Challenges are a part of a business and so are changes. EdTech companies in India are still in their nascent stage. There is always a resistance to change, the world is going through that transitional phase where the online mode of education is more of a compulsion than a preferred choice. The academicians need to truly embrace the change and be a part of this change for the EdTech space to be successful. Whether it is facing the challenges or welcoming the change, Henry Harvin® is one of the initial players in the EdTech space, which was founded in the year 2013.
Henry Harvin® conducts online and classroom courses globally in more than 75 countries. Its vision is to reshape the growth of individuals and organizations globally by delivering excellent training and services through benchmarked content, resources, and state-of-the-art technology.
Excellent EdTech Facilities
Henry Harvin® has a product portfolio of 150+ courses spread across different academies namely Analytics, Blockchain, Finance, Law, Management, Digital Marketing, Sales, TEFL, Teen, Cyber Security, Writing, and more.
Services include Training, Project Support, Internship Support, Certification, Placement Support, E-Learning, Bootcamps, Hackathons, Membership Program, and Consulting.
Its mission is to continuously innovate in products, processes, people, and markets and build the highest levels of operational efficiencies to maximize customer value.
The company’s journey is as per the below timeline.
- July 2013 onwards: It started introducing professional training courses to college students.
- December 2013: It started B2B college sales/first admission.
- July 2014: The company signed with KPMG.
- February 2015: It started B2C Sales.
- September 2015: It was signed with EY.
- October 2015: The company launched Henry Harvin® owned courses on Agile and Bitcoin (1st EdTech company in India).
- May 2016: It ventured into paramedical courses in Northeast Delhi location to make healthcare/paramedical professionals.
- September 2016: It is the 1st EdTech company to launch a GST course.
- March 2017: It launched Henry Harvin® owned courses on Six Sigma, Analytics, and Digital Content Writing (1st EdTech company in India).
- August 2017: It started live online courses.
- December 2017: It got featured by news world India prime time 1st mover in Bitcoin course.
- February 2018: It started B2B corporate sales.
- October 2018: It started US sales.
- July 2019: It started self-paced online courses.
Honours
- Best Corporate Training Platform Award by The Entrepreneur
- Game-Based Learning Platform Award by BW Business World
- Recognized for being the 1st GST Course on 1st Page of Sunday Edition by Hindustan Times and Aaj Tak Channel
- Holds the laurel of being the best out of 5 fastest-growing Edtech startups in India by Higher Education Digest’s survey.
- Awarded Best Company of the Year 2021 by Prime Insights
- In December 2020 it won Game-Based Learning Company of the Year Award by Jury Member AICTE Chairman Dr.Anil Sahasrabudhe
Admirable Leader
Kounal Gupta is the CEO of Henry Harvin Education. Born and brought up in New Delhi, he was an Economics school topper in DPS Vasant Kunj with distinction in economics. Later he went on to do his industrial engineering from Delhi college of engineering and management graduating from Narsee Monjee. He has certifications in Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, Digital Marketing, and Supply Chain, and Kounal is also a prominent BNI member. He realized at the early age of 17, that entrepreneurship was his calling and today at 26, he already has 10 -years of rich experience under his belt.
Entrepreneurial Experience: He started his entrepreneurial journey immediately after his 12th. He started travelling extensively in India, China, and Sri Lanka and ventured into businesses in industries such as Electronics, FMCG, and Construction before finally getting into the Education industry in 2013.
Professional Experience: Kounal has executed key assignments with Grant Thornton, HUL, Alstone Lanka, and Dalmia Cements.
Research Experience: Author to six research publications on management subjects. His six-sigma paper received the best paper award from IEEE.
Writing experience: Kounal is the author of ‘The Only Content Writing Handbook You’ll Ever Need’- a comprehensive guide for budding digital content writers.
Awards and Accolades:
- Won the Game-Based Learning Company of the Year Award by BW Business World in 2020
- Won the Best Corporate Training Company of the Year Award by the Entrepreneur in 2020
Kounal Gupta is a 40 under 40 Award-Winning Edtech Entrepreneur, Author, Columnist, Gold Medalist, and Founder and CEO of Henry Harvin Education. He has been featured for his accomplishments by leading TV channels like Aaj Tak (Top 100 News), News World India (Prime Time), and NewsX. His work was covered by Economic Times, Business World and newspapers like Hindustan Times (Front Page), The Hindu, Pioneer, Statesman, India Today, and many more. Kounal is passionate about creating content and loves to connect the dots between ancient history and the future. His mantra to success is ‘Focus on value creation’.
Leveraging EdTech World
After Kounal’s 12th he had opted for industrial engineering with a lot of hopes but, in India, it was treated just the same as mechanical engineering and that frustrated him to the core. It was during that time that he decided that he wanted to do something different in my life, and to be specific, make some difference in his life.
That led him to channelise his zeal towards self-discovery and he realised that entrepreneurship was his passion. He invested all the time and energy towards building a business he believed in, which was developing an EdTech company that would help in making the youth of India employable.
Challenges on the Way
When Kounal left the field of Engineering to enter the world of business, he knew that things were not going to be easy. He started early and started from scratch, without any Godfather. He tied up with KPMG and EY who were two of the biggest consulting rivals. He launched the Bitcoin course much before Cryptocurrency became a known terminology in India.
He launched the GST course, 9 months before GST laws were rolled out in the country, conceptualised, and executed the teen MBA course when no one had heard of such a course.
He intialised the first EdTech company to provide a digital content writing course. He has faced all the managerial and financial challenges that startups go through, but with his first-mover approach, he has taken advantage of all the opportunities that have come his way.
The Success Saga
The company took stock of the situation when the early waves of the pandemic started hitting India. The entire staff went on a work from home mode even before it became a norm, and it did not lose even one business day in the transition. The processes were formed, and all the staff were given the required training.
As they say, every crisis is an opportunity, the company marketed our online courses on all possible forums and by the time the world switched to an online mode of education, Henry Harvin’s batches were full. When companies were laying off staff, the company was hiring executives, digital marketing experts, writers, trainers, and interns. It also launched many new professional short-term courses.
Today Henry Harvin® has a customer base of over 3,00,000+ students across 97 countries globally. “I can proudly say that the growth of Henry Harvin® has been unprecedented in the past 18 month,” says Kounal.
Inspiring Words
“India is a powerhouse of talent, no wonder companies in developed countries value Indian minds as we are tough, innovative, and rooted. There is no dearth of talent, all we need is a proper direction,” says Kounal.
“My advice to all the young entrepreneurs out there is that do not start a startup just for the kicks, in fact, kickstart your startup when you have a solid plan. And remember, the most important thing is ‘your team’. It is very important that the people you are working with share your vision. Also, take note of the fact that entrepreneurship is a lifestyle, you do not stop being an entrepreneur at 6 pm. So do not wear yourself out, work at a pace that you can enjoy and continue for many years to come. Take time out for your hobbies, health, and family. It is very important.
Impending Ambitions
Kounal envisions Henry Harvin to be the World’s No.1 EdTech company in the upskilling/reskilling segment. His dream is to increase the professionally qualified and employed workforce in India.
“We are yet to reach the optimum level of UI and UX, which makes it hard for the end-users to understand the system. We need to make our products and solutions more affordable for educational institutions to incorporate technology into their curriculum,” says Kounal.
Another major challenge is protecting the integrity of student data. Here comes the role of cybersecurity and analytics to assure institutions and individuals that their data is safe.
The Edtech industry in India would be worth more than $30 billion in the next ten years with around 3500 companies already in this genre. It has attracted private equity investments of more than 4 billion in only the last four years. The market is huge and still not fully tapped and Kounal sees major players entering this business in recent years.
