CollegeDekho Success Story – India’s Fastest Growing Education Service Provider.

CollegeDekho got founded in 2015 to institutionalize students’ counselling in India. It runs under the aegis of GESPL (GirnarSoft Education Services Pvt. Ltd.). The company has successfully counselled more than 2 million students since its incorporation. CollegeDekho connects students to various colleges and universities and it is the fastest-growing educational service provider in the country. It has demonstrated 137 million-plus sessions across various social media platforms. So let us get into this article to read the success story of this amazing company.

CollegeDekho – Key Points

• Startup Name – CollegeDekho
• Founding Year – 2015
• Founder – Ruchir Arora
• Headquarters – Gurgugram, Haryana, India
• Satellite Offices – Delhi, Chandigarh, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, etc.
• Industry – Education, Advertising Platform
• Number of Employees – 500-700
• Number of Investors - 6

CollegeDekho – Founder

Ruchir Arora is the founder and CEO of ColleegDekho. He holds a B.Tech degree in Mechanical from Visvesvarya National Institute of Technology and an MBA degree from the Indian School of Business.

He worked with IBM as a software engineer and a senior software engineer. He also founded HTCampus.com in 2010 which targets the education advertising and admission services market.

CollegeDekho – Brand Name, Logo, and Tagline

• Brand Name – The company’s brand name is exactly what it does. It is 100% appropriate and easy for the users to remember as well.
• Logo – The company’s logo is in bright blue and yellow colour. It also features a graduating hat with three stars. The logo is beautiful and it will easily catch everyone’s attention.
• Tagline – The company’s tagline is ‘Discover, Prepare, Achieve’.

CollegeDekho – Business Model

The company follows 2 business models, B2C (Business to Customer) and B2B (Business to Business).

• B2C:
  • CollegeDekho Finder
  • Free Counselling by Experts
  • Common Application Form (CAF)
  • 0% Education Loan
  • Insurance
  • Study Abroad
  • Hostel Accommodation
  • Online Coaching Classes
• B2B:
  • Admission/Activity Tracker
  • API Integration
  • Performance & Reporting Dashboard
  • Content Management System
  • Marketing Services for Higher Education Institutions

CollegeDekho – USP

Some of the USPs of the company are as follows:

• CollegeDekho is the first technology-driven education start-up in India, that provides end-to-end solutions for students’ higher education needs.
• It operates on an extremely user-focused and intuitive technology & unique profile-based college recommendations engine that helps students find the best fit information for 35,000 plus colleges available on the website.
• Extensive personalized counselling to understand students’ needs and help them make an informed decision.
• Advanced products like Step by Step College Selection, Psychometric Tests, and Practice Tests scientifically support higher education selection decisions.
• Our AI-powered Chat-Bot has handled 20L+ queries since its inception in 2019.
• The company is a one-stop solution for all problems/issues related to higher education such as Education Loans, Hostel Accommodation, Insurance, Application Assistance, etc.

CollegeDekho – Growth

Some of the growth factors of CollegeDekho are as follows:

• They have more than 35,000 colleges database
• The company helped 50,000 plus students to get admission to various colleges and universities
• They are connected with more than 10 countries
• CollegeDekho has over 400 expert counsellors on their platform

CollegeDekho – Milestones

CollegeDekho has reached many milestones. Some of them are as follows:

• 2016 – Café network launched
• 2017 – Study abroad business launched
• 2020 – CollegeDekho’s unique sessions cross 96 million in the academic year of 2020-21

CollegeDekho – Funding and Investors

CollegeDekho has risen total funding by $40.1 M in over 5 funding rounds. Some of its funding and investors are as follows:

• $1 M – Seed Round, GirnarSoft, Nov 30, 2015
• $2 M – Seed Round, Apr 18, 2016
• $2 M – Venture Round, GirnarSoft, Man Capital, Feb 5, 2018
• $8 M – Series B Round, GirnarSoft, Man Capital, May 7, 2019
• INR 2 B – Series B Round, College, Winter Capital Advisors, ETS Strategic Capital, Sep 8, 2021

CollegeDekho – Acquisistions

CollegeDekho has acquired 3 companies so far. Its latest acquisition came in March 2022. Some of its acquisitions are as follows:

• PrepBytes – Mar 28, 2022
• GetMyUni – Feb 16, 2022
• Scholarship Facilitation Services – Jul 12, 2019

CollegeDekho – Competitors

Competition is in every industry and it is important to avoid any kind of monopoly. Healthy competition amongst every player in the market is important for the customers as well. Some of the top competitors of CollegeDekho are as follows:

• Shiksha.com
• Entri
• Collegedunia.com
• Parallel Learning
• Inspera
• Jeel
• Crimson Education
• CareerLabs
• IDP Education
• Edwise International

CollegeDekho – Challenges

Challenges are a major part of every entrepreneurial journey. Raising a company is like raising a newborn baby. It is never easy for entrepreneurs. Just like every other company, CollegeDekho also had to face various challenges. Some of the major challenges faced by the company are as follows:

• Competitors – CollegeDekho is one of the leading platforms in the market but it still has many competitors. Some of them are new whereas some of them are older than CollegeDekho as well. Various companies are performing well in the industry and it would be difficult for the company to overshadow those competitors.
• Funding – The company was initially backed by its parent company GirnarSoft. But it had to struggle in the initial stages to find investors and the correct amount of funding for the company.
• Pandemic – The current COVID pandemic situation has been tough for most companies. Similarly, CollegeDekho also had to go through various challenges during this time. It was quite hard for the company to sustain and keep performing well.

CollegeDekho – Future Plans

CollegeDekho has various exciting plans for the coming future. Some of the upcoming plans of the company are as follows:

• The company wants to raise more investments through various funding rounds.
• CollegeDekho wants to reach its other milestones as well by the end of this FY.
• They want to cross the 60,000 mark of total admissions through their platform.
• The company also wants to register more colleges and universities on their platform.
• The company wants to make a good stand amongst the foreign universities as well.
• CollegeDekho wants to help foreigners to take admission in various colleges and universities through their platform.