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When competitive exam preparation platform OnlineTyari studied the changing demographics of IAS aspirants, the fact that they have been adopting online preparation platforms came as no surprise to Vipin Agarwal, co-founder and CEO. With online education helping students and young professionals participate and excel in the knowledge-driven economy, the start-up realised there was a concurrent theme in the recently conducted IAS Preliminary Exam 2016 — that ed-tech companies are helping reduce the digital divide.
UPSC declared the results for the Prelims on Septemer 16. The company said that out of the 15,445 selected students, 428 had used OnlineTyari’s exam platform for their preparation. Further analysis of the usage pattern of the 428 candidates, drew interesting insights. Easy access to technology, whether on mobilephone or computer, as well as internet connectivity, even at slower speeds, appear to have helped aspirants. Availability of online content in vernacular languages also seems to have been a major plus-point.
As Agarwal notes, it all boils down to providing a solution to a problem. The same holds true for running a business.
OnlineTyari, which aims to revolutionise the $20-billion market need for education services in India, has been looking to raise $5 million from an international fund in the education domain. The start-up raised ₹5 crore last September from a slew of investors, including venture capital firm 500 Startups, former Infosys Board member Mohandas Pai, mobile seed fund Tandem Capital, Eight Capital co-founder Vikram Chachra and IxIgo co-founder and CEO Aloke Bajpai.
Through its multilingual app and website, OnlineTyari allows people to prepare for job-oriented tests, including civil services, banking services, UPSC, GATE and State government jobs. Consumers tend to buy question banks, online tests and e-books on the platform, and also collate notes to prepare for competitive examinations.
Language optionsAgarwal said a large percentage of aspirants prefer to prepare for competitive exams in their mother tongue. Considering this critical requirement, OnlineTyari has added regional languages to its platform.
Agarwal says students familiar with Indian languages should not feel marginalised, and should have access to quality content in any language of their choice.
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