EdTech Startup EdSarrthi Helps Repeaters To Bridge Knowledge To Crack Competitive Examinations

Delhi- NCR-based Startup EdSarrthi's USP is cohort-based learning by dividing students according to their learning level, which helps them carve out personalized learning pathways.

Around 50% of the aspirants appearing for competitive examinations like IIT/JEE, NEET, UPSC Civil Services etc., are repeaters. The problems faced by the Repeaters in any competitive analysis are different than that of the freshers, as their knowledge level after one year of preparation is not the same as that of freshers. Thus they require a different approach in contrast to freshers.

EdSarrthi started amidst the lockdown, focusing on the learning needs of repeaters in the competitive examination of India. It serves the unique needs of the repeaters through Flipped Learning, a concept popular in the USA where content is designed by considering that students have once gone through the topic. Thus lessons focus equally on learning and application of concepts.

Another unique proposition of the startup is their Cohort based learning and Mentorship. Here, the students are divided into separate groups based on their learning levels and guided accordingly; thus, it helps them chalk out personalized learning pathways.

The founder Varun Jain, an IIT Roorkee graduate himself, was the repeater in IIT JEE. He also has appeared twice for UPSC IAS Interview, thus well understanding the problems faced by repeaters. He left his family-run business to create solutions for the problems which he faced.

He soon was joined by another founding member Saurabh Singh who earlier had worked with EdTech Startup Coursavy, which Unacademy acquired during the lockdown.

EdSarrthi started their journey with UPSC IAS Examination in September 2020 with their free and paid initiative. In one year, they have 41000 subscribers, 2.6 million views on their Youtube Channel. The courses run on their website and app have also seen the registration of 10000 students.

Another strong indicator of the startup is its 'Retention rate'. In the last year, they have seen more than 6000 paid transactions, and 35% of the users have done more than one transaction.

The founder Varun Jain says, "the startup has generated a revenue of 2.93 Cr in the first year of its operation through organic growth only. Now, we are targeting 3x growth in the coming times."

Varun Jain said, "with Unacademy and Byjus taking up the horizontal space in Edtech Industry, the next phase of growth in Edtech will come in Vertical direction, where specialized products will be created. What NYAKA did in the E-commerce Space, EdSarrthi's vision is to repeat the same success story in EdTech Space.

Considering that the success ratio of repeaters in any Competitive examinations is more than that of Freshers, their courses' results have ensured the selection of many aspirants. Like 125 students cleared the UPSC Prelims examination, and 15 students found their name in the UPSC IAS 2020 Examination final, with two students in the top 100.

Because of result-oriented programs, they have grown organically till now, ensuring low customer acquisition cost, which is the biggest challenge in the EdTech Sector. Thus the startup remains profitable from Day One, a rare sight in the EdTech Sector.

Now the startup is looking to hire more people to diversify its product range within UPSC IAS Examination and will also be launching its courses for State PCS Examination as repeaters of UPSC IAS Examination appear for the same, thus bringing good synergy between current operations and plans.

Considering that half of the aspirants appearing in the competitive examinations in India are repeaters, the market is huge. As Market leaders like Unacademy and Byjus focus more on freshers, this market remains relatively unaddressed.

Saurabh Singh, the other member of the founding team, said, "the ultimate problem of repeaters in government examinations is to seek a job, thus in future, EdSarrthi looks to expand its test prep vertical to the market-oriented skill development platform".