The world of Edupreneurs (entrepreneurs in the field of education) is both dedicated and collaborative. We strive to constantly innovate and educate ourselves and this road generally leads us to challenge each other. We at Magic Pathshala, had an opportunity to attend one such session where some of the best minds in the industry came together to give new ventures a boost.
A workshop, Sector Dialogue of BoP (Bottom of Pyramid) Education Entrepreneurs, was organized by Perspectful and GIZ. Perspectful, led by Shabnam Aggarwal and Josh Engel, offers tailored high quality support for education ventures and investors. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, in India, works in the field of sustainable economic development, energy and environment.
The cohorts (fellow edupreneurs) who joined us in this workshop were, I-Diya, Teer Design, Awaaz.de, Agnitio Education, Sudiksha Knowledge Solutions, Harness Handitouch, Edsix BrainLab, iEinstein, Ignus, MindEdutainment and Mindspark. The cohorts were divided into groups of three and each group was assigned a mentor to guide them through the process of building a sustainable business model. The gratifying and affirming fact is that so many people are working in the education sector to directly impact BoP.
The mentors joined us from different walks of life but, their passion for education was a common theme. Their seasoned insights turned abstract thoughts to more concrete and doable actions. The mentors were Karan Kumar who is one of the early hands at Central Square Foundation, Jayadev Gopalakrishnan who is a rockstar ed+tech serial entrepreneur, Sharat Chandra who is the mastermind behind the project based learning company Butterfly Fields and Madan Padaki who is the co-founder and CEO of MeritTrac-the largest skills assessment company in India.
Towards the end of the workshop, we had the opportunity to meet investors interested in Social impact and Education; Ennovent, Helion Venture Partners, Indian Angel Network, Insitor Fund, LGT Venture Philanthropy, Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, Millennium Alliance, Angel Investor: Aradhana Manha and Angel Investor: Gopal Krishna. By interacting with them, we grasped how important it is to not only think of creating an impact, but the actual steps that need to be taken to get there.
The workshop was a potpurri of experience, knowledge, idealism, conception and insights. It provided an opportunity to connect with like-minded people and take cues from each other to build a more holistic product. Queries from other edupreneurs, mentors and investors, helped to clarify the product offering by adding more value to it and fill holes in the overall model for effective delivery and service.
We at Magic gained, just by sitting in the workshop and absorbing the energy and sincerity all the individuals have for Education. We applaud the effort and collective intensity of all the participants in the workshop. With people like this working for the industry, the facet of Education in India will soon change.