Edutech start-up ConceptOwl plans to disrupt IIT-JEE coaching space

Kerala-based education start-up ConceptOwl is aiming to “seriously disrupt” the IIT-JEE coaching space by tying up with pioneers Bansal Classes based in Kota, Rajasthan.

The popular Bansal content will now ride on ConceptOwl’s mobile platform to deliver personalised coaching to aspirant students elsewhere in the country.

“Our goal is to take one big slice of the multi-million dollar industry,” says Rajan Singh, founder at ConceptOwl. He is a former Police Commissioner of Thiruvananthapuram and a Wharton MBA with a stint at McKinsey in New York.

“Test prep will be the first segment and our approach is classroom plus technology plus excitement. IIT/JEE test prep market is put at around ₹10,000 crore, but I believe that is an understatement…the overall tuition market is of the order of ₹40,000 crore.”

And that is excluding the domain of schools. This is a very powerful and attractive commercial opportunity to tap because the need/demand is very well established, Singh said.

The tech platform will be made available to instructors wherein it becomes the academic engine. All testing and practice will be through the platform; lectures will continue to be delivered in classrooms.

IIT/JEE or medical-entrance coaching is a rigorous two-year learning process. The student needs to be committed, motivated, and constantly supported. Only an instructor can ensure this, says Sigh.

The idea is to open 100 offline coaching centres in Tier II and III cities over time, for which Singh is seeking to raise private-equity funds.

He has already received a few offers, which are being looked into. “Our goal is to hit a revenue of ₹1,000 crore in five years.” Singh had got in touch with the Bansals two years ago, and told them that for every student who goes to Kota for learning, there were 10-20 times the number who could not. What he proposed was creating a new technology using mobile/internet to take the same learning, content and methodology to other places.

The ConceptOwl app enables an instructor to analyse and assess every single student and provide personal guidance, something not totally possible in a pure classroom scenario, claims Singh.

“So a combination of personal attention through technology, plus the convenience of the child, are now layered on top of what the Bansals are offering, which is, in itself, a formidable product.” Singh said.

A “killer” feature that ConceptOwl plans is bringing the curiosity and sense of excitement into the learning system. And this is going to be the differentiator, and a potential disruptor in the industry.

Singh is talking to retired space scientists, top-rated faculty members of institutes such as IISc-Bengaluru, professors, teachers and student to source their ideas and interesting problems. These will be packaged and delivered in workshops, the first of which would be held in Thiruvananthapuram.