Vedantu is a ‘live’ online teaching platform that focuses on one-to-one, after-school tutoring. A venture by IITians who, they claim, are teachers themselves—Vamsi Krishna, Saurabh Saxena, Pulkit Jain and Anand Prakash—the name ‘Vedantu’ is derived from Sanskrit words veda (knowledge) and tantu (network). The start-up selects teachers—generally people from other professions and even home-makers with the right qualification and a passion for teaching—who tailor-make sessions based on the student need and also evaluate the progress of the student after each session. “We are currently the only optimised, personalised, live tutoring platform operating on ‘marketplace for teachers’ model in India,” Krishna says. In an interview with Vikram Chaudhary of The Financial Express, he adds that Vedantu is emerging as one of the credible options for post-schooling-hour tuitions. Excerpts:

How does the live online tutoring model work?

An online tutoring model enables after-school teaching at the click of a button. Students can connect with teachers over the internet and get their doubts cleared any time, any where. Ours is a ‘live’ online tutoring platform that focuses on 6th to 10th tuition sector in CBSE and ICSE curriculum—the student browses through a list of teachers based on ratings/reviews, chooses a teacher, communicates (chat/talk), and learns live online with him/her. The entire process is seamless.

One-to-one tutoring theoretically means one teacher for one student. So if there are, say, 1,000 students, does this mean 1,000 teachers to teach them?

Personalisation means there is one teacher for one student at a time. For 1,000 students you may or may not need 1,000 teachers, since not all students would want session at the same time.

Who vouches for the credibility of teachers?

We receive numerous applications daily, expressing interest to teach various subjects on our platform. We follow a stringent teacher recruitment process which helps us to choose the best. These teachers are people from other professions and even home-makers with the right qualification and a passion for teaching. They don’t just tailor-make sessions based on the student need and pace of learning, but also evaluate the progress of the student after each session. We have seen some improvement in the performances of students on our platform. It is a proven fact that the best learning happens when a student gets personalised attention from a teacher.

Is Vedantu a substitute for post-schooling-hour tuitions?

Yes, we are one of the credible options for post-schooling-hour tuitions. We are trying to bring a holistic solution to the problems associated with traditional home tutoring, such as long-distance commutes and safety issues.

We have also turned the table for ratings. Here, students rate teachers, unlike the conventional system; students can also change or discontinue learning from a particular teacher at any point.

How do you decide which all subjects to add to your online tutoring model?

We are currently catering to class 6th to 10th students, who often look for tuitions in mathematics and science. Now that there is a huge demand for competitive exam preparations, we have also included packages for exams such as NTSE, PSA and JEE Main. We keep receiving feedback for other subjects and are looking forward to adding them in the near future.

What differentiates Vedantu from all other online tutoring companies?

We are currently the only optimised, personalised, live tutoring platform operating on ‘marketplace for teachers’ model in India. Here, students receive personal attention and have an option to learn at their own pace and convenience, something which is not addressed by the institutionalised offline model. We are also unique in terms of the flow of learning on our platform which is integrated through Wave, our in-house technology tool, and innovative features like click-to-call.

What is your take on Digital India?

A digitally-empowered society with the right infrastructure can go a long way in providing the right tools and techniques for digital learning. With the government’s focus on Digital India, the dream of a connected India will soon become a reality, and online education and e-learning platforms will get a boost. Technology is constantly evolving, with new forms of education platforms opening up avenues for trainers and mentors. Digital India will create more awareness about such platforms.

Can companies such as Vedantu play any role in the Skill India initiative? Skilling, primarily, is about practical training rather than theory…

Blended learning using digital/video and online education will play an important role to achieve skilling at scale.

While our colleges and universities focus on education rather than skills training, online educators can augment that learning to make the pupil industry-ready. We definitely see online educators experimenting with newer approaches to help bridge the gap.

How is the online tutoring space shaping up in India?

According to some reports, the online education market size is expected to touch $40 billion by 2017, suggesting a lot of growth potential in this industry. Online education is changing the evolution of knowledge transfer and Vedantu has undertaken a Herculean task of creating a new category in this space.

We have been able to cater to over 19,000 students and conduct more than 25,000 hours of live learning in just a few months of the launch of our B2C model. We have 200-plus teachers on-board and this number is fast increasing.

How do you make money?

Students have the option for monthly or hourly packages and pay accordingly. Vedantu shares the major portion of the transaction with the teacher and keeps a smaller share with itself.