Edukhoj is transforming the education search ecosystem of India

• ByStartupStory     |    September 10, 2022

Edukhoj is an education search platform. It aspires to bring together all parts of India and foreign education ecosystems in order to provide the most incredible result-based preparation and learning experience possible. Its data-driven search system takes applicants through each stage of the process, aiding them with all of their educational concerns.

About the founder’s journey:

Abhishek Porwal is the founder of Edukhoj and is an IIMP Pune alumnus who founded Edukhoj.com in 2020, which is an integrated platform for students and educational service providers.

He is a highly qualified edu-professional with nearly ten years of overall corporate experience, including years in the Education (Coaching/TestPrep) Industry in various functions such as Business Strategies and Planning (Classroom, EdTech & Distance Learning), Student Acquisition & Student Services, Business Development (Sales & Marketing), Advertising, Branding, Public Relations, and Career Guidance & Counselling.

The idea behind the startup:

Abhishek said that he wanted to build an educational search engine, a one-stop data-driven, technology-based educational platform that assists students in interacting with educational institutes and making informed selections.

While working with different educational conglomerates in India and iterating with students from both rural and urban locations, he figured out that there is a lack of information among students about educational institutes for entrance examinations and college degrees. He observed that the IIT JEE and NEET exams are the only exams that students and parents have any knowledge of, but he was surprised to know that students interested in having a career in designing cars and sports bikes were not aware of the entrance examination as well as other relevant opportunities. And this is when he realised the need for Edukhoj.

Need for the product and its launch:

While attending a career guidance seminar at one of the renowned schools. A bio student asked him, “Sir, if not NEET, then what for biology students? Sir, as a science student, what if not IIT? Sir, why is science limited to IIT or B.tech.” This was a turning point in his career when he left his job and started building bootstrapped startup Edukhoj.

Edukhoj was launched in April 2020. The founder said, “We didn’t launch the website in a very elaborate manner. It was just a regular launch with a samosa celebration. Since day one, there has been intense pressure to increase sales as we spend our money. We went into lockdown right before we launched, which forced us to rethink our strategies and provided us time to recreate a few of our product features.”

The founder also understands that the New Education Policy is a major reform in the Indian Education System which would reduce the rat race among students for any particular course or exam.

Did Edukhoj face any losses during the pandemic:

According to the founder, there was a drastic change in the offline education system of India during the pandemic. And due to this, since it is a bootstrapped startup which used its savings to build the brand, it was affected tremendously by the pandemic.

What did it do to prevent monetary losses?

Edukhoj worked on its service offerings to provide an edge to survive during the pandemic and also increased its delivery of services, maintaining price stability. In the lockdown period, it also used the online mode to test its products in multiple states.

What makes Edukhoj unique among its competitors?

Edukhoj.com makes a profit through sponsored advertising, which allows institutions to promote themselves on the site. They use a Cost Per Lead (CPL) approach, in which they acquire a CPL from the institutes. a combination of online advertising and institute partnerships. Overall, it provides branding and Cost Per Lead approach.

Shiksha, Collegedunia, Collegedekho, and Careers360 are among the few competitors of Edukhoj. They are most likely restricted to higher education institutions, on the other hand, Edukhoj is introducing ‘Search Education’, with the facilities regarding coaching institutions, professional/skilled institutes, higher education (colleges & universities), foreign colleges, courses for foreign students under ‘Study in India’, and e-learning in the due course of time on Edukhoj’s website, along with some other features.

The team members of Edukhoj:

Abhishek said that Edukhoj has a small multitasking core team, including Brijesh Nirmal from IIT Guwahati and Asheesh Tripathi from IIMP Pune. So far, all three of them have been multitasking and looking after all the responsibilities. And as the product has been proven with its features in the market by receiving a positive response from educational institutes. They are now looking forward to raising funds as, till date, they have received support from friends and families.

The work environment in the company:

The entire team of Edukhoj focuses on having open discussions that help it in the timely delivery of the assigned tasks and avoid any discrepancies. It also understands the issues faced by its team members in the work-from-home mode. The company follows the same principle with its partners of having team discussions and instilling the same vision and mission among everyone for the smooth functioning of its operations.

How far has the brand come since its launch?

Since providing the service to its first client, who was from Lucknow, it has been selling its services across 11 states in India. It has come a long way, and as of today, it has onboarded some of the national institutes with a pan-India presence. Initially, it started with a listing of ten thousand professional coaching institutes and has grown to a total of 55,000 educational institutes, including higher education institutes as well as professional coaching.

Future prospects of the company:

Edukhoj aims to be in the top three positions among its competitors in terms of product and service to broaden the product offering in the education categories like skill-based/professional institutes, international colleges, ‘Study in India’, e-learning, and online college and university programmes.

And in order to expand its operations, it is broadening its team and looking to obtain funding from the investors. It would place more emphasis on user behaviour and customer feedback, as well as understanding their product implementation. Ultimately, making the move strategically and creating inroads into India’s rural areas and across the globe.

Current investment status and future funding possibilities:

Since Edukhoj is a bootstrapped startup, it has not raised any investment to date. The founder stated that the firm is in talks with angel investors and venture capitalists about raising funding. According to the discussions with the VCs, they have strongly agreed to invest. He also expressed his anticipation by saying, “Let’s see how soon we can close it.”

Customer experience and challenges for the brand:

So far, Abhishek said, it’s been a terrific one, with more rapid execution of new features that will help its clients grow quickly. Building a bootstrapped firm is difficult when the competitors have millions of dollars invested in capitalizing on the market through online and offline marketing or acquiring the best talent.

There were some challenges faced by the company like-

The hiring team: It modified the working hours, shortened the working hours, and simply focused on job completion on time, which resulted in a pool of the best talent at the best financials and largely freelancers.

Sales and marketing: Currently it is difficult to hire a sales and marketing team. The well- funded companies have set unrealistic expectations for the freshers’ package. Abhishek said, “We overcame it because I, as a founder (with hardcore sales & marketing experience), stepped in from the beginning in sales & marketing of Edukhoj. This helped me understand the clients from different states and their issues, which ultimately helped us develop our products.”

A message to young entrepreneurs:

Speaking about this, the founder shared, “Its all on how much passionate one is to build business on his/her idea. A startup is the best place to build if you want to expand and make the changes you want. Building a startup requires sacrifices from your work, family, health, and friends. Think wisely before you step in to build, as it takes away all you have and gives you the unexpected.”

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