In India, English is often what separates the haves from the have-nots. Those who speak it move ahead in their careers, and those who don't are left behind if they can't pay for and attend classes. But what if learning industry specific spoken English was free and available to all? Enter enguru, an app that teaches non-English speakers English in their local language, free of cost. In this video, Arshan Vakil, one of the entrepreneurs behind enguru, explains how enguru came to be and why he believes in the startup's purpose.
SECTIONS
Learning to Lead in School: 00:50
UPenn and Hopscotch: 04:16
Project Vahana: 06:45
Kings Learning to enguru: 08:43
enguru 2.0: 11:21
3 Growth Enablers: 12:45
Exciting Times Ahead: 16:42
Arshan Vakil was born and brought up in Mumbai. His mother, the head of an NGO, always made sure that Arshan and his siblings were aware of the lack of opportunity for many of India's citizens. However, it wasn't until after graduating from UPenn that he was able to test out his skills as an entrepreneur and try to make a significant difference in the lives of these people.
He returned to India and started working for a company called Hopscotch in 2012. With his spare time, he launched an initiative called Project Vahana. With this project, his aim was the help underprivileged adolescents gain employment. What he found was that, while taking their interviews, these young adults struggled to confidently speak English. Arshan's inner entrepreneur realized that, in India, there is a huge need for affordable industry specific spoken English training, and so he founded his first startup, Kings Learning.
Kings Learning began as an offline English training centre in Bangalore where anybody could come in and learn English. After a year of operating this centre, Arshan realized that there were three things that non-English speakers wanted from their English lessons: 1. They wanted to learn English quickly, 2. They wanted certification after completing their lessons, and 3. They wanted to be able to study English on their phones. With these three discoveries, Arshan launched enguru on the Play Store.
enguru's UI was initially created in English. However, Arshan quickly realized that many of the app's users couldn't read English well enough to use the app effectively. As a result, the app was re-launched in 12 different languages. This really increased the app's popularity. Another smart decision that the startup made was partnering with Jio to release enguru on the JioPhone. By making their app available on the Jio store as well as the Play Store, enguru was really able to tap into their target market. In fact, 20 million of the app's downloads have come from the Jio store, whereas only 5 million have come from the Play Store.
Today, the app has been downloaded over 25 million times and is available in 28 languages. Kings Learning has raised $2.5 million from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. The startup is doing well, and Arshan couldn't be happier, not only because he built the startup from the ground up, but because it is helping so many people to empower themselves with the skills that they need to move forward in their careers.
Arshan Vakil has had an exciting journey as an entrepreneur, and we hope that you enjoyed it. Continue to follow his story through social media using the links down below:
Arshan's LinkedIn: [ Ссылка ]
enguru's LinkedIn: [ Ссылка ]
enguru's Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Kings Learning's Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
enguru's website: [ Ссылка ]
Kings Learning's website: [ Ссылка ]
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