ThinkVidya revenue triples in 2014, aims to become ‘the Zomato of education’

Education startup ThinkVidya that connects students and teachers has now launched a new service, which allows users to directly call specific tutors from its mobile app.

Until now, students could send messages through the ThinkVidya website to teachers for enquiries. Now, each tutor profile will carry a virtual number and an extension code, which students can dial.

This will help strengthen the matching service that is ThinkVidya’s core business, said Rakesh Kalra, Founder and CEO of ThinkVidya.

Its main service is an online marketplace for teachers with detailed profiles and a search facility to help students find tutors, trainers or institutes for their learning needs.

Teachers can upload information on courses and workshops or even recorded courses. ThinkVidya also manages outreach programs for corporate and educational institutions.

In January, the company secured funding from an un-named US serial entrepreneur and angel investor. It used the money to expand its physical presence in multiple cities in India and for hiring talents across sales, marketing, technology and operations.

“We have doubled our team to 50 people, and have focused our efforts on customer acquisition. We aim to be the Zomato of education,” said Rakesh.

In 2014, the company recorded a revenue growth of 240% in the first three quarters compared to the same period last year. The site gets a million visits per month, he added.

The size of private coaching industry in India is about $23.7 billion and likely to touch $40 billion by 2015, according to an Assocham survey.

Earlier this year, ThinkVidya experimented with a SaaS product called ThinkVidya 360 to help institutes automate their enquiry generation & management, student & trainer management, targeted e-mail marketing, and payments using web-based software.

The product was discontinued, Rakesh said. “We found that adoption was quite low and it was a distraction from our core business of matching students with teachers or the institute.”