Tekie is an online ed-tech start-up that teaches the basics of programming languages to children in the age group of 12 to 18 years. With the attention span of children being limited, their unique way of teaching through storytelling videos keep children intrigued for hours. Anand Verma, Product and Growth Head at Tekie, is an SRCC alum. He dropped Chartered Accountancy to pursue his interest i.e. entrepreneurship. Hence, came up with Tekie.
-Interviewed by Kashish Khosla and Shehnaz Ghadiali.
INVC: When did you start the company?
Anand: We started it 3 years ago and launched our product 3 months ago.
INVC: What revenue do mentors on your platform expect to make?
Anand: They make from 10,000 INR to 30,000 INR per month.
INVC: How many users are there?
Anand: We have 60 users as of now
INVC: How much are you charging per user on average?
Anand: We charge around 20,000 INR per user.
INVC: What is the target age for this coaching?
Anand: Our target demographic is children from the age group of 6-12 years. However, our courses are also effective for adults starting from beginner level.
INVC: What are your company’s expansion plans?
Anand: We’re going to expand our offerings in other mature markets like the US, Canada, and the UK after successfully establishing our presence in India. Also, we just did a pilot in the US earlier this month and are expecting to go live by the end of October. In the past three months, the company has grown from just seven employees to 35+ employees and plans to aggressively onboard teachers to meet the existing demand across Indian markets. All sessions for students in global markets will be conducted by Indian teachers who are picked after a meticulous vetting process.
INVC: What is the selection percentage for mentors among the applications you get?
Anand: We usually get around 150 applications. However, we choose 1-3 mentors at a time.
INVC: How many people are in your team?
Anand: We have 30 people working with us, out of which 14-15 are full time.
INVC: Which user group are you targeting?
Anand: We are currently providing sessions for students of age group between 12 to 18 years. We have plans to start classes for the age group of 6 to 12 years too.
INVC: What is the duration of the course?
Anand: The course is for 2 years. In the 2nd year the child gets to choose a specialization. Currently coding and gaming are available as such specialisations
INVC: Challenges that you faced or are facing?
Anand: The challenge that we are currently facing is scalability. For us to be able to change and grow in size with the increase in number of students. That is what we are currently focusing on.
INVC: Who are the mentors?
Anand: We have mentors from different backgrounds. The demographic of mentors on our platform ranges from second year college students year students to fresh graduates. One of them was a high school dropout who was capable enough to mentor the kids. They work on a variable pay basis (pay ranging from 10000 to 30000). They are paid according to the sessions they hold on the platform.
