This Chennai-based ERP solutions provider is helping parents better connect with schools

The Indian education system has seen quite an evolution over the years, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic which forced everyone to go completely online overnight. 

One of the companies that have seen this sector evolve and transform over the last 10 years is Parentsalarm. Founded in 2010 by Kanhaiya Kumar, the Chennai-based company provides cloud-based ERP solutions to schools. 

While it started by only offering homework-related features (homework updates to parents, tracking submission, etc), today, it has become a complete solutions provider that offers services like attendance management, bus tracking through GPS, fee reminders, performance updates related to exams, and much more. 

Parentsalarm has 550 customers as its clients and claims to serve 5.2 lakh students all over India. When Kanhaiya started the company, he did not expect it to scale up so much, he tells SMBStory. 

Today, it has made a name for itself as a complete ERP solutions provider, competing with the likes of MyClassboard and new-age edtech companies like iWeb Technologies, MyClassCampus, and more. 

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Identifying a gap 

While studying at the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Kanhaiya says he saw that schools and universities were still operating with pen and paper despite technological advancements all over the world. 

He came up with a startup idea in the last year of his college, in 2010. “After speaking to numerous people and doing research and development, I decided to develop a solution that would help parents connect with the school better,” he says.

This led him to launch Parentsalarm. Kanhaiya says he started the company in the last year of his college using his own resources. Later, he invested the revenue earned to expand and scale the business.

While Kanhaiya was confident of the product they had developed, it took him time to explain the model to schools and get customers on board. The other challenge was customisation. “Every school has very different needs, and so, to customise the platform according to their needs was a daunting task,” he says. 

Kanhaiya highlights that the initial years were a struggle but word-of-mouth marketing helped a lot. The first 10 customers came in the first two years. By 2015, 40 schools had enrolled on Parentsalarm’s platform.

Kanhaiya says that the real breakthrough for the company came after 2015. “We were mostly offering homework-related services till 2015. However, as we got new customers onboard, they came up with new problems that needed to be solved,” he says, adding, “Based on the feedback, we launched a mobile app for Android and iOS users, GPS tracking of buses, rolled out a human resource management portal for the school administration staff.”

He says that these additions helped in making the product “more matured” and gave the company a holistic approach when it comes to customising solutions for different markets. As a result, Parentsalarm’s customer base grew from 40 schools in 2015 to 350 in 2019, across the country. Some of its customers are Holy Child School (Ghaziabad), Rosary School (Delhi), Gyan Niketan (Patna), San Academy (Chennai) and more.

The business model 

Parentsalarm’s module can be broken down into several aspects that serve the needs of the stakeholders of a school, including parents, students, teachers, and the administration staff.

The first module includes fee notifications and homework updates to help teachers and parents communicate better.

The second module includes digitising the accounting solutions, fee collection and billing, and other processes involved in managing the expenses of the school. 

The third module of the platform involves analysing data based on the examination performance of the students. “Earlier teachers would sit for hours analysing the performance of a student manually with his or her parents but all that happens digitally now,” Kanhaiya says.

He also adds that the GPS tracking system helped the schools a lot as the parents of the younger students, especially, would get alerts on their mobile phones regarding the movement of the buses. “It helped ease their concerns related to safety and security.”

Parentsalarm also introduced software that automates the admission process and a content management system that provides study materials, project assignments, and other content online. 

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Market potential and the way forward

According to a report by Value Reports, the global education market was pegged at $8.4 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $15.4 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 9 percent. 

Kanhaiya says that two aspects help the brand stand out in this highly competitive market. The first is affordability as they offer the platform at Rs 249 per student annually. He says that the price and its ERP-focused products are what help in standing out in the market. He also adds that unlike other players in the market, they are focused on becoming an ERP leader continuing to make it their focus. 

He also says that the pandemic brought several difficulties as many schools were shut, and some of them even withdrew. However, the company was able to onboard many schools from the northern and eastern parts of India. The business has so far clocked Rs 3.75 crore (till January 31, 2022) in this fiscal year and is expected to close the year at Rs 5 crore.

Currently catering to 550 customers, Kanhaiya plans to focus on expansion. It wants to expand in the Indian markets and also explore regions like the Middle East. 

He is also revamping the website and the company’s branding. “We are changing the name to School Canvas to make it more relevant to the kind of wide services that we offer,” he signs off.