, the Executive VP and Regional Manager for Transcom Worldwide / NuComm International, the VP and General Manager / Finance of CSA Group, the Sr. VP and CFO Minacs Worldwide, the CFO and VP for The Hospital for Sick Children and the VP Strategic and Business planning Molson Breweries.

Mr. Cowie also has five years of experience building education and training programs. Experienced in corporate development activities including leadership of international business operations, mergers and acquisitions, partnerships and agency structures. Results demonstrated through leadership decision- making, organizational design and people development, and through the design and execution of strategic and tactical plans. Mr. Cowie’s experience spans the globe with a focus on China and Asia, North America and Europe. Delivering creative and innovative teaching approaches built on real-life experiences and solutions for complex business issues.

“betterU is a rare ed-tech that is driven by a passionate team with a global vision and solutions that are starting to take shape. I am excited to join betterU’s Board of Directors to help support and advance their global efforts. I am looking forward to digging deep into the company and helping them grow,” said Duncan Cowie.

About Ambassador Vishnu Prakash, former Envoy to Canada and South Korea

Mr. Prakash is a lawyer (gold medalist) by training and a diplomat by profession, retired as India’s High Commissioner to Canada in November 2016, after over 35 years in the saddle, as an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer. Hitherto, he was Ambassador to South Korea, Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs and Consul General to Shanghai. He also held various positions at Indian Missions in Tokyo, New York, Moscow, Islamabad, Vladivostok and Cairo. Mr. Prakash did a sabbatical with the ‘Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies’ in Hawaii (USA) in 1996. In 2013, he was conferred an Honorary Doctoral degree in Business Administration by Tongmyong University, Busan (South Korea) and also recognized as the ‘Ambassador of the Year, 2014’ by the Asia Society, Korea Center.

Presently Mr. Prakash is a foreign affairs analyst, speaker, columnist and commentator. His areas of interest span the Indo-Pacific region, including North-east Asia (China, Japan and Koreas), ASEAN & South Asia, the US, Canada and Israel.

Ambassador Prakash is a sought-after speaker, across the country, by colleges, Universities and training institutions especially on Indian diplomacy and international issues. He was recognized as an “Outstanding Diplomat” by PIMR (Prestige Institute of Management and Research), Indore in January 2020.

He has been writing for Hindustan Times, The Korea Times, The Asian Age, ETV Bharat, and The Quint, among other media outlets. Mr. Prakash has been associated with and / or contributing papers / articles for prominent think-tanks like IDSA, Ananta Aspen Centre, ORF, VIF and ICS, to name a few. He has also contributed chapters for publications by IDSA and Indian Foreign Affairs Journal. Amb. Prakash regularly appears as an expert panelist on Indian and international TV channels.

“I have had the opportunity to work with the CEO of betterU for many years and have grown fond of his vision and passion for supporting access to education in my country. I am thrilled to join the Company as a Principle Advisory to the Board of Directors and I will be working closely with all board members and the Company’s leadership to help support their efforts not only in India, but globally as well”, said Ambassador Prakash.

About betterU Education Corp.

betterU is an education-to-employment technology company offering an end-to-end solution leveraging business intelligence to automate skilling, reskilling and upskilling for companies operating on domestic and global scales. If you are looking for support in regards to COVID-19, please visit https://readytogo.betteru.ca/ to download your free COVID-19 Resource Toolkit.

betterU has integrated into its platform the content, technology and support for tailored skills assessments, learning pathways and training modules from 100+ of the world’s leading online education providers. betterU’s eco-system includes detailed job, skill, employer, and educational profiles spanning 3,000+ standardized jobs. betterU’s integrated platform is the most efficient solution to address evolving skilling challenges for employers and employees through the employment lifecycle from entry level to executive. We don’t sell content; we help build better people. 

For more information, please visit https://corporate.betteru.ca/  For more information about betterU’s Enterprise SaaS Program please visit https://readytogo.betteru.ca/

Contact:

Brad Loiselle, CEO
1-613-695-4100

betterU Education Corp.
Investor Relations
Email: [email protected]

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

How Does #AI and ML Help In Up-scaling #Edtech? – SPONSOR: BetterU Education Corp. $BTRU.ca $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 11:18 AM on Thursday, May 14th, 2020

SPONSOR:  BetterU Education Corp. aims to provide access to quality education from around the world. The company plans to bridge the prevailing gap in the education and job industry and enhance the lives of its prospective learners by developing an integrated ecosystem. betterU / Ottolearn launch FREE COVID-19 mobile resource toolkit to fight the global crisis – Click here for more information.

  • Online test preparations is also one of the growing segments in the Indian Ed tech space, almost 70 percent of traditional publishers are digitising their content since they see a sizeable addressable market
  • Students are looking for technology-driven, flexible and convenient options for themselves and these factors are gradually making the prospect of higher education online more appealing for students and professionals.

By Gairika Mitra

India is known as one of the best education markets globally. However, education in India comprises of high costs especially related to textbooks as one is never enough. The founders saw a market opportunity as students restrict their intelligence and score by accessing a limited number of course books simply because it is not affordable and possible to buy all the books available physically.

Thus, KopyKitab helps students whether in school, college or competitive exams aspirants to access the top-selling syllabus digitally through their library. The AI and ML programs also help students access relevant books for their needs.

Amit Shrivastava, Co-founder & CTO, KopyKitab tells us why depending on technology in the education space is a good idea.

The current pandemic has left many topsy turvy. Has this lockdown led to an upsurge in traffic?

Ed tech today has spread its wings far and wide; for KopyKitab, we are growing fast and have seen 69% rise in new users, a 45% increase in reading session and 200% jump in revenue. As students and institutions get more comfortable using Ed tech services and virtual classrooms, they are not shying away from paying for relevant content. We believe that Ed tech has shown the potential to disrupt the entire value chain.

Online test preparations is also one of the growing segments in the Indian Ed tech space, almost 70 percent of traditional publishers are digitising their content since they see a sizeable addressable market. Students are looking for technology-driven, flexible and convenient options for themselves and these factors are gradually making the prospect of higher education online more appealing for students and professionals.

How are you abiding by a different business model, especially when there are plenty of other players in the market?

For KopyKitab, since its inception, we have set out to make education more affordable and accessible. From the day when Ed tech was yet to go through a technological disruption and textbooks especially Higher Education, costs a lot, and students, especially from Tier II and Tier III towns, had limited access, we understood the pain points from our own experience as both the founders have grown up in small towns and did their schooling. At that time, due to lack of technology, getting study books access was a task as compared to our peers in Tier I and Metros. The KopyKitab model is aimed at making education a level playing field for students anywhere in India

We have mastered the content acquisition and distribution, and adopted a mobile-first strategy and have managed to recreate an offline studying experience for students online, at a much lower cost, our focus areas are into higher education and competitive exams sector and we are already very near to creating a niche for ourselves.

As students need everything quickly on the go, KopyKitab is exactly giving them that, bite-sized learning on their mobiles.

How areAI and ML contributing to your cause?

At KopyKitab, we are using Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning programs that help track users consumption patterns and make more accurate recommendations based on language, city, campus, grade level, renting history, etc. It also helps us identify specific student’s needs

AI and ML programs have helped us increase the reach even in the remotest areas. Since, about 68 percent of our users hail from Tier II and III towns, with maximum demand coming from Patna, Jaipur, and Indore; five percent are overseas users, while the remaining comes from metros and Tier-I cities

The most critical and latest technology which we started catering in the COVID-19 pandemic is P2P (Peer to Peer) with structured learning options & Video Connectivity, be it teacher to students, coach to the students & content publishers to students, which is creating a highly optimised beneficial learning environment

Also, this will continue to be the base for all the tech platforms since it provides digital connection between people

How important do you think is it for people to rely on technology? Are there any major follies per se?

The future will undoubtedly be technology-driven, as stakeholders in the education ecosystem look to make access easier and provide flexibility in the learning environment. All this while keeping in mind that social distancing will be the norm going forward, technology will be the front runner for this connection be it WFH, P2P, Group connect as mentioned above

One of the major follies per se will be the absence or scarcity of direct human connect leading to longer time for execution for all the verticals

Could you acquaint us with your funding scenario?

In 2018, KopyKitab was backed by ECF, a Rs 100 crore fund registered under the SEBI. The fund’s marquee investors include Michael and Susan Dell Foundation and Gray Matters Capital, both US-based international investors in the education sector.

KopyKitab has also raised about $2 million from Pactolus Singapore, CBA Capital (ECF) and well-known angels including Praveen Gandhi, Paula Mariwala (Stanford Angels), Mohit Dubey (Carwale), Satyen Kothari (Citrus Pay), and others

What are KopyKitab’s upcoming plans like?

Our immediate priority would be to continue to serve our subscribers i.e students with more content in easy and engaging forms. We saw a surge in our traffic since the lockdown started in Mar and our aim to serve them with the best learning options.

For longer-term, providing P2P and Video-based access for our students, teachers/coaches and publishers to continue education without much interference because of the current scenario.

A piece of advice for others?

My advice would be to think long term solutions in digital/online space and if possible convert part of your business to digital/internet driven. Also, provide more accessibility between employees and customers using technology as base.

Source: https://www.expresscomputer.in/news/how-does-ai-and-ml-help-in-up-scaling-edtech/55638/

Online education now a new normal for govt, #Edtech platforms – SPONSOR: BetterU Education Corp. $BTRU.ca $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 10:39 AM on Thursday, May 7th, 2020

SPONSOR:  BetterU Education Corp. aims to provide access to quality education from around the world. The company plans to bridge the prevailing gap in the education and job industry and enhance the lives of its prospective learners by developing an integrated ecosystem. betterU / Ottolearn launch FREE COVID-19 mobile resource toolkit to fight the global crisis – Click here for more information.

Online education now a new normal for govt, edtech platforms

  • As millions of kids take online school classes from home globally including in India, government along with private education sector have a great responsibility to offer online e-Learning to more than 60 million college students and 1.5 billion school students worldwide, experts said on Thursday

Private colleges in India which were already offering online education for last two decades now have a massive surge in e-Learning demand to meet.

“e-Learning or online education is the new normal. In future, we will see the proliferation of information technology tools and gadgets, post-COVID-19. But internet and broadband will remain an issue,” said Professor NK Goyal, Vice Chairman, ITU APT India and former adviser of Gujarat Technological University.

If e-Learning apps like BYJU’s and Khan academy are targeting schools, others like Adda24x7 are offering specialised coaching for entrance exams like IIT and JEE.

Robust connectivity is undoubtedly critical for the success of e-Learning.

According to Rajan S Mathews, DG, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), post COVID-19, there will be a surge in online education by schools and colleges in the country.

“The telecom industry is fully prepared with 99.9 per cent network capacity. The telecom companies have taken appropriate measures to meet the surge in traffic due to online education and other online activities using telecom infrastructure,” said Mathews.

Union Human Resources and Development (HRD) Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank recently said that the government is offering a slew of educational applications and platforms for both school and higher education institutes.

In addition to teachers, Nishank urged parents and students to make maximum use of online education to ensure their academic continuity is maintained.

The World University of Design (WUD) claims that it has collected materials for online learning across its courses during the last one year.

“WUD is using technology-enabled AI, supervision technologies and video conferencing and other tools to enable virtual learning. This includes a mix of online platforms for sharing files, conducting meetings and lectures in association with online services iamp; resource providers like Coursera, Bloomsbury, EBSCO etc. as partners in its strategy,” said Dr Sanjay Gupta, Vice Chancellor, World University of Design (WUD).

Source: https://www.newkerala.com/news/2020/80541.htm

B2B edtech platform #Classplus bags $9m in series A funding – SPONSOR: BetterU Education Corp. $BTRU.ca $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 1:23 PM on Tuesday, May 5th, 2020

SPONSOR:  BetterU Education Corp. aims to provide access to quality education from around the world. The company plans to bridge the prevailing gap in the education and job industry and enhance the lives of its prospective learners by developing an integrated ecosystem. betterU / Ottolearn launch FREE COVID-19 mobile resource toolkit to fight the global crisis – Click here for more information.

B2B edtech platform Classplus bags $9m in series A funding

  • India’s Classplus, an edtech firm that enables offline coaching institutes to take their businesses online, said it has raised US$9 million in a series A round led by early-stage VC firm RTP Global.

By: Miguel Cordon

India’s Classplus, an edtech firm that enables offline coaching institutes to take their businesses online, said it has raised US$9 million in a series A round led by early-stage VC firm RTP Global.

Existing investors Blume Ventures, Spiral Ventures, Strive, and Sequoia Capital India’s accelerator, Surge, also participated in the round, according to a statement.

Classplus co-founders Bhaswat Agarwal (left) and Mukul Rustagi / Photo credit: Classplus

Hundreds of thousands of offline tutoring units in India, commonly called coaching centers, act as the primary source of academic support for more than 70 million students taking private lessons in the country every year.

Classplus aims to digitize this market by helping tutors run all their communications, payments, assessments, and learning programs online on their smartphones. AD. Remove this ad space by subscribing. Support independent journalism.

Its mobile-centric solution also acts as a digital distribution platform for educational content and products, enabling tutors to set up ecommerce channels to make video content and online assessments available to students.

The startup said it plans to use the new funds to improve its technology and expand its product offerings. It also looks to bolster its product, engineering, and business teams as well as make strategic hires for some leadership roles to drive its expansion.

According to Mukul Rustagi, the co-founder and CEO of Classplus, India is home to the largest after-school tuition market globally. “As national examinations move online, so must after-school tuition practices […],” he added.

Rustagi, along with co-founder Bhaswat Agarwal, launched Classplus in 2018. Since then, the startup has served over 1 million students across more than 70 Indian cities, with upward of 3,500 coaching centers using its technology.

Source: https://www.techinasia.com/classplus-bags-9m

#EdTech firm Byju’s could become India’s second most valued startup – SPONSOR: BetterU Education Corp. $BTRU.ca $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 3:28 PM on Monday, May 4th, 2020

SPONSOR:  BetterU Education Corp. aims to provide access to quality education from around the world. The company plans to bridge the prevailing gap in the education and job industry and enhance the lives of its prospective learners by developing an integrated ecosystem. betterU / Ottolearn launch FREE COVID-19 mobile resource toolkit to fight the global crisis – Click here for more information.

EdTech firm Byju’s could become India’s second most valued startup

By Nitesh Kumar

  • Byju’s the Bengaluru-based ed-tech startup  has been through numerous rounds of valuations and this time around it is expected to raise upwards of $400 million in fresh capital at a $10 billion, reports suggest. 

What started off as a penchant for simple, yet effective teaching methods by Byju Raveendran, Founder of Byju’s, could now become India’s second most valued startup, if it manages to raise fresh capital.  

The startup has witnessed a marked increase in the app downloads and learners due to the ongoing nationwide Covid-19 lockdown. It had earlier received an investment from Tiger Global and General Atlantic that stood around $300 million to $350 million and was valued at $8 billion. 

Back in July 2019, Byju’s was valued at $5.75 billion when it raised $150 million from Qatar Investment Authority and Owl Ventures. 

If this fresh round of funding goes through, Byju’s would become the second most valued startup in India along with budget lodging startup Oyo which is also valued at $10 billion.  Paytm, the financial services firm had raised $1 billion at a $16 billion valuation late last year and currently holds the number one spot.

Industry watchers are suggesting that discussions are afoot though nothing has yet been finalised around the terms. Both Byju’s and Prosus Ventures have been silent about the reports that appeared in sections of the Indian media. 

There were reports that last month Byju’s witnessed 150% increase in traffic on its app and website while adding six million students to its platform during the same period.

Byju’s helps school-going kids understand difficult subjects by illustrating them using familiar objects like pizza and cake. Those pursuing undergraduate and graduate-level courses also learn on the platform.

At the moment, the edtech has over 35 million registered learners of which around 2.4 million are paid users.

Source: https://www.techradar.com/in/news/edtech-firm-byjus-could-become-indias-second-most-valued-startup

Data shows how demand is growing for global hybrid tech sectors – SPONSOR: BetterU Education Corp. $BTRU.ca $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca #Edtech

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 5:04 PM on Thursday, April 30th, 2020

SPONSOR:  BetterU Education Corp. aims to provide access to quality education from around the world. The company plans to bridge the prevailing gap in the education and job industry and enhance the lives of its prospective learners by developing an integrated ecosystem. betterU / Ottolearn launch FREE COVID-19 mobile resource toolkit to fight the global crisis – Click here for more information.

Data shows how demand is growing for global hybrid tech sectors

  • The impact of COVID-19 is reshaping business practices and one example of this is with the growth of organizations in the hybrid technology sector. Examples include Edtech, Healthtech, Agritech, and Commstech.

By Tim Sandle 

It is expected by some commentators that the current climate, where more business activities have been forced to go online and expand their digital offerings in order to survive, will create new generation of tech-savvy, entrepreneurial professionals with a ‘start-up mindset’  

For example, job roles within tech increased have increased by 40 percent in the first third of the year thanks to a surge in-demand within the ‘hybrid-tech sector’ – including fintech, edtech, healthtech, and agritech. These data are based on evidence compiled by global recruiter Robert Walters.   Further evidence can be drawn from a TechNation report which has looked at the performance of the UK, which is becoming Europe’s top scaling tech nation, with a record £10.1 billion in investment made in 2019. This means that inward investment for the UK’s technology sector is similar to that of China, with both nations standing second to the U.S.  

The types of ‘in demand jobs’ in relation to this realignment of digital transformation strategy include:

1. Data Scientists

2. Software Engineers

3. UX & UI Specialists

4. Product Specialists

5. Go to Market Executives  

Interviewed by Startups Magazine, Tom Chambers, Senior Manager – Technology at Robert Walters, says in relation to the performance of the UK: “In the last few years, tech start-ups and scaleups have received a notable amount of funding, and in the last few weeks alone we have seen government (as well as venture capitalists) allocate more funding towards high demand industries.”  

With reference to the atypical situation driven by the coronavirus pandemic, Chambers adds: “The current climate will be a hotbed for tech-savvy, entrepreneurial minds to launch or grow their business. These individuals may have no training at all in medicine, farming, or education, but bring expertise in data science and analytics, computing and behavioural economics.”  

An example of this is with the UK edtech market. The value of this industry was anticipated to reach £3.4 billion by 2021 (as a proportion of the £100 billion UK education market), based on data reviewed by The Financial Times. This market value is now poised to be much higher in light of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/business/data-shows-how-demand-is-growing-for-global-hybrid-tech-sectors/article/570881#ixzz6L76vejvc

Impact of #Coronavirus on Education in India – SPONSOR: BetterU Education Corp. $BTRU.ca $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca #Edtech

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 3:23 PM on Thursday, April 23rd, 2020

SPONSOR:  BetterU Education Corp. aims to provide access to quality education from around the world. The company plans to bridge the prevailing gap in the education and job industry and enhance the lives of its prospective learners by developing an integrated ecosystem. betterU / Ottolearn launch FREE COVID-19 mobile resource toolkit to fight the global crisis – Click here for more information.

Impact of Coronavirus on Education in India

  • EDtech reform at the national level that is an integration of technology in the present Indian education system
Coronavirus pandemic has significantly disrupted various sectors in India including oil and gas, automobiles, aviation, agriculture, retail, etc. We can’t ignore that hardly a sector would remain unaffected by the crisis. The impact may be more or less. Same is with the education sector in India. Let us find out the impact of coronavirus on education in India with some possible solutions.

By: Shikha Goyal

Impact of Coronavirus on Education in India

As we know that due to coronavirus pandemic the state governments across the country temporarily started shutting down schools and colleges. As per the present situation, there is an uncertainty when schools and colleges will reopen. No doubt, this is the crucial time for education sector because entrance tests of several universities and competitive examinations are held during this period. Along with them how can we forget about board examinations, nursery school admissions, etc?

The immediate solution of coronavirus is necessary or if like these days pass then closure of schools and colleges does not even have short term impact in India but can even cause far-reaching economic and societal consequences. Let us tell you that due to the closedown of educational institutes it is estimated to affect around 600 million learners across the world. Remember here we are talking about the school going students.

First, let us see what all educational institutions are doing to fight against COVID-19.

Measures taken by the educational institutes are as follows:

– Closed schools

– Postponed or rescheduled the examinations

– Cleaning and sanitisation of premises.

– Consideration of long term uncertainty etc.

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Education sector: Impact and concern during COVID-19

– As discussed above, all major entrance examinations are postponed including engineering, medical, law, agriculture, fashion and designing courses, etc. This situation can be a ringing alarming bell mainly in private sector universities. Maybe some faculties and employees may face salary cuts, bonuses and increments can also be postponed.

– The lockdown has generated uncertainty over the exam cycle. May be universities may face impact in terms of a slowdown in student internships and placements, lower fee collection that can create hurdles in managing the working capital.

– Another major concern is that it can affect the paying capacity of several people in the private sector, which is catering to a sizeable section of the students in the country.

– Student counselling operations are also affected.

– Several institutions may pause faculty hiring plans for existing vacancies which in turn affect quality and excellence.

– Structure of schooling and learning includes teaching and assessment methodologies and due to closure, it will be affected.

– Technology may play an important role in the lockdown period like study from home and work from home. In India, some private schools could adopt online teaching methods. Low-income private and government school may not be able to adopt online teaching methods. And as a result, there will be completely shut down due to no access to e-learning solutions. In addition to the opportunities for learning, students will also miss their meals and may result in economic and social stress.

– Higher education sectors are also disrupted which again pave an impact on the country’s economic future. Various students from India took admissions in abroad like the US, UK, Australia, China etc. And these countries are badly affected due to COVID-19. Maybe there is a possibility that students will not take admissions there in future and if the situation persists, in the long run then there will be a decline in the demand for international higher education also. Isn’t it!

– Another major concern is employment. Students those have completed their graduation may have fear in their minds of withdrawal of job offers from the corporate sector due to the current situation. The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy’s estimates unemployment shortage from 8.4% in mid-March to 23% in early April. In the urban unemployment rate is 30.9%.

We can’t ignore that technology plays a crucial role in the educational system and the demand for the current situation is this only.

Possible alternatives or solutions for interrupted education during COVID-19

– With the help of power supply, digital skills of teachers and students, internet connectivity it is necessary to explore digital learning, high and low technology solutions, etc.

– Students those are coming from low-income groups or presence of disability, etc. distance learning programs can be included.

– To provide support for digitalisation to teachers and students.

– The necessity to explore digital learning platforms.

– Measures should be taken to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on job offers, internship programs, and research projects.

– EDtech reform at the national level that is an integration of technology in the present Indian education system.

We can’t ignore that at this time of crisis effective educational practice is needed for the capacity-building of young minds. Central Government and State need to take some measures to ensure the overall progress in the country. Time never wait, this tough time will also pass. Till then stay safe, stay at home!

Source: https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/impact-of-coronavirus-on-education-in-india-1587642880-1