UpGrad is an online higher education platform founded in 2015, with its headquarters located in Mumbai. By collaborating with leading universities and industry experts, upGrad offers rigorous industry relevant programs and has quickly become a hotspot for job-seekers and working professionals looking to upskill themselves and enhance their career.
Instead of just aggregating courses and putting it online, upGrad manages to provide mentoring by specialists through their tech platforms and interactive interfaces. They have managed to disrupt the myth of online education and proven that it can be as effective, if not more, than the traditional physical classroom experience. UpGrad’s gross revenue witnessed a 113% jump from INR 57 crore in FY 18 to INR 121 crore in FY 19. In the highly competitive and fast-growing EdTech space, upGrad has managed to stand out as an innovator par excellence.
Watch this video to find out about upGrad’s education network.
Use this interactive network to explore the upGrad network on your own!
Networkability
Through a collaboration with university partners such as IIIT Bangalore, IIT Madras, Deakin University, and John Moores University among many more, upGrad has virtually brought esteemed professors to the homes of students. The same applies for renowned industry experts who conduct online sessions for specialized fields. Community building is enhanced by enabling upGrad users to get in touch with their peers working in similar fields. In effect, upGrad has created a digital twin of the traditional education and placement network that has been prevalent for several years. This is the very essence of networkability. Since being founded in 2015, upGrad has on-boarded over 21.5K paid learners and impacted more than 370K individuals globally. Just imagine the huge amount of knowledge transfer and collaboration which is made possible by providing a common possible to so many different stakeholders.
Heterogeneity
UpGrad is also bringing in heterogeneity into its network. At the very onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, upGrad made their proprietary tech platform available to more than 100 colleges and universities to transition from offline to online teaching. By collaborating with different colleges across different specializations, upGrad now offers a multitude of courses which attracts students from various fields. UpGrad is also expanding across geographies and partnering with more and more foreign universities which will give their users exposure to diverse people, course modules, as well as teaching quality. Heterogeneity in terms of courses and geographies will help upGrad expand into customer segments which have been untapped by them till now.
Multiplicity
Most EdTech companies limit themselves to distance learning, while a few expand into the physical classroom space as well. Multiplicity is reflected in upGrad’s network as they have added a new branch altogether, their career support section. Ranging from a job portal to 1-on-1 mentorship, upGrad provides a holistic experience to anyone looking for jobs or internships. The career support section can function as a separate entity in itself, but it adds more value in combination with upGrad’s online offerings.
Relational Realignment
The career support section in itself displays relational realignment, the ability to find alternate routes in case of a bottleneck. If someone is unable to find a job through the job portal or career fairs, assistance and support can be provided through mentorship programs and just in time interviews. The support system that upGrad has created makes them a much more reliable choice for job seekers.
Cartography
Education has traditionally been considered to be a transfer of knowledge from teacher to student. However, the present day job requirements require a much more collaborative learning experience. UpGrad expands the horizon of the 2-dimensional teacher-student relationship to encompass industry experts, career coaches, and a wide community of like-minded peers to form a multidimensional symbiotic network. Quite often, chorography takes the form of inclusion of several stakeholders to form a wider ecosystem, which in turn enables knowledge transfer between nodes that would otherwise never have been connected (such as an industry expert and a student).
Mutagenesis
Mutagenesis is the process by which the genetic information of an organism is changed resulting in a mutation. For upGrad, it translates to analyzing the vast amount of information generated on their mobile application and website in real-time, and using it to offer personalized learning solutions for its users. Essentially, with the same technological support and educational programs, upGrad can give a unique learning experience to each user by compiling material which is best suited to the needs of the individual. This is similar to a mutation in the sense that genetic information is almost similar except for a slight tweak, which results in a unique feature in the organism.
The coronavirus pandemic has led to a paradigm shift across all industries, and education is no exception. There were already signs of disruption in the traditional education system, which according to many, has already lost its significance. The shift from traditional offline mode to online modes of learning has received a boost due to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. According to UNESCO, around 1.3 billion learners around the world were not able to attend school or university as of March 23, 2020.
With so many learners forced to stay at home, EdTech companies in several countries have come to the fore. UpGrad has also experienced a 50% surge in learners since launching its feature 'upGrad Live' to all college students for free. Since upGrad has created a rhizomatic ecosystem with a strong focus on networkability, multiplicity, and chorography, it is quite likely that the holistic experience provided will make the transition from offline to online learning a persistent one for most learners even after the pandemic. The EdTech space is witnessing new and unexplored opportunities everyday, and by creating a truly rhizodesic network, businesses can tap these opportunities and create an education ecosystem that can become the one-stop solution for all learners.
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