Toppr: Revolutionizing The Way We Prepare For Exams

Zishaan Hayath loved working out and used a popular app to measure his runs using different parameters. Noticing its contributing in enhancing his pace, timing and overall efficiency, he wondered about the impact a technology-enabled app could have in a complex and competitive field like exam preparations for students.

That’s when he decided to establish a tech startup in the education space with his IIT Mumbai batchmate, Hemanth Goteti. In a vast industry with several pain points, they started Toppr, in 2013, as an online exam preparation platform for practice and tests that complemented classroom coaching for students.

What is Toppr?

It is an advanced and comprehensive mobile app that provides personalized learning for students studying for boards, Olympiads and various other competitive exams. The learning app enables them to study comprehensively and perform their best in CBSE, ICSE, State Boards and JEE, NEET exams, etc. by organizing learning through four modules: video lectures, practice, all-India tests and doubts.

These modules are built on top of over one million learning pieces. The app gives students access to over 2,000 hours of video lectures, concepts and study material created by India's best teachers as well as over 5 lakh questions curated by rankers and academic experts.

The belief that every student needs a unique way to attain his or her goals has won Toppr the Best Educational Website Award at the Indian Digital Awards, 2017, presented by IAMAI.

Unique features and services:

To make it a comprehensive solution for students, Toppr emphasizes on adaptive practice through personalized tests, goal-based learning and accurate, personalized feedback to pinpoint areas of improvement. With various concept sheets for revision and a wide variety of question sets with varying difficulty and types, it gives students a learning curve that best suited to work on their weaknesses and enhance their strengths.

The app evaluates students’ performances though question papers of a particular exam over the last 5 years. With every question students attempt on Toppr, their speed, accuracy and goal completion is measured and taken into account to serve them the next best question. Although, not directly competing with offline players, Toppr provides students with additional resources that complement their classroom study.

The few aspects that make it unique are:

1. Individual attention: Students on Toppr have a unique path to their goals that constantly adapts to their individual abilities and capacity to learn. The online platform helps them structure their self-study, making it 2-3 times more productive. This is achieved by its adaptive platform, built over a vast question bank that makes the experience of each student unique and highly personalized.
2. Flexible: No matter when or where a student wants to learn, practice or even ask a doubt to a tutor; Toppr is available 24x7 and instantly on any digital device.
3. Objective and detailed learning: Toppr is focused on enabling a student to achieve his or her academic goals, whether it is a scholarship exam, board exam or an entrance exam.

Monetization model and Future Plans:

Following a freemium business model, Topper gives access to all its features and clears a limited number of doubts within the first 15 days after signing up, as a trial period. Once the trial ends, students can choose from various plans and their respective features on the basis of their requirements. Educational counsellors then call them up to set up a product demo appointment with them and their families.

Currently, Toppr caters to over 1.6 million registered students across classes 8 to 12, who are taking advantage of its deep-structured content and powerful adaptive algorithms. So far, over 50 million questions have been answered on the Toppr app. While users can download the app from anywhere across India and start using it, the company has dedicated sales teams in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Kota and Jaipur. By aiming to venture into 20 more cities by 2017, the company eventually endeavours to emerge as an undisputed leader in this space.

Market Size & Opportunity In EdTech In India:

India has over 400 million students in both rural and urban areas, making it one of the largest student populations across the world. The average Indian household understands the importance of education as the catalyst to a better future; which is probably why educational expenses form the second largest chunk of all household expenditure; after rent and home maintenance.

With the inroads made by technology and the dependence on smartphones, people are now growing comfortable with consuming content on their mobile phones. This however, is not quite the same when it comes to educational content.

In India, people have always looked at offline modes of learning, such as classrooms and coaching classes, as the only reliable way to gain education. Many of them are still sceptical of digital learning platforms. Since educational spends are already high, getting them to look at digital learning as a necessary supplement to classroom learning and then spend an additional sum on it is difficult.

This is why Toppr’s biggest challenge is to establish e-learning as a platform that eliminates gaps caused by classroom learning; thereby acting as the ideal supplement to enhance a student’s learning.

Today, the journey is already underway. With over 1.5 million subscribers currently, Toppr aims to increase this number to 10 million in the next 2 years.