This Bengaluru-based startup provides online training to make graduates future-ready

With the IT sector being dynamic, professionals find it essential to stay updated to sustain in the field. But the high fees, long wait to avail a slot to learn from a good trainer, and the unavailability of after-class or after-training support, pose a difficulty.

Considering these, Bengaluru-based IntelliPaat  has tied up with top industrial professionals working at leading technology companies to deliver online instructor-led courses and self-paced videos on latest technologies, enabling the students to connect with instructors at a different location.

The website aims to bridge the gap that prevents professionals from learning new technologies and transition to new careers. All the instructors training on IntelliPaat’s platform are subject matter experts working in top MNC’s.

“IntelliPaat’s courses are designed to make students employable. They have been designed after taking substantial inputs from hiring managers. We help professionals master new technologies and find the job they deserve. We also train students on high-end skill sets that employers demand. The teachers at IntelliPaat are subject matter experts who work in the industry,” says Diwakar Chittora, Founder of IntelliPaat, tells YourStory.

He adds that the courses provide students with rigorous training which includes assignments, hands-on exercises, and projects to train them to become at par with the professionals in the field.

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Taste of success

IntelliPaat was founded by husband-wife duo Diwakar Chittora and Shilpi Jain in 2011. Diwakar is in his early 30s and has a Masters’ degree in Information Technology from IIIT Bangalore. He has worked with leading corporations like Mercedes Benz, American Express, and Wipro.

Shilpi Jain has over 14 years of experience. She has worked with leading companies like IBM and Microsoft. At IBM, she worked as a technical architect. She has worked on projects including Neilson Mobile and Microsoft Bing analytics.  

In 2011, the duo wanted to skill themselves on Big Data and Hadoop. After searching, they realised that there were no institutes that were readily providing training on these technologies in the country. The professionals needed to travel either to Singapore or the US for training to do the courses immediately.

Both Diwakar and Shilpi had a budget of Rs 30,000 to learn new technologies. They started to search the web for platforms or persons who could provide the training.

“We found an expert who said he would teach us if we came with a batch. This seemed like an attractive idea. Hence, we decided to have a batch that consisted entirely of our friends. Our plan was to contribute equally to the cost of the programme. When we announced the batch on LinkedIn and sent emails to friends alerting them about the course, we found ten people wanted to join. Afterwards, four more people wanted to enrol in the course. Thus Shilpi and I learned free of cost because so many people wanted to do the course,” says Diwakar.

Within a week, many expressed interest in the course. After three months, Ericsson approached them on LinkedIn to train their employees. They trained nearly 200 of their workers on Big Data and Hadoop in six months.    

This made them understand that companies also had the same problem the professionals were facing. Like professionals, they also needed their employees to be trained. This led the duo to shift their focus completely on IntelliPaat.

Today, IntelliPaat has around 250 talented professionals in the team.

The course structure

IntelliPaat provides training in technologies that are high in demand like big data, data science, cloud computing, AI, and mobile development. Its courses are created by subject matter experts after consultation with hiring managers.

In addition to teaching students, the startup claims to provide 24x7 support to students. This means that students who have questions can approach IntelliPaat any time of day.

“We deliver courses online and students can learn from anywhere. All they need is an internet connection to connect with the world's top instructors. The courses are taught by subject matter experts. The course material and delivery are aligned to ensure students are employed after completing the programme. To learn a course, students pay a low tuition fee,” says Diwakar.

The platform earns revenues from students who enroll in its courses. The price of its courses varies from Rs 8,000 to Rs 2 lakh. The courses are delivered online and their duration spans six weeks to nine months.  

At the end of the course, the team prepares students for job interviews through mock interview sessions. Over 500 hiring partners hire students from IntelliPaat.

“We work with more than 200 companies from across the globe. These include Societe Generale, Ernst & Young, Wipro, Infosys, and Nasdaq,” adds the founder.

The team claims to have over six lakh learners from over 53 countries enrolled in its courses. Bootstrapped till date, Diwakar says that his company has been growing at 100 percent annually. 

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Industry perspective

According to IBEF, India has become the second-largest market for e-learning after the US. The sector is expected to reach $1.96 billion by 2021 with around 9.5 million users.

“We are in a competitive market. Our global competitors are Coursera and Udemy. Yet, we have a distinct advantage over these players because our courses are designed to provide career transition. Our competitors' courses are not aligned to land students in jobs. We design courses in such a way that those who take them can easily find their dream job,” claims Diwakar.

He further adds that IntelliPaat owns its course content while most of its competitors are marketplaces that don’t own the course content on their sites. “Support for courses on other sites is limited to that which publishers who own the content can provide. We also provide job assistance which our competitors do not.”

In the next two years, IntelliPaat will be expanding its product catalogue from 150 to 300 courses. It has also started creating courses with leading universities to add academic rigour and industry exposure to its programmes. The team is also focusing on having a greater presence in Tier-II and III cities in India.