Looking back at 2018

“Beautiful beginnings from terrific ends”

2019 has begun and for all of us at Extramarks, there has been an incessant buzz of new activities, initiatives and vision setting that completely overwhelmed us. Two weeks into the New Year, now that I sit back and reflect, I realize 2018 was a magnificent year for us. There was much we could accomplish, bearing in mind the core values and missions of Extramarks. The transformative cause we had in mind was given the extra push by the gently guiding hand of the Universe. As a result, we saw ourselves reaching out to new learners, employees, partners and even, geographies. As we start cruising into 2019, I thought it would be a rewarding experience to reflect upon year 2018 and its many highlights.

Right now, our country is poised at a crucial juncture in technological advancement, which is the only thing which can balance out the needs and aspirations of a burgeoning population. Education, of course, takes a centre stage in ensuring personal fulfilment, professional advancement and holistic growth. Education integrated with the boons of technology is what we, here at Extramarks have immersed ourselves into. Technology enabled learning solutions are the gift which Extramarks has been serving students for close to a decade, and in 2018, this mission adopted an altogether new vigour.

Extramarks already had a wide network of school partners, but we were also reaching out to our learners directly through our personalized web and tab-based solutions, especially to make their after-school study seamless. Some time ago, the app-based market exploded and Extramarks remained a front runner with its K-12 and Kids Learning App. In 2018, however, we diversified our portfolio to include three new apps.

Two of these were for exciting the curious and enterprising learner in the K-12 segment – Interactive Learning App and the Science Experiments App. The former gives students a virtual journey of Science and Social Science concepts and the latter is like a pocket science laboratory. Both make learning a hands-on, stimulating experience – much the requirement of the 21st century learner.

Other than a strong foothold in the K-12 segment, Extramarks has also been helping nurture career aspirations through extensive products and services in the test prep domain. Here, we launched the CA Foundation prep app, which has already begun garnering stupendous response among users.

The way to progress is not just launching new things, but also continuously investigating the efficacy of our older products. In this regard, a crucial highlight of 2018 was the complete revamp of the IIT-JEE Test Prep App, which we remodeled into a robust testing platform – exactly what aspirants struggling with the changed online format of exam need. If we are not responsive to the evolving needs of our learners, we are not being true to our mission. This app, other than containing and exhaustive, specially curated question bank for prep, has also conceptualized a National Level Weekly Test Series, to keep students abreast with the level of their preparation, along with their updated national peer ranking. We’re helping students sitting in any corner of the country study and evaluate themselves at the national level – which is critical to JEE prep.

2018 also marked our expansion into international territories including Indonesia and Ghana, two geographies where education technology is poised to play a pivotal role in triggering significant and positive transformations.

Our apps have helped us reach out to millions of users in a short span of time. Over 1.2 crore learners are dedicatedly using Extramarks as their learning companion. These numbers help reinforce the confidence that we are on the right track. In order to address the needs of this growing number, our own team is under constant expansion. We grew by almost 1000 employees last year, and this trend will continue in 2019 as well. We’re always on the lookout for smart, passionate, energetic and talented people, who can aid and expand the vision of Extramarks.

2018 has been a great year for us and we’re moving forward into 2019 with renewed vigor and purpose and we’re thankful to you for being a part of our ongoing journey.