Cuemath grabbed headlines just lately after it secured $40 million (roughly Rs. 300 crores) in funding led by LGT Lightstone, Aspada, and Alpha Wave Incubation. The on-line platform has gained fame for being a very good supply for educating youngsters maths and coding. The platform is aimed toward KG-Twelfth grade college students throughout all faculty boards, unfold over 10+ nations together with India, UK, USA, UAE, Singapore, Canada, Thailand, Indonesia, Egypt, Nigeria, Nepal, and Bangladesh. The firm says lecturers employed for the platform bear rigorous testing, and that its mission is to “lead the way in building mathematical thinking in children to enable them to become the problem solvers and creative thinkers of the future.”
Since its inception in 2013, Cuemath has grown to have over 8,000 lecturers and 1,000 staff members. The platform is well-liked for its distinctive math studying system that helps college students work by math logically slightly than through rote studying. Cuemath’s present bookings have shot as much as greater than 3 times its FY 2019 figures.
Expert opinion: Analyst Ashvin Vellody, Partner, Deloitte India says, “COVID-19 pandemic has provided a disproportionate focus to the ‘tech” in any industry such as education, disrupting it to define a segment called EdTech. Given the lack of digital technologies in the Indian education sector thus far, it is excellent to see start-ups and established players focussed on building innovative Ed-Tech apps in India. 2020 was the year of survival, and digital technologies proved to be an invaluable ally to enable the learning chain. The magnitude of the actual impact, however, will unfold over the next 24 months. The sector needs to think about how best to use digital tech to provide value in the long term. It would be good to get away from replicating the physical world online and focus on creating amazing experiences that provide value to all the stakeholders in this space. The companies that will thrive are the ones who are agile enough to repivot, innovate and create experiences that replace pre-pandemic systems and infrastructure, and teaching methodology.”
We spoke to CEO and Founder of Cuemath, Manan Khurma to know a bit extra concerning the firm’s success story, the way it survived the pandemic and its future plans.
CEO and Founder of Cuemath, Manan Khurma
1. What have been you doing earlier than Cuemath?
Mathematics has been a giant a part of my life since I used to be a toddler. While doing my BTech in IIT Delhi, I started educating math as a aspect mission. What began as a method to make additional pocket cash ended up changing into a full-time teaching class. This was the start of Locus Education, the place we ready college students to take the IIT entrance. Besides this, I wrote textbooks and consulted for the Haryana authorities.
2. What was the preliminary conceptualisation course of behind Cuemath? When did you first begin speaking about starting this startup?
My love for math and educating have been the 2 essential catalysts for Cuemath. While lecturing senior grade college students at Locus, I realised that almost all college students struggled with math regardless of my greatest educating efforts. The cause for this was a weak basis. Even although test-prep may be very profitable, I felt it was too little too late to make an affect.
3. When was it that you just lastly determined you needed to start out Cuemath? Please elaborate on in all probability that one situation that cemented your intention to work in the direction of making Cuemath a actuality.
To have a elementary affect in educating math, it needed to be performed at decrease slightly than greater grades. After educating 10000+ college students, I realised that if a pupil struggles with Calculus in Eleventh-grade, the percentages are that they didn’t grasp Algebra in eighth grade. To tackle this, I made a decision to construct a math studying system primarily based on mastery. No different studying system at that time was addressing this downside.
4. Elaborate a bit bit about Cuemath. Business description, distinctive service providing, who owns it, what’s your progress fee been like final 12 months, and so on
Cuemath gives on-line after-school math and coding courses around the globe. These are dwell courses facilitated by our educated lecturers. Further, our AI-powered platform allows every baby to be taught at their very own tempo. Amongst different issues, our distinctive methodology focuses on making college students work by math logically slightly than rote studying. We have been backed by buyers similar to and have seen our present bookings shoot as much as greater than 3X of FY19 figures.
5. How is Cuemath totally different from the opposite ed-tech startups in India?
I firmly consider that Mathematics and Coding is a core life talent that may empower youngsters to future downside solvers and thinkers. Cuemath focuses on mastery over completion. For occasion, most kids be taught multiplication by memorisation. But at Cuemath, we educate our college students that multiplication is nothing however repeated addition. Math is the language of considering and problem-solving.
6. What is your hiring course of for lecturers? What is Cuemath’s distinctive promoting level?
Our coaching may be very rigorous, solely three % of the lecturers qualify. Applicants are shortlisted primarily based on their {qualifications}, ardour for educating and entrepreneurial drive. Cuemath lecturers are examined not solely on topic experience and communication on digicam but additionally their capability to personalise and empathise with mother and father and youngsters.
7. Were there any operational challenges (or another challenges) that you just confronted when beginning Cuemath? Please provide our readers particulars on what these challenges have been and the way you overcame them.
Cuemath’s concept of mastery was forward of its time and therefore wanted loads of convincing firstly. Naturally, mother and father have been extra involved with speedy outcomes by marks. As mother and father noticed enchancment in their kid’s math capability, we had increasingly more believers.
8. Did it’s a must to put in any cash to start out the enterprise? When did you resolve that funding was required?
My father and I put in our financial savings in the start. When we ran out, we needed to hustle on all fronts with out dropping our give attention to constructing an impactful product.
9. Could you share some attention-grabbing tales about your preliminary days? What learnings have you ever picked up from these hustle days?
In the primary 100 days, I used to be doing every little thing from curriculum design to onboarding lecturers. I nonetheless keep in mind the primary trainer I met. It was in Gurugram. We chatted over a cup of tea. And 80 % of that dialog was about convincing her that Cuemath’s providing was not a rip-off. Those early days have been difficult and thrilling on the identical time. It is crucial to be resilient in such instances.
10. Is there any explicit incident that’s monumental in Cuemath’s journey? Please share that incident with our readers. Also, define all the large milestones that Cuemath has crossed since its inception.
I recall a Fifth-grade baby who was scuffling with math. But after enrolling at Cuemath, he had proven phenomenal enchancment. His mom was beaming with satisfaction when she informed me about her son’s newest efficiency. This was the primary time our technique was validated and offered measurable outcomes.
11. Could you assist give a way of how far Cuemath has come? From when it started to the place it’s now
We have come a good distance for the reason that starting of our journey in December 2013. Cuemath is STEM licensed and has been awarded as the most effective math program by ETR. We have taught greater than 200,000+ college students and taught for greater than 25 million hours throughout 20+ nations. Coincidentally, the pandemic resulted in phenomenal progress. We tripled our 2019 numbers. With exceptional progress coming from international markets just like the USA.
International college students now represent greater than 1 / 4 of our whole learners on the platform. Not simply that, we’ve just lately closed a profitable Series C funding ($40 million). We are actually backed by Lightstone Aspada and Alpha Wave Incubation and Sequoia Capital India, CapitalG (previously Google Capital) and Manta Ray.
12. Has there ever been any failure or challenges? Please provide particulars about this and the way you overcame that.
When Covid struck, we have been primarily working offline. We had the arduous process to retrain our 4000+ lecturers inside just a few days to adapt to our on-line platform. But we have been agile sufficient to make a clean transition. This shift has held us in good stead and has taken the model international.
13. What was it like crusing by the COVID-19 disaster? Did you see a fall in enterprise or an surprising surge? How did you take care of it?
Our first concern in these testing instances was our worker security. COVID not solely compelled us to maneuver on-line but additionally opened up new geographies. We tailored to this improvement. Cuemath not solely survived however thrived. The greatest realisation for me has been that an organisation can’t solely run however thrive on distant working!
14. Do you’ve gotten any administration mantra/ recommendation that you just’d wish to share with future entrepreneurs?
“While you have your head in the sky and aim high, have your feet firmly planted on ground realities.” Three issues come to thoughts: understanding enterprise fundamentals, specializing in the patron, and constructing a terrific staff.
15. What are the massive plans for the longer term?
We strongly aspire to be a definitive international math model of this era. We wish to construct hundreds of thousands of future downside solvers. Math and allied schooling abilities like coding and information sciences are the longer term – that is the house we wish to be international leaders.
16. What is the worker energy? Is Cuemath hiring at present?
M: We at present have 8,000+ lecturers and 1000 staff members on our rolls. And sure, we’re hiring! We at Cuemath are at all times looking out for distinctive expertise.
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