361 Degree Minds: Making progress toward engaging 1,000,000 students

Profession Launcher-supported 361 Degree Psyches, a learning and schooling organization that accomplices with colleges and corporates, is designing for new send-offs and geological development over the course of the following five years.

Profession Launcher-supported 361 Degree Psyches, a learning and schooling organization that accomplices with colleges and corporates designing for new send-offs and geological development over the course of the following five years Chennai-based 361 Degree Minds was incorporated in 2006 by three classmates from BITS Pilani. C P Gopinath along with his wife, Ritu, and their friend, Rammohan started the company and has had experience in corporate training. “We realized that people were not applying what they had learned, into the work they were doing,” says Gopi.

“So we did a lot of research on their learning process before we started 361 Degree Minds,” he notes. A corporate training platform, 361 DM, emphasized a lot on technology. Based on their research, they developed a platform called i-meta (an e-library, chatroom, and helpdesks for technical and academic assistance and an e-coaching facility) and an adult learning guide.

Soon, the company decided to expand to another vertical – consumer-facing, targeting individual learners. In the last few years, they decided to partner with universities and offer courses online. First, they identify the courses they want to offer, be it big data or analytics, and then approach universities that offer the programs. Using their i-meta platform, 361 DM replicates the university curriculum. “Our pitch to universities is that we will create their digital twin, as in whatever programs they have, we will create a digital version of that,” says Gopi.

The pricing is decided by the universities, and the 361 DM team drives enrollments. There are a few heavily-funded players in the online-learning space with tie-ups to universities. “We have an in-house digital marketing team that does target promotions. We look at clusters and tap into members of the early workforce and students just out of college,” he remarks. Our pitch to universities is that we will create their digital twin, as in whatever programs they have, we will create a digital version of that.

So far, the company has one lakh learners for their 100-plus courses and 150-plus corporate partners. Funding from a listed company In 2010, the company raised seed capital from Career Launcher, a listed company focused on the test-prep market. Seven years after the initial investment, Career Launcher invested the US $1.2 million. “In 2017, our pitch to them was that after a series of pilots, we were ready to scale in terms of new offerings,” comments says Gopi.

“Any company that has cut its teeth in the Indian market will be a winner globally is what we believe, and the 361 DM team understands the nuances of providing digital education, says Satya Narayana, Founder of Career Launcher on why they invested in 361 DM. Corporates like our result-oriented training, which is customized for each organization and for consumers, find a great value for money and scope for career advancement, says Gopi about the feedback they have been receiving from the three verticals.

On the product front, the company is investing in Artificial Intelligence based learning tools. “We are also looking at reaching out to corporate clients in America. We hope to reach one million learners in the next five years,” says Gopi on a concluding note. Funding: Career Launcher Centum has skilled close to 1.5 million individuals through its 4 verticals-corporate training solutions, livelihood training, skills at schools & colleges, and CSR Partnerships.

The company, through its partnership with the National Skill Development Corporation, aims to address the employability challenge by looking at specific requirements across sectors and institutions, be it fiber optics in telecom, big data in colleges, or behavioral change courses to cope with automation incorporates.

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