Stationery product giant ventures into online education: Eclass online

Sundaram Multi Pap Ltd is a 25 year old paper stationery products company that is listed on the BSE and NSE. Based out of Mumbai with a revenue of 110+ crores in Maharashtra alone, the company has a good name in the state and it recently ventured into the online education space just about an year ago. Eclass online is headed by Hardik Shah (son of Amrut Shah, owner of Sundaram Group) who has experience in the technology space and decided to open up avenues for the business.

Content in a Pen Drive- ebox

Three years ago, Sundaram group came up with an offering where it had all the Maharashtra State Board curriculum content in a pen drive. Available for INR 2000 for a particular standard, the USB drive is available in English as well as Marathi and has interactive study material which can work on a TV. The entire 600 hours worth of content has animations and 2d-3d images which make all the chapters easier to consume. The content for ten standards has been prepared and the pen drives are in circulation from 3 years. More than 500 schools have been covered and close to 10,000 students are using the product which is called 'ebox'. The pen drive is programmed in such a way that the content self distructs within a year.

Moving a step ahead

The above mentioned strategy worked well and taking a cue, Hardik decided to put the content online as well. “We got a technology team to build up a portal and students can now pick modules as they want to study,” says Hardik. Eclass is an audio-visual learning concept for students of Maharashtra State Board with the ease of viewing animated learning content on the computer.

The online portal has been operational from 15 months and has close to a 1000 paying customers. The Eclass website has about 8,000 registered users. A team of 30, Eclass has a strong marketing and technology team that is looking to build a solid product that can penetrate the Maharashtra market.

The company also plans to launch more vocational guidance and training content and plans to go big on the mobile front as well. The first application they've developed is for the preschool and young kids which has recently gone live on the play store. “We want to establish a solid presence in Maharasthra before moving onto Gujarat and other states,” says Hardik about their expansion plans.

Website: Eclass Online (learning website)

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