Noida-based e-learning solutions startup iProf launches digital library, eyes Rs 100Cr in revenues by FY15

Two-year-old tablet education firm iProf Learning Solutions India Pvt Ltd has launched a digital library, available at thedigilibrary.com. The library features interactive content and will offer education materials for competitive exams like engineering entrance tests, CAT, IAS, AIPMT and CA. In the coming months, it will also cater to K-12 education segment.

Launched in beta, the content of the digital library is organised by class, subject and topic, with live teacher support available online and on phone. It also offers video lectures besides notes and other content. A library card will provide access to thousands of video lectures with animations, 24×7 teacher assistance, preloaded lectures on tablet and more. Currently, the content is available in Hindi and English, but in the next couple of months, iProf will introduce some learning materials in South Indian languages.

With 1,000 registered users on board, iProf is also aiming to get as much as 25,000 videos by the end of this year (as of now, it has 6,000 videos). The company's call centre, which currently has 100 executives, will soon have an extended team of 1,000.

Although certain portions of the content come for free, those leveraging value-added services like teacher's guidance and more, will have to pay for those.

Set up in 2009, Noida-based iProf offers e-learning solutions, and owns and operates a chain of Wi-Fi-enabled e-learning centres across the nation where students can buy educational tablets, download latest course materials, get updates, interact with the top faculty on board and get their doubts cleared through live video conferencing.

The company had raised $6 million in Series A funding from IDG Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners and Kaplan Ventures back in April 2011. It is now looking to raise another $20 million by the end of 2012.

Talking to Techcircle.in, iProf founder and CEO Sanjay Purohit said, "Besides the lack of quality content, the education in India is also plagued by non-availability of good teachers. We began our journey by clearing the content hurdle and it is now time to make it accessible to all – across locations. DigiLibrary is an education leveller and we are now one step closer to our vision of education without boundaries. We will now try and reach 100 million students over the next three years."

Currently, 50 schools – mainly from tier II and tier III cities – have come on board, paying around Rs 500 per month per student. The project will generate revenues from two sources – by offering teachers' advice which may cost Rs 999-Rs 8,000 and also from home delivery of tablets, which are bundled with educational materials and the costing starts from Rs 2,000. The company is targeting revenues of Rs 100 crore by FY15.

According to Mohan Kumar, partner at Norwest Venture Partners India, "Digital education is the future and DigiLibrary brings the right combination of content and live faculty support."

Sudhir Sethi, founder and managing partner at IDG Ventures India, said, "We are excited by the possibilities that are emerging in technology to enhance education. DigiLibrary brings simple, innovative solutions combined with a robust technology to create an effective delivery mechanism."

(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)