Mumbai based Brainygainy starts up to help people learn and teach specific skills

Who doesn't want to add a skill to one's repertoire? And if you already know one, why not spread the knowledge and monetize in the process. This idea has picked up and we're seeing entrepreneurs come up with tweaks of the model to make this work in India. The new entry on the blocks is Brainygainy which helps to spot the best teacher through model and demo classes. Elaborating on the concept, the founders say, “Students, in look for learning niche and unique skill sets e.g. Guitar or any foreign language often have to fend for themselves through Google and spam numbers. We bridge this gap by providing access to quality teachers.”

About the founders

It was serendipity that Akansh Agrawal found his business partner in his friend and cousin, Tushar Agrawal. Akansh who is a computer engineering graduate worked with TCS before he jumped into entrepreneurship full time. On his transition journey, Akansh says, "The transition was not easy - from a fixed income job to a terrain full of uncertainties. However, the belief in my idea and passion for entrepreneurship pushed me to take it up.” When Akasnh made this move, Tushar was about to complete an MBA graduate from Christ University, Bangalore. Fresh out of the MBA program, Tushar has opted the entrepreneurship route, opting out of the campus placement.

Motivation and Purpose

The story for Brainygainy started when Akansh tried desperately to look for a guitar class around his place but couldn’t. Born in February 2013, Brainygainy is co-founded by Akansh and Tushar Agarwal. “Teachers, who expertise in any particular skill, can register with us and list the details about classes. If they make a perfect match for the inquiry by students, we will connect them. However, students cannot contact the teacher directly. They have to go through our channel and enrol for the classes.” explains Akansh.

How does it work

Before enrolling, the students have all rights to assess the competency level of the tutor and this is where Brainygainy is trying to create a USP by providing the demo video of the class conducted. The student enrols for the class and pays through the payment gateway of the portal. “We make sure that the student is provided with all the necessary details like the date and duration of classes, batch size as well as the level of service to make sure we deliver our promise of quality service.”, says Tushar.

The current market of concentration for Brainygainy is Mumbai, given the diversity and vastness it boasts of. Thee have been efforts before (Trait in Mumbai, SkillSpace in Bangalore, SkillHippo in Delhi) but the wait is on to find a player that stands out.

The revenue model is based on the commission that the firm earns from the teacher on enrolment of any student for a particular class. The bootstrapped venture has spent much of its money on marketing - offline and online, bringing students and teachers to the portal. Brainygainy has opened up a revenue stream in the area of corporate training- They markets the business relation and simulation workshop carried out by Simuate, a company that provides training on business simulation and relations.

As far as the platform is concerned, BrainyGainy has enrolled fifteen plus teachers till date, and the duo is currently pushing to get more students on board.

Website: BrainyGainy