“Acadgild is professional training online bootcamp, which aims to bring accessible, affordable, engaging, and highly effective quality education to the world. Acadgild majorly emphasizes on learning by doing, then by reading, listening or watching videos. The company’s mission is to teach hands-on, job ready software programming and business skills, globally, in small batches of 8 to 10 to both students and working professionals.” Vikalp Jain, President and Co-founder, Acadgild
ST: When did you decide to take the path of ‘entrepreneurship’?
Vikalp Jain: I learnt a lot from my experience with FlipClass,
where I was responsible for setting up the entire tech, tutor, and operations
teams along with a leading role in the development of gen-next learning tools.
After my stint with MOZVO, Qwest, and CenturyLink, I wanted to venture out
on my own to use my technological skills for the betterment of others. That
marked the beginning of Acadgild.
where I was responsible for setting up the entire tech, tutor, and operations
teams along with a leading role in the development of gen-next learning tools.
After my stint with MOZVO, Qwest, and CenturyLink, I wanted to venture out
on my own to use my technological skills for the betterment of others. That
marked the beginning of Acadgild.
ST: Please
tell us about your venture.
tell us about your venture.
Vikalp Jain: Acadgild is professional training online bootcamp,
which aims to bring accessible, affordable, engaging, and highly effective
quality education to the world. Co-founded by myself and
serial entrepreneur Vinod Dham (also known as the Father of Pentium) in early
2015, the company has successfully trained over 6,000 students worldwide
through its professional certification training courses.
which aims to bring accessible, affordable, engaging, and highly effective
quality education to the world. Co-founded by myself and
serial entrepreneur Vinod Dham (also known as the Father of Pentium) in early
2015, the company has successfully trained over 6,000 students worldwide
through its professional certification training courses.
Acadgild is
promoted by K. Ganesh and Meena Ganesh’s entrepreneurial platform Growth Story.
The EdTech start-up has raised more than $2 million funding so far from marquee
investors and aims to address the severe shortage of skilled and employable
professionals. Its founders believe that higher education is a basic human
right, and thus it is essential to create an ecosystem for skill development,
where people can learn from mentors and each other. The company, a leading
provider of a suite of online technical and business courses, seeks to empower
its students to advance their education and careers.
promoted by K. Ganesh and Meena Ganesh’s entrepreneurial platform Growth Story.
The EdTech start-up has raised more than $2 million funding so far from marquee
investors and aims to address the severe shortage of skilled and employable
professionals. Its founders believe that higher education is a basic human
right, and thus it is essential to create an ecosystem for skill development,
where people can learn from mentors and each other. The company, a leading
provider of a suite of online technical and business courses, seeks to empower
its students to advance their education and careers.
Acadgild
majorly emphasizes on learning by doing, then by reading, listening or watching
videos. The company’s mission is to teach hands-on, job ready software
programming and business skills, globally, in small batches of 8 to 10 to both
students and working professionals.
majorly emphasizes on learning by doing, then by reading, listening or watching
videos. The company’s mission is to teach hands-on, job ready software
programming and business skills, globally, in small batches of 8 to 10 to both
students and working professionals.
 |
| Vikalp Jain, President and Co-founder, Acadgild |
ST: What
opportunities do you see in this sector?
opportunities do you see in this sector?
Vikalp Jain: The $146-billion Indian IT industry has constantly
spoken about the need for skill upgradation, not just of the people employed in
the sector, but also to extend the benefits of technology to a wider population
so as to make it more inclusive. The skill development not only encompasses the
IT and ITeS industry, but also the hardware, electronics and semiconductor
industry as, currently, there is a severe mismatch in terms of the skills
required and their availability. Adding to the plight is our educational reforms
and the upgrades that have a pace much slower than the industry growth and
changing technology. In such a scenario, Organizations like Acadgild stands to
be a beacon of hope as we fill this skill gap. We team up with mentors and
educate young techies with up to date course materials and make them industry
ready.
spoken about the need for skill upgradation, not just of the people employed in
the sector, but also to extend the benefits of technology to a wider population
so as to make it more inclusive. The skill development not only encompasses the
IT and ITeS industry, but also the hardware, electronics and semiconductor
industry as, currently, there is a severe mismatch in terms of the skills
required and their availability. Adding to the plight is our educational reforms
and the upgrades that have a pace much slower than the industry growth and
changing technology. In such a scenario, Organizations like Acadgild stands to
be a beacon of hope as we fill this skill gap. We team up with mentors and
educate young techies with up to date course materials and make them industry
ready.
Even though
every year over 15 lakh students graduate from engineering institutes and 3
lakh from management institutes in India, there exists a severe shortage of
skilled and employable professionals in the country. Corporate houses do not
consider these fresh graduates as being job-ready. Professionals constantly
need to upgrade their technical and programming skill-sets to stay ahead of the
race and avoid being faced with stagnation and redundancy in their careers. At
the same time, automation is rapidly replacing a lot of tech-support and IT
jobs, leaving people with no choice but to either switch industries or enhance
their technical knowledge.
every year over 15 lakh students graduate from engineering institutes and 3
lakh from management institutes in India, there exists a severe shortage of
skilled and employable professionals in the country. Corporate houses do not
consider these fresh graduates as being job-ready. Professionals constantly
need to upgrade their technical and programming skill-sets to stay ahead of the
race and avoid being faced with stagnation and redundancy in their careers. At
the same time, automation is rapidly replacing a lot of tech-support and IT
jobs, leaving people with no choice but to either switch industries or enhance
their technical knowledge.
 |
| Vinod Dham |
ST: Did you
face any challenge in your entrepreneurship journey?
face any challenge in your entrepreneurship journey?
Vikalp Jain: Our key challenges are broadly across three fronts:
Ensuring we are able to convey to prospective students what makes us different
in a very tangible way; and recruiting high-quality mentors as well as top
talent for the company.
Ensuring we are able to convey to prospective students what makes us different
in a very tangible way; and recruiting high-quality mentors as well as top
talent for the company.
ST: What are
your plans for next 2 years?
your plans for next 2 years?
Vikalp Jain: Acadgild aims to be the market leader in boot camp
professional training course vertical, with a focus on IT and professional
learning, in the next five years. We have entered into an exclusive, multi-year
partnership with IL&FS Skills Development Corporation (IL&FS Skills),
with an aim to reach out to larger audiences. This will enable us to offer
technology and business-oriented courses to more than two lakh Indian students
by 2019. Our partnership will help us expand the reach of our courses through
more than 100 IL&FS centers across the country. We will also be launching
UI/UX-centric courses soon.
professional training course vertical, with a focus on IT and professional
learning, in the next five years. We have entered into an exclusive, multi-year
partnership with IL&FS Skills Development Corporation (IL&FS Skills),
with an aim to reach out to larger audiences. This will enable us to offer
technology and business-oriented courses to more than two lakh Indian students
by 2019. Our partnership will help us expand the reach of our courses through
more than 100 IL&FS centers across the country. We will also be launching
UI/UX-centric courses soon.
ST: How do
you motivate yourself?
you motivate yourself?
Vikalp Jain: We get really motivated when we see our students
making great progress in their career. We also draw motivation from the
progress the company has charted so far. The fact that in just over a year,
Acadgild has successfully trained more than 6,000 students worldwide through
its professional certification training courses is in itself encouraging. Also,
we are profitable at a unit economics level and are growing by about 30% on a
month-on-month basis.
making great progress in their career. We also draw motivation from the
progress the company has charted so far. The fact that in just over a year,
Acadgild has successfully trained more than 6,000 students worldwide through
its professional certification training courses is in itself encouraging. Also,
we are profitable at a unit economics level and are growing by about 30% on a
month-on-month basis.
Interviewed by Startup Terminal Bureau
