PrepInsta is a venture conceived by the three friends Atulya Kaushik, Aashay Mishra and Manish Agarwal who are now its co-founders. Prepinsta helps students with end to end placement preparation, skill building, learning to code and also the key to every successful job which is interview preparation. Students also get access to a catalogue of over 150+ courses under one subscription of PrepInsta Prime, thus having complete freedom to learn and explore all skills and coding technologies. The startup started in the year 2016, currently it has two offices one in Noida and another in Bengaluru.
Q. Which thought leads you to the PrepInsta; tell us about the idea behind the name of your venture.
We founded PrepInsta in 2016 in the dorm rooms of VIT Vellore as an Ed-tech venture and a one-stop destination for placement. We identified how students even after achieving a good degree, still have to depend and rely on browsing and online surfing to find employment. According to NASSCOM, India produces 15 lakh engineering graduates every year, but only 2.5 lakh of them succeed in getting jobs. Only 16% are hired. As a result, our primary goal at PrepInsta is to address the existing disparity In professional opportunities in India. We also intend to make India a top destination for finding skilled workers who can compete with global standards.
As students today desire to undergo minimum hassle to find the right venture to kick-start their professional journey, we named our platform PrepInsta to resonate with our target audience.
Co-Founders of Prepinsta: Atulya Kaushik, Aashay Mishra and Manish Agarwal
Q. How did you guys meet?
I (Atulya Kaushik) and my co-founders Aashay Mishra and Manish Agarwal met in VIT, Vellore and shared a hostel dorm for four years. Even though the VIT campus provides excellent exposure and placement opportunities, we are all united in our desire to make the entire placement process simple, accessible, and inclusive for all across the country. Based on market trends, we are all convinced that India has enormous potential for Ed-Tech platforms to operate, upskill youth, and simultaneously generate a skilled workforce of the future.
Q. What are the challenges you faced during this journey?
We, like any other startups, have encountered challenges. It was initially difficult to fully understand and comprehend the diverse needs of students and professionals. Many colleges and universities were also concerned about the data and privacy of their students. Due to a lack of information, they believe that the integration of technology will jeopardize the integrity of student data and pose serious concerns. Furthermore, the increasing competition in the Ed-tech industry makes it difficult to stand out and look original.
Q. What is the USP of PrepInsta?
The OTT model of PrepInsta enables students to tap resources and avail expertise from any corner of the world and gives students the luxury to learn at their will. After a student subscribes to our Prime subscription, they can access 150+ courses and more. The subscription model will cover Placement Preparation Courses, AI/ Machine Learning, Cyber Security, Coding courses in C/C++, Competitive Coding, Ethical Hacking, Cyber Security, Python, DSA and other upskilling courses to broaden the scope of employment opportunities for the aspirants.
Students have the option to drop a particular course and pursue a different skill on PrepInsta Prime. We offer the courses at reasonable prices so that students, particularly those from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, can benefit. We have seen students complete 5 courses on PrepInsta Prime on average.
Q. How is PrepInsta different from other Placement Platforms?
In comparison to our competitors, who provide access to only one course, our unique OTT subscription model allows students to explore more skills due to their access to over 150+ courses. This has resulted in more than 1,00,000+ people getting more than 10LPA package with the help of PrepInsta. We recently announced the addition of new courses to our Prime module, in line with market trends. FAANG placement preparation, service-based company placement, web development, data analytics, Power BI, and Salesforce are among the newly added courses. PrepInsta has a very high NPA rating from users, which is close to 70%. Furthermore, we have a dual certification system in place, with students receiving certificates from both PrepInsta and TCS.
Q. Where do you see PrepInsta in the coming years?
Right now our placement percentage is 95.6%. We aim to improve it further. our average student package is 7.6LPA, we hope to increase it too. We have shown a significant growth rate as an Ed-Tech platform and in the coming years, we aspire to be the desired choice of students for upskilling courses. We have produced the growth of 5x in 2022 compared to 2020 and a growth of 2.1x in 2022 compared to 2021. At PrepInsta, we have the target of 4x growth year on year and we strive to generate 10 million USD in the new fiscal. At the same time, we are looking to collaborate with all entities, including colleges, corporate partners, and even students, in order to develop products and solutions for all of them.
