With Hero Vired, Hero Group is all set to enter the ed-tech domain. The newly launched platform is headed by the third generation entrepreneur- Akshay Munjal, Founder and CEO.
Hero Vired offers interactive support, peer-to-peer communication and engagement-driven online instructor-led classes. It has partnered with an esteemed institution like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, and New York-based Codecademy, an e-learning coding website. They are planning to offer a mix of programmes for professionals and higher education aspirants, as per a statement from the company.
“Vired is a combination of two words – virtual and education. We believe Hero Vired will be the future of learning. Hero Vired will change the way we learn and help address some of the big skill challenges the country faces. We have a very large population going through higher education who are unemployable. At the same time, we have industry, which is starved for talent,” Akshay Munjal, said at an online event.
Besides, he said that the government also targets to increase the gross enrolment ratio in higher education, taking it from 26 per cent to 50 per cent.
“We have got a very large young population, which is definitely looking for jobs, currently either unemployed or not meaningfully employed. On the other hand, we have an industry that is starved for talent. What we are attempting to do is how do we solve this problem from where it originates from,” Munjal told PTI.
On the investments in the new venture, he said, “the family has already committed upwards of USD 10 million only on this venture, which is a substantial sum. That gives us the flexibility of building focus on quality.”
“If we continue doing what we are doing, we are not solving the problem, we will end up producing more graduates who are also unemployable…we want to break this vicious cycle. We are going to do this by partnering with some of the best global education institutions and universities, bringing in experienced faculty and industry practitioners and combining that with the best-in-class technology system,” he said.
Hero Vired platform offers certificate programmes in finance and related technologies, integrated programmes in Data Science, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, full-stack development, Game Design, and Entrepreneurial Thinking and Innovation.
Hero Group was founded in 1956 when Hero Cycles Limited was established by the Munjal brothers. It is one of the top 10 business houses in India. The promoters of the Hero Group ventured into education as early as 1964 with the most recent development being the BML Munjal University in 2014.
“Our efforts in education have been skewed towards nurturing future leaders who are skilled, knowledgeable and have the requisite skills required for leading organisations to success. With decades of experience in this field, we understand the need for a skilled workforce in contributing to India”s evolving industrial landscape,” Munjal said.
He further added that with Hero Vired, the goal is to provide a premium learning experience, with a focus on a personalised mentor-mentee interaction environment, to drive improved career outcomes and opportunities.
The EdTech startup is going to offer two programmes — a six months full-time programme, subsequently an internship for a time of a quarter of a year and a part-time programme of over 11 months, with classes over weekends.
“Fee ranges from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh depending on the programme,” Munjal said while also informing that the first session is likely to begin in July this year for two programmes and others to be gradually added with the number of students capped at 100 students per batch per programme.
Initially, the classes will be offered online but once COVID-19 settles, there will be hybrid options also, he said adding selected programs provides an academic bank of credits as proposed in the National Education Policy (NEP) for learners to gain future learning.