Competing against well-funded startups along with Testbook and Unacademy, Study IQ gives pre-recorded instructions for front tests and assessments
With 70K paying subscribers, the agency claims a earnings margins of about 30%-forty% for its publications
As in line with CFT Plus, check prep marketplace is the most funded edtech subsector among 2014 and 2019
The lengthy status criticism for unicorn startups in India has been the lack of profitability in those scaled-up and properly-funded groups. An CFT Plus evaluation of a pattern set of 30 Indian unicorns, approximately 70% of the unicorns in India have negative EBITDA because of this they're dropping cash on a unit economic foundation. The profitability chart included most effective one edtech startup — BYJU’S.
While Unacademy has joined BYJU’S within the edtech unicorn list and the likes of Toppr, Vedantu and others garnering investor interest and funding in recent times, the tale of edtech startups in India is but to attain the profitability bankruptcy. Most are splurging big on acquiring users and constructing a strong emblem don't forget along with Unacademy’s IPL sponsorship. While many startups are competing for the piece of this $515 Mn take a look at prep market in India, sustainability has usually been a query.
But for test prep startup Study IQ, profitability and user acquisition are not incompatible. The bootstrapped organization claims to be worthwhile from day one with most people of its customers becoming a member of organically.
“We do put money into selling our publications, but that majorly consist of Google AdWords and social media channels. People who come to our channel be part of handiest due to the phrase of mouth and I assume the primary motive is that we provide very well researched, consumable and crisp content.” said Study IQ cofounder, Dr. Gaurav Garg.
Founded in 2014 through Garg and Abhishek Jain, Study IQ informed CFT that its revenue has grown nearly 10x inside the beyond three fiscals. From INR 1.9 Cr in FY 2017, the agency reported INR thirteen Cr in sales in FY 2020. YouTube ad revenues make about 18% of overall revenue in 2020, which is healthful for a startup that started out as a YouTube channel. Since then, it has appeared to diversify revenue via an app, which offers paid and unfastened instructions. Garg claims the organization recorded 40K DAUs and approximately 400K MAUS inside the first months given that launch.
Study IQ Is Bootstrapping Its Way To Take On Test Prep Giants
Interestingly, the founders met throughout their stints at TIME, a leading education institute for CAT (IIM front assessments) prep. Study IQ these days gives publications for a number of authorities exams starting from UPSC, prison assessments like CLAT/AILET, Railways, SSC, IBPS PO & Clerk, Insurance to defence ones like NDA/AFCAT/CDS besides the country PCS and clerk checks among others.
While the eight.46 Mn free subscribers on its YouTube channel make up the general public of its consumer base, the cell app, launched in April, has until now garnered 70K paying customers. In August, the organization touched one hundred Mn perspectives on its YouTube channel and in a sea of excessive-spending startups, Study IQ says its income margins are approximately 30%-forty% of its general income.
In phrases of different metrics too, the corporation has wholesome numbers — common watch time according to video on YouTube is around 5 and a half minutes. Given that the common period of a path video is 10 mins, college students are ingesting more than 50% of the video.
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Some of the famous guides at the platform include modern affairs, UPSC, SSC, railways and financial institution tests. The paid users at the app are said to have an even distribution across urban and rural regions and the average age of the students is between 18 and 29 on the app and is going up to 40 years on YouTube, with Study IQ motion pictures consumed as ‘quasi-media’.
“In this time and age while there is so much records available. No idea may be that particular. We are not doing something so one of a kind that no person’s executed. We are just very good executionists, we've got created a totally nicely oiled gadget that works in a totally harmonious and synergistic way to bring out the nice consequences,” said Garg.
Talking about sales sources, Study IQ founder said that 10% to 15% revenue comes from YouTube however the major source of sales is now the paid app. Before the app launch, the main source of revenue for the organisation turned into promoting publications over USB sticks (pen drives) and SD playing cards. This offline distribution has been discontinued now as it did no longer permit the company to offer low rate factors for its courses. Plus, there was the hazard of piracy.
For students, the direction prices at the Study IQ app variety from as little as INR 1.5K (NCERT topics) and cross up to INR 18K (UPSC coaching). The app also has EMI alternatives for the greater highly-priced publications. The content material in those courses is mostly bilingual (English and Hindi). While the organisation did upload a number of free content material in Odia, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Gujarati, the reaction on those courses turned into not very good, consistent with Garg.
The motive changed into that there has been no way for the crew to judge how properly a vernacular language instructor is, due to the fact they don’t communicate that language. And in view that there are already set up instructors on Study IQ, who educate in Hindi or English, there has been no incentive for a pupil to switch to any other trainer just because the content material became in their vernacular language.
Recorded Lectures VS Live Classes
So some distance Study IQ has no longer focused on live classes and prefers to provide recorded lessons. According to Garg, stay classes are greater perfect to the K-12 section because students are studying new matters and as a consequence have more doubts. However, within the test prep section, college students have already studied the required standards in college and so the variety of doubts are fewer.
The organisation claims to obtain some hundred doubts each day which might be resolved via the doubt decision instructors on email or thru the app.
Live instructions produce other hazards too, says Garg, which includes high speed internet, and extended hours. In offline lessons, a student is considered one of 2 hundred college students and on line stay instructions don’t deal with this or exchange it in any way. There is surely no upgradation within the on line enjoy of the student. So for Study IQ, a -hour lecture receives condensed into 30 minutes thru the pre-recorded layout.
Currently, the startup has 15 full time instructors who create video content, however there is also a team of teachers who assist in growing studying fabric and questions. The full-time teachers have constant salaries and also get a percent of the sales, relying at the trainer’s profile, their contribution to the path and different elements.
Then there also are teachers who are making ready for similar assessments but additionally help the corporation in growing content material on a freelance basis. Study IQ’s universal team electricity consisting of coaching and non-teaching body of workers is round one hundred ten.
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Going ahead, Study IQ plans to add new examination categories to its list of courses together with judiciary tests which has been these days launched and still have plans to quickly release streamable guides on its internet site too. The corporation additionally has plans to foray inside the K-12 space within the subsequent six months. Further, it's miles anticipated to shut FY 2021 at a revenue of INR 35 Cr.
So Why Launch A Mobile App?
“The reason to shift to cellular became to have extra customizability in path content as compared to YouTube where the opportunities are restrained to what YouTube platform layout lets in. On our app, we're integrating artificial intelligence and system mastering to offer clever publications,” stated Garg.
The app allows Study IQ to include functions like download PDFs for a selected lecture, in-lecture quizzes, down load video cuts and more.
Another fundamental factor turned into content material piracy and unlawful sharing. Garg claims the employer has spent a large time making sure the integrity of content material. It has partnered with diverse encryption companies to dam display recorders and screenshots. “On YouTube, it's miles very clean to display file. I know a number of channels which are suffering because of this, if your consumer section is from Tier 3 or rural areas wherein spending capacity is not that excessive — a whole lot of them will try and get the content material without cost.”
