How visit to colleges of city changed his life
Monday December 12, 2016 , 5 min Read
At the age of 25, Rohit had everything it takes to be successful: a brand name of a good college(he was an alumnus of NIT Surathkal), a high paying job, a glittering career,wonderful friends and a loving family.Being a bright student since his childhood days, the subject of education and career had always been close to his heart. Hailing from a Tier 3 town in Uttar Pradesh, he never let lack of facilities of his town bar his career path.As a senior, he was never reluctant to give advice to those who approached him. He was highly critical of the prevailing education system of the country ,a system that reduced students into machines and exams into monsters.While visiting his town, Farrukkhabad on his vacation. Rohit reflected on the current education system of the country.He realised he had come a long way at a relatively young age.But all were not as fortunate as he was. His juniors of the city were still struggling to carve their niche in the cut-throat competition. Lack of career guidance haunted them, The emergence of diverse platforms, mushrooming of various coaching centres, information overload on the Internet,the guidance of career counsellors after paying hefty fees served to only add the confusion in the minds of students.
To satisfy his curiosity, Rohit decided to visit major colleges of his city.He had the opportunity to interact with several college students . All of them had one thing in common: zeal to do something in life yet a confusion of what to do.How to do it?Rohit had no option but return to his job in Bangalore. Little did he know of what future had in store for him.
Once while sitting in his office, Rohit revisited his favourite topic: the education system.While pondering over the subject, he realized that the students of today's world had nowhere to go,nobody to approach regarding their career path. Coaching centres,mentors and counsellors, all of whom claimed to be best among the lot, were accessible to only elite students , who could afford to pay exorbitant fees. There was indeed a disconnect among students and their mentors, coaching centres and their students. Thus was born the idea of EduGorilla, a start-up to fulfill the career needs of all students.
Though in nascent stages, it had the support of Rohit's family and friends, mentors and seniors. With his savings ,Rohit hired a technical team and content writers to give shape to his plan.His efforts paid off. Within a short span of three months from launch, EduGorilla's website had two lakh subscribers and ten thousand daily visitors. EduGorilla expanded to social media sites,witnessing immense popularity.
Great Start
From modest beginnings in Farrukhabad, a tier 3 town in India, the firm has slowly spread its wings to other parts of the country. Its head office is located in Gurugram and has three other branches.
Recently, it has launched India's largest free study material library and an online directory of educational institutions. EduGorilla portal currently offers 30,000 free study material across various categories for students preparing for CAT,UPSC,CA,IIT, GRE and other competitive examinations. Its directory listing has listed more than 2,00,000 Institutes and is the largest in India covering educational institutions in every nook and corner of the country.
"EduGorilla aims to be the bridge between educationists and students.Within a short span of six months, EduGorilla has 40,000 active subscribers, 1,00,000 monthly site visits, a growth rate of 130% month- over- month, the participation of over 1,20,000 students, 20,000 Facebook subscribers, and 4100 followers on Twitter," says Rohit Manglik.
EduGorilla helps answer questions such as "what to do after Class 12" "what are best colleges of in the country for my interest" "which are the best MBA programs""best coaching classes for UPSC exams" etc. The portal aims to build a community where shared experience offers guidance to those who can benefit from it.
EduGorilla portal is a one-stop solution to the career needs of all students.Over 320 professions have been covered, and several thousand questions have been posted in their state-of-the-art Question and Answer platform. Thousand of articles have been included, and over 100 coaching centres have been reviewed.
EduGorilla portal hosts a diverse community of students and subject matter experts, professionals,counsellors,doctors, faculty from colleges and universities to help individuals with their career needs and questions.
Education Industry
The education sector is poised to witness major growth in the years to come as India will have largest Tertiary-age population and second largest graduate talent pipeline globally by the end of 2020. It is expected to reach US$116.4 billion in 2016-17. Currently, higher education contributes 59.7 percent of the market size,school education 38.1 percent , pre school segment 1.6 percent ,and technology and multi-media the remaining 0.6 percent,according to Indian Brand Equity Foundation. At present,the higher education witnesses spending of over Rs 46,200 crore(US$6.78 billion) and is expected to grow at an average annual rate of over 18 percent to reach Rs 232,500 crore(US$ 34.12 billion)in next ten years.
A competitive industry
This industry is seeing a lot of action with several players stepping in with their innovative business models. Launched in 2008, Shiksha.com is the biggest player in the field. Urbanpro is another major player . It was launched in 2011, and it has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from the US- based angel investor in 2014.But Rohit is unfazed of the competition. "EduGorilla is the community, a collaborative platform to resolve career needs of students,We are looking forward to a healthy relationships with education startups and other players in the education domain and are willing to collaborate with them if need be arises."