Ministry Launches Experiential Learning Program – PRERANA

Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education, Government of India has recently launched ‘Prerana: An Experiential Learning program’, aiming to offer a meaningful, unique, and inspiring experience to all participants, thereby empowering them with leadership qualities.

Prerana is driven by a strong commitment to integrate principles of Indian education system and the philosophy of value-based education which is a corner stone of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

Prerana is a week-long residential program for selected students of class IX to XII. It is an experiential and inspirational learning program for students with the best-in-class technology where heritage meets innovation. A batch of 20 selected students (10 boys and 10 girls) will attend the program, every week from various parts of the country.

Prerana program will run from a Vernacular School, established in 1888, in one of the oldest living cities of India, Vadnagar, district Mehsana, Gujarat. The school stands as a tribute to Vadnagar's indomitable spirit, a living city that has triumphed over challenges like earthquakes and natural calamities and is home to ancient heritage sites and monuments inhabited since the early historic period and in the modern day. The school signifies the fact that extraordinary lives often find their roots in ordinary foundations. Grounded in the timeless wisdom of India's rich civilization, this unique initiative embodies a vision aligned with the principles and ideals of our Hon’ble Prime Minister, who is an alumnus.

The curriculum of Prerana School prepared by IIT Gandhi Nagar is rooted in nine value based themes: Swabhiman and Vinay, Shaurya and Sahas, Parishram and Samarpan, Karuna and Sewa, Vividhta and Ekta, Satyanishtha and Shuchita, Navachar and Jigyasa, Shraddha aur Vishwas, and Swatantrata and Kartavya. The program based on above themes will inspire the youth and foster respect for Bharat's unity in diversity, embodying the spirit of "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" and will contribute by making the youth of today, a flame holder for Viksit Bharat. Towards this endeavour, the participants will be guided by mentors from prestigious institutions.

The day-wise program schedule will feature yoga, mindfulness, and meditation sessions, followed by experiential learning, thematic sessions, and hands on interesting learning activities. Evening activities will include visits to ancient and heritage sites, inspirational film screenings, mission life creative activities, talent shows etc. ensuring a holistic learning approach. Apart from this, students will engage in diverse activities, embracing indigenous knowledge systems, latest State-of-Art technologies, and learnings from inspirational personalities.

Students can register through the portal, wherein applicants can fill the requisite details to be a part of the ambitious and aspirational Prerana program. The registered applicants will go through a selection process, as prescribed on the portal. Applicants can also join the selection procedure conducted at the School/block level, on designated ‘Prerana Utsav’ day, through various activities based on the ethos of Prerana to evaluate for well rounded personalities keen to shape the future of our nation.

Upon selection, the 20 participants (10 boys and 10 girls) will be attending the Prerana program and embark on a journey of inspiration, innovation, and self-discovery. After the program, the participants will carry the ethos of Prerana into their respective communities, become change makers and spark positive change to inspire others.

To register for Prerana, students of Class IX to XII may visit prerana.education.gov.in.

byteXL Partners With Microsoft to Develop ‘Future-Ready’ Technology Talent Pool in Tier 2 & 3 Cities

• In line with Government’s aim to create 1 million digital workforce in emerging technologies. 
• Supported by AICTE, the initiative aims to tap the budding talent pool in Tier 2 & 3 cities and raise their Employability Quotient

byteXL, one of the leading experiential learning platforms for IT career aspirants, today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Microsoft. The MoU is directed to transform educational institutes in Tier 2 and 3 cities across the nation and cater to the 360-degree developmental needs of its students. The pan-India initiative – ‘XLerate’, supported by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), aims to impart training in new age and emerging technologies. This collaboration is aligned with the national vision of providing one crore internship opportunities by 2025.

In a short time of two years, byteXL has demonstrated strong capabilities of creating a significant impact on raising the employability of 1 lac engineering students across 90 institutes in 7 states. This established success of byteXL has been achieved by imparting the training through its seamless hybrid learning model and in-house developed analytics tool that assists in keeping a close track of every aspect of the student’s progress whilst undergoing the program. While byteXL will spearhead the training program and conduct the comprehensive programs, Microsoft will support the endeavor with necessary infrastructure, including sophisticated Artificial Intelligence (AI) Labs that provide contemporary programs for specialized education. Students can also earn Microsoft certifications, once they complete the required learning and industry-ready skills. Students from this program will have access to Microsoft Azure and AI certifications, along with industry approved training modules. byteXL’s role in this collaboration will amplify Microsoft’s global skills initiative, which has already provided digital skills to more than 42 million people worldwide.

The strong need – raising technology employability in Tier 2 & 3 cities

Students in Tier 2 and 3 cities have faced challenges ranging from lack of access to quality educational material to exposure to global trends, and lack of industry exposure to scarcity of financial means to complete high-quality education. As a result, many bright students are forced to compromise on their higher education or move to Tier 1 cities for better educational opportunities. This initiative – ‘XLerate’ will be focused on addressing these concerns and ensuring that new-age, quality education and required industry exposure are made available at highly affordable costs. These would play a critical role in not only enhancing the ‘Employability Quotient’ of students but also help in the transformation of the institutes and empower them to produce quality industry-ready talent in the longer run.

Speaking at the MOU signing ceremony, Mr. Karun Tadepalli, CEO & Co-Founder, byteXL, said “This MOU with Microsoft is a critical step in enabling a developmental ecosystem for youth in India’s Tier 2 and 3 cities. The collaboration aims to transform technical education and reimagine the skills ecosystem through a robust and career intensive curriculum. Our in-house futuristic instruction methodology, coupled with Microsoft’s learning infrastructure will surely produce brilliance in employable students. Our collaborative efforts are directed towards the redefining of the traditional engineering colleges and in creating a globally in-demand growth spectrum for the new graduates.”

Ms. Indrani Choudhury, Chief Learning Officer, Microsoft India said, “Digital technologies will be key in addressing the skills challenge that we are facing today. Democratizing access to skilling with a focus on employability, especially in Tier 2 and 3 cities of India, can empower large talent pools for the digital economy. At Microsoft, we believe we can combine the best in technology with strong collaborations like byteXL to better serve young people and create more opportunities for them.”

byteXL’s Trends Report - Deep Tech Insights 21-22 based on a large sample size of 55,000 students from 60 Tier 1, 2, and 3 institutes also revealed the changing trends and aspirations of the engineering students. The student enrollment rates for specialized technology courses were witnessed at over 90% and 67% in Tier 3 and Tier 2 respectively as compared to 63% in Tier 1. This is a clear indication of the increasing inclination of Tier 2 & 3 students to move up into the value chain. The trend for upskilling is also gaining momentum in Tier 2 students at 68.81% male students and 43.96% female students. Tier 3 students show a similar inclination to Tier 2 with 57.13% male students and 54.63% female students.

According to various industry reports, in the past 10 years (2012-2022) the Employability rate of graduating engineers is less than 8% and 93% of the graduating engineers in India lack the required IT skills to work in IT companies.

About byteXL:

Headquartered at Hyderabad (India), byteXL prepares IT Career Ready Engineers in Conventional Coding and New age Technologies like Cloud, AI/ML, DevOps, FullStack Development, and Cyber Security through a Hybrid Learning Platform and guided Campus Recruitment model. It is a one-stop shop for self-learning coursework and guided training – preparing a new generation of coders for the workforce.

Experiential Learning Platform byteXL Raises $1 Mn from Joy Family Investments, Mr. Derek Missimo, Others; To Double Headcount and Expand Its Operations to New Geographies

Mr Karun Tadepalli & Mr Sricharan Tadepalli (From L to R)

• Raises $1 Mn from Joy Family Investments, Mr. Derek Missimo, and 6 other investors
• Targets $11 Mn revenues for FY 2023, recorded $2.2 Mn for FY 2022
• Enters newer markets – Maharashtra, Gujarat, and shortly to more southern & Eastern states
• Aiming to increase customer base to 175 institutes and 2.4 lac students by the end of March 2023
• To expand current team of 163 to 350 by March 2023

byteXL, one of the leading experiential learning platforms for IT career aspirants, today announced its strategic growth plans that include expansion of its operations into newer geographies that span Tamil Nadu, Odisha, and Karnataka, robust hiring plans of doubling the team to over 350 by March 2023, added senior members to the team including the Head of Operations, Head of Learning, Vice President for Sales and other senior members, and is on course for onboarding additional 90 institutes and 1,40,000 students by March 2023. Importantly, it also secured a strategic investment of $1 Million, in the ‘funding winter’,as part of its growth plan. While current Seed B Angel round funding is led by the existing Angel investor Joy Family Investments, other investors in the current funding round include Mr. Derek Missimo and 6 others.

The company has previously raised $200,000 in funding that was led by US-based investor - Joy Family Investment headed by Joseph Joy in 2021 who had earlier also invested in EdTech, Pharma, and healthcare companies. As a learning & skilling ed-tech platform, byteXL prepares IT Career Ready Engineers in the conventional coding languages and new-age technologies including Cloud, AI, ML, DevOps, FullStack Development and Cyber Security through a Hybrid Learning Platform and guided Career Accelerated program. Started with a team of 4, currently, byteXL has a strong team of 163 members comprising full-time and freelancers in product development (R&D), learning & development, instructors, content development, and other operations department, working with several institutes across many states in the country.

Moving Ahead – crossing boundaries and growing geographies

byteXL which started its operations in 2020 has witnessed tremendous growth in the last 2 years. While the startup signed up 15 institutes covering 20,000 students within the first year of operations, the second year witnessed an impressive response with 4X growth in the number of sign-ups at 75 institutes. Currently, 85 institutes are utilizing byteXL’s proprietary platform to train its 1,00,000 students on emerging technologies. Post the initial operation focusing on Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, byteXL has recently expanded its operations to newer geographies including Maharashtra and Gujarat, apart from advanced level discussions with more institutes in a number of states currently ByteXL has clients in 7 state and 20 cities. The company’s revenues have also witnessed an upward trend with the edtech startup clocking $2.2 Mn revenues in the financial year 2021-22 from $120,000 recorded in the first full financial year of 2020-21. The company is also moving its operations to a larger facility in Hyderabad of a 100-seater capacity expandable up to 400-seater with potential offices in Pune and Ahmedabad to support the expanding operation in the respective states.

Management Speak – Increasing investor interest and northwards revenue

Speaking on the fundraising and growth plans, Mr. Karun Tadepalli, Founder and CEO of byteXL said, “byteXL is witnessing exponential response from the engineering institutes and we are emerging as the preferred skilling partner for the colleges across several states. With a robust growth trajectory, byteXL is aiming at achieving a 400% increase in revenues as we target US$11 Mn for the financial year 2022-23. We are strengthening our advisory and strategy team and the fundraising of $1 million is primarily towards adding investors as strategic partners and for expanding the team, infrastructure, and other operational systems. The funds will also help us scale up as we aim to disrupt the market with learning, skilling, and placement and consolidate our position.”

“We are on track to meet our aggressive plans of onboarding 175 institutes and training 240,000 students by the end of March 2023. As we expand our pan-India presence to Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Odisha, we are already chalking out plans for the APAC region as well as in the United States. We are partnering with community colleges, veterans’ programs, and underprivileged and underrepresented youth and collaborating with consortiums and skill development centers as part of our outreach and partner programs in India”, added Mr. Sricharan Tadepalli, Cofounder and Chief Sales Officer of byteXL.

Investor Speaks – Immense growth opportunities

“At byteXL, we have seen a high potential start-up that is addressing a critical need by guiding engineering students. Its niche offering will pave the way for high growth as it is taking very calculated steps in expanding operations. It is evident that institutes are becoming more interested in their programs. This is because they not only add value to the student's employability but also aid the institutions in increasing placement offers,” said Mr. Joseph Joy, President, Joy Family Investments.

Mr. Derek Missimo, a US based angel investor said, “The cost-efficient B2B model of byteXL is very effective and the growth trajectory is exciting. Faster customer acquisition, high customer renewal rates, and high engagement rates are bright signs of the company's momentum. We are highly optimistic about their future.”

The High potential Edtech – Skill development

According to Statista estimates, the market valuation of the Indian Edtech industry was US$2.8 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach US$10.4 billion by 2025. In the skill development category of edtech, it had estimated the market size to be at US$ 260 million, increasing to US$ 730 million by the year 2025.

About ByteXL:

Headquartered at Hyderabad (India), byteXL prepares IT Career Ready Engineers in Conventional Coding and New age Technologies like Cloud, AI/ML, DevOps, FullStack Development, and Cyber Security through a Hybrid Learning Platform and guided Campus Recruitment model. It is a one-stop shop for self-learning coursework and guided training – preparing a new generation of coders for the workforce.

Link: https://www.bytexl.com/

India Accelerator Launches New EdTech Startup Envent to Nurture Entrepreneurship Ecosystem

Envent is the India Accelerator’s flagship edtech startup and India’s first edtech platform that offers an experiential learning environment to aspiring entrepreneurs.

India Accelerator, India’s only GAN partnered accelerator has recently announced the launch of its flagship Edtech startup Envent – India’s first Ed-tech platform that provides an experiential learning environment to aspiring students, entrepreneurs, working professionals and first-time entrepreneurs. The platform provides comprehensive support, develops key entrepreneurial skills, and helps with risk management to turn ideas into successful business stories.

Operating a startup in a competitive landscape is challenging, considering the dynamics of the market. On the other hand, entrepreneurship programs that are already available in the industry are comparatively expensive and offer lesser value to budding entrepreneurs. With Envent, IA presents a bigger picture to students as they get an opportunity to access support from India’s accomplished accelerator. Furthermore, it ensures good ideas and capable entrepreneurs get a fair chance at success.

Delighted with the initiative’s launch, Sagar Menon,Founder, Envent said, “Our true purpose goes beyond helping aspiring entrepreneurs establish successful ventures. We believe that by providing the right education and igniting an entrepreneurial spirit, we can create an empowered community of inspiring leaders who will go on to solve the world's most pressing issues.”

Sagar Menon

Incepted with an idea to provide the right direction, knowledge and experience, Envent is an initiative to develop and nurture the entrepreneurship ecosystem in the country. The platform serves as a training ground for people to build a successful start-up. It leverages India Accelerator’s huge network of mentors, investors, industry experts and enterprises. As a result, it offers a unique position to provide unmatched entrepreneurship programs and world-class mentorship to aspiring entrepreneurs.

“With Envent, IA is creating a wholesome entrepreneurship ecosystem for equipping aspiring/budding entrepreneurs with an entrepreneurial mindset, skillset and providing a unique learning experience of turning their creative ideas into reality. Instead of reinventing the wheel, the edtech platform helps aspiring entrepreneurs leverage years of accumulated experience and knowledge in a more calculated way to scale business,” said Mona Singh, Founder & Partner at India Accelerator.

As part of Envent, IA has launched an E-School, one of the exclusive entrepreneurship programs designed to allow aspiring entrepreneurs to explore, build, test, and work on their business ideas. Simultaneously, the aspirants can also capitalize on the opportunity to develop the key skills and mindset required to become successful entrepreneurs. The program takes the students from Idea generation to being prepared for a full-fledged Start-up launch.

IA accelerator is also exploring the B2B side of the edtech platform. As part of the business plan, it is targeting schools and universities to offer entrepreneurship programs, elective courses, and bespoke workshops on entrepreneurship.

SP Robotics Maker Lab to Open 100+ Offline Experience Centres; Opens Application for Franchises

SP Robotics Maker Lab is India's largest network for students to learn Robotics and Coding. They offer Complete Experiential learning for students of age 7 to 17+ with 10+ Courses in Scratch Programming, Electro blocks, Drone, Android App, Coding, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Internet of Things, Virtual Reality, etc.

Franchise Investment starts from INR 5 Lakhs upto 20 Lakhs to own a Maker Lab at your locality.

The startup currently has 50 Maker Labs in 20 cities in India

SP Robotic Works, an AI-based edutainment company which provides a platform for young children to learn, build and collaborate in some of the most sought-after technologies in India and around the world, is now expanding its operations by opening 100+ ‘Maker Labs’ in 3 cities by year end. In the quest for building a stronger maker community among school children, the startup aims to create an active and intelligent community of engineers and innovators by equipping them with the tools to learn the latest technologies.

These Smart Maker Labs blend conventional classroom learning with AI-driven methods to assure quality learning. These Labs are equipped with AI-enabled computer systems and Robotic / Drone Kits and other Maker Kits, where the student can also learn with rich animations and real-time concepts. This innovative model has helped the company scale with quality and cost in-tact quickly growing from 0 to 75+ centres in just a year back in 2019 (before COVID).

Pranavan S, Co-Founder of SP Robotics Maker Lab, said, “We are excited to set up these ‘Maker Labs’ so that children after school or during the weekends can spend about two to four hours a week in problem-solving skills and cognitive development. We have this franchise model since we want to collaborate with local partners who share the same vision and ideologies to start a Maker Lab center in their location. Our franchise partners can choose the FOFO (Franchise owned Franchise Operated) model or the FOCO (franchise owned company operated) model with the support of SP Robotics.”

The franchisees can typically invest from INR 5 Lakhs in a FOCO model where the company would take care of setting up the centre and operating it. In a FOFO Model where the franchisee wants to operate the centre, the investment required to setup the centre is INR 15 to 20 Lakhs. The company would support with the setup, guidelines and business training required to operate the centre.

Today SP Robotics Maker Lab has successfully helped over two lakh students learn across 31 cities by providing training in future tech like Robotics, Coding, A.I., Internet of Things, Virtual Reality and Drones in a fun, easy and hands-on learning experience. It aims at building spaces where 10 to 20 children at a time can learn things together, collaboratively, build things, code things, form teams for their future competitions, prepare for competitions, and learn from other's mistakes in a collaborative environment.

SP Robotics provides an early age interaction between the age of 7-17 years with Robotics, Electronics Coding, Drones, VR/ AR, A.I. and tech for children. It aims at encouraging young learners to develop a liking for the practical aspect of the technical field and help boost their cognitive and logical thinking skills.

For applying for franchise, you can visit https://sproboticworks.com/franchise

Top-6 Experiential Learning Platforms in India

Experiential Learning is an engaged learning process whereby students "learn by doing" and by reflecting on the experience. The word 'Experiential' is derived from 'Experience' thus it involves learning from experience.

The theory of Experiential Learning was proposed by educational theorist David Kolb who was influenced by the work of other theorists including John Dewey (whose work on democracy influenced Dr. B.R. Ambedkar), Kurt Lewin, and Jean Piaget.

According to David Kolb, Experiential learning can be defined as "the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience. Knowledge results from the combinations of grasping and transforming the experience."


 

[Image credit - EBLS]

Experiential learning is the future of learning !

We have identified few platforms in experiential learning domain though surprisingly few we had earlier identified have changed from experiential space to another learning-based platforms. Below are existing ones in alphabetical order -

Edufiq

Edufiq is an online courseware on Artificial Intelligence (AI) specifically designed for kids of class 5th-10th (8-15 years-old).

For students of classes 5-7, Edufiq uses game-based learning using Minecraft, to make AI learning easier for a child. Notably, Minecraft is the 2nd most played video-game by children globally and Edufiq integrates the principles of Minecraft with Game-based learning activities in order to expose children to real-life situations in a risk-free digital space.

For students of classes 8th-10th, Edufiq offers Experiential Kit, helping them to use their skills and further enhance them while acquiring a new one – Artificial Intelligence. The Edufiq kit promotes learning through hands-on experience, enhances problem-solving skills in children along with their cognitive skills such as logical reasoning, decision making and critical thinking.

It offers a curated Experiential Kit which consists of the new BBC micro: bit, OLED screen, Crash Sensor, Temperature Sensor, Rainbow LED, Noise Sensor, Light Sensor, 180 Servo, Soil Moisture Sensor, Motor with Fan, Relay, Submersible Pump, and Sensor Bit.

Habbit

Habbit is an online experiential learning platform that connects passionate mentors and learners through live mentorship, engaging learning experiences. The platform that aims to connect passionate mentors and creative learners through live mentorship & engaging learning.

Habbit offers live and virtual classes in one-on-one, small groups or in workshops mode.

Mentors can create classes and share skills with the members of Habit. While learners can learn skills of their choice with one class and one project at a time. Workshops are concise, one-time classes with a project or a product based goal.

Skill learners can also make connections and join a community of creative thinkers who share their interests. The categories include -- Arts, Design, Dance, Fitness, Gardening and Music, among others.

Immersion India

Immersion India creates experiential learning through travel. It is a Bengaluru based startup that curates study-centric, experiential learning programs in urban and rural India. The platform - via traveling - guides students, corporates, faculty and professionals to learn from first-hand experiences in a culturally-diverse developing country - "India" !

Immersion India has dedicated academic and cultural experts skilled in researching trends and current issues that can provide high-impact learning experiences. Its close ties with faculty and program leaders get its users more clarity on how best to adapt study experiences to complement specific academic requirements.

The platform offers paid curated programs for a group of minimum 10 individuals (often for 25-30 years) that cover airport transfers, local transport, hotel accommodation, breakfast, lunch, dinner, ferry tickets or travel insurance

Immersion India has been a  winner of UNWTO SDGS Global Startup competition for creating experiential learning through travel. Immersion India is one among the 25 winners chosen from across 138 countries.

KidsChaupal

KidsChaupal is a mobile app-based discovery platform enabling children to get exposed to multiple learning choices in varied domains, from dancing, playing golf to playing chess or learning finance, entrepreneurship, according to children's personalities.

With KidsChaupal digital platform, kids get to come together and meet child prodigies of their ages, mentors, teachers, coaches and organizations that provide specific skill set and help children in their learning experience, come.

Quintessentially, KidsChaupal create a nurturing community for kids to explore and venture into the depths of their interests, skill set, and abilities and help you and your kid recognize and discover the child’s true potential

SP Robotic Works

SP Robotic Works is an AI-based edutainment company that provides a platform for young children to learn, build and showcase in some of the most sought after technologies in India and around the world. It provides learning courses in Robotics, Drones, IoT (Internet of Things), Image Processing, Virtual Reality (VR), Android App Development and other next-generation skills or education.

They deliver courses both on Online & Offline Smart classes mode. For online learning, the first step would be to buy the hardware kits from its website. For offline, one can join SP Robotics' Maker Labs spread across different cities in India.

The company also claims to have provided its students opportunities in TEDx to speak out the ideas of their projects and involve them in the projects to companies like Qualcomm, Tata that gives huge exposure and professional experience.

Practically  

Practically is a product of 3RDFlix, an immersive experiences company using latest in visualization technology to make delivery of education highly effective. 

'Practically' is an experiential learning mobile app that offers experience-based learning for students from classes 6-12 and adds Augmented Reality to it that makes learning seem fun, engaging & interactive.

Practically videos are bite-sized capsules of information, aimed at increasing retention and keeping its students engaged. The app claims to be the only self-learning app that enables STEM learning through immersive videos, interactive augmented reality, and 3D simulations. Practically app is the one-stop solution for all your learning needs.

Available as Android and iOS app, Practically provides immersive videos, 3D simulations and Augmented Reality modules, specifically designed to make learning experiential and increase retention. In addition to the videos, students also get in-video Q&As, Chapter Tests and Mock Exams.

Zell Education

Zell Education is striving to make skill upgradation effective, affordable and accessible for everyone with experiential learning as its core-philosophy. It has collaborated with Industry experts to offer hands-on industry experience with on-field assignments to its students.

Zell's faculty consists of leading industry experts and professionals whose key insights and industry knowledge help us design & deliver an exhaustive course curriculum, in addition to an interactive learning experience.

The e-learning platform is currently focused to learning programs in Finance, Accounting and Management.

Zell also conducts rigorous training & placement sessions including mock interviews for students, to prepare them for aptitude tests, group discussions & multiple rounds of job interviews prior to applying for campus placements.

Tech-led Experiential and Luxury Travel Startup, Voyaah, Raises Seed Funding From Shashidhar Sinha

Serving in a niche space, Voyaah will use the fresh funds of half a million US dollars to accelerate its expansion and upgrade technology to serve new-age, well-heeled customers

Voyaah, the tech-led luxury travel organisation has recently received its seed funding of US$500,000 from a well-known name in Advertising, Shashidhar Sinha, Principal CEO, IPG Mediabrands, India. The fresh funds will be used for expanding into newer areas, enhancing the product and technology in addition to hiring relevant talent.

Voyaah was founded in February, 2020, by Sharmistha Chakraborty, a former investment banker in Mumbai, and moved its operations to Bengaluru. Targeting the affluent and the new age traveller, its average holiday ticket size is around Rs.35,000 for two nights of a splendid handcrafted travel experience. The organisation also delivers services to group travels, both offshore and onshore, for renowned corporate giants. Voyaah has collaborated with the finest resorts, hotel chains, luxury boutique stays and has successful partnerships with CRED, Club Vistara and InterMiles, besides well-known luxury car companies.

Speaking about the investment, Sharmistha Chakraborty, Founder and CEO, Voyaah, shared, “Despite the pandemic looming large, we have recorded a significant growth in the recent months and this funding will further accelerate our efforts to expand into new markets and upgrade our offerings with digital technologies for enhancing customer experience." She added, “Our target is to grow the revenues at least 5x over the year.” In the last few months, Voyaah has curated several holidays for more than 15,000 happy travellers. After going digital, the organisation has been able to book around 28,000 room nights across destinations outside and within India.

The increase in people’s exposure to various social media platforms, positive impact of new-age technology on tourism sector, increase in online bookings and growth in the number of people opting for unique and exotic holiday experiences are some of factors driving the growth of the experiential travel industry. According to a recent research report by Research and Markets, the Global Personalised Travel and Experiences Market, which was valued at US$91.2 billion in 2020 is estimated to reach US$447.3 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 17.8% from 2021 to 2030.

Speaking on the investment, Shashidhar Sinha, Principal CEO, IPG Media brands India said, “Given the huge opportunity in the experiential and luxury travel space, I believe in Voyaah’s potential and approach in delivering unique travel experiences to the niche, but growing market. I am proud to support Voyaah’s expansion plans and its preparations in catering to a larger target audience.” He further added, “After Covid, revenge tourism has struck the travel industry and given the unique travel experiences that Voyaah has to offer, the business definitely has the first-mover advantage.” Shashidhar, an alumnus of IIT Kanpur and IIM Bangalore is one of the doyens of the advertising industry and has several awards and recognitions to his credit in the Advertising and Branding industry. In addition to investing in Voyaah, Shashidhar will also be a mentor.

India’s market size in luxury travel is also growing with the pandemic changing the way the rich travel, by prioritising safety and social distancing. Many well-heeled, experience seeking Gen-Z travellers are constantly looking for unique experiences and opting for slow travel. There is a shift from bucket-list destinations to more real, meaningful and fulfilling experiences that are associated with their values, with vacationers willing to pay for it. Voyaah aims to serve this growing market of new-age travellers who refuse to book pre-packaged tours.