Our app lets African students access classroom notes in India: Manak Gulati

Interview with founder and chief executive officer of Notesgen

Remember when you were a student, how you used to try and get your hands on the notebooks of the topper in your class? Or if you were topper yourself, do you recall having been pestered by your classmates to share your notes? Or did you ever frantically search for notes before the exams or for a presentation due the next day? 

Now you can say goodbye to all that stress associated with maintaining classroom notes and lectures. Manak Gulati, founder and chief executive of Notesgen discusses the features of his app with Kumar Akash. It is a mobile and web-based platform that allows students share study material and self-prepared content such as project reports, presentations, case studies. Excerpts from the interview:

In which countries is Notesgen present apart from India, US, Russia and Pakistan?

The product is being sold in about 135 countries across the globe, including the US, African nations, Russia, Australia, Nepal, Bangladesh, Palau, Nigeria, Kenya and Bolivia.

What is your USP for various stakeholders such as educators, coaching centres and students?

Launched in 2014, Notesgen has become the platform of choice for students when it comes to online access to learning / educational material. The product provides an anywhere-anytime reading experience to students without the need for costly infrastructure. It is a buggy eBook type of solution that offers the security of the highest order in the country today for digital content. I know most organisations would already have a similar solution like this, but with over 650,000 users in 135 countries, and 100,000 mobile app installations, Notesgen is currently the best solution in the market, as it is highly secured and provides instant access to content reading 24x7. 

How will Notesgen make a difference in the e-learning space?

The need for a student community-driven. peer-to-peer learning platform is global in nature. We already have students from Pakistan accessing English notes created by Delhi university students; students in Africa using maths and science notes uploaded by professors from the US and students from remote parts of UP and Bihar are accessing IAS notes submitted by recent successful candidates. I foresee Notesgen becoming a Facebook in the academic domain. The product is building a global student community and bringing them together for better learning and performance.

Since November 2016, we have focused on acquiring users primarily in India. We are seeing considerable audience traction coming from various parts of the country, primarily on the mobile app. Surprisingly, even though we are not promoting our service outside India, 15-19 per cent of new users come from overseas locations mostly via the website (driven by organic search). If we have the resources and can target some top overseas locations, we can surely see global adoption/growth in 4-6 months.

Our global peers have raised $40 million-plus and are valued at over $100 million. We have the potential to leverage our India demographics to outgrow even the leading players in this space. We have been approached by some of the top investors who are looking at Notesgen as a unique offering from India.

Have you tied up with any educators and coaching centres so far?

Yes. we have tied up with Career Launcher, Khan Study Group, Lakshya, Mindworkz, Gurukp, Aknik, Manas Publications, SB Consultancy, and Pokkt. We are also in talks with some more institutes.

According to you, how big is the Indian e-learning market?

The online education market in India is expected to touch $1.96 billion by 2021 and $252 billion globally.

You had also founded Drawnear Technologies in January 2012. How do you intend to use that experience in the present venture? Is there any synergy between the two?

Drawnear Technologies was my first stint as an entrepreneur. And for me, that experience is golden. What I learnt from my first stint, I have ensured that I do not make the same mistakes again, and evolve as a better entrepreneur. 

What is the total number of users and also how many are currently using in India, US, Russia & Pakistan?

Our total user base is 475,000.