In recent years, a number of proactive initiatives from both the public and private sectors have proven to be highly effective in reshaping the Indian education system.
Notable indicators of this transformation include a decrease in school and college dropout rates and a growing preference among the population for pursuing professional education. Additionally, to advance the mission of promoting education, a wide array of financial grants, encompassing scholarships, fellowships, and awards, have been introduced on a broader scale.
Nevertheless, this substantial financial support falls short of achieving its intended objectives, struggling to reach the intended beneficiaries. The prevailing issue stems from a lack of awareness about these opportunities, which is a direct result of the significant communication gap between the providers and potential recipients.
Besides, most of the students who need financial aid and are aware of them can't avail of scholarships due to the dearth of structured mentoring, which leads to disqualification in examinations.
The scholarship dispersal system of India needs to implement dynamic and calculated measures for wiping out the obstacles that hinder our pursuit of excellence in education.
There is a need for specialized initiatives designed to raise awareness, offer mentorship, and provide guidance programs. These programs should concentrate on educating students about the multitude of scholarship opportunities available, assisting them in navigating the application process, and adequately preparing them for any required examinations. Moreover, they should extend their support to students in making well-informed decisions about their educational journeys.
A brainchild of innovative minds from top-notch academic institutions in India, Buddy4Study is a collective effort to reshape scholarship distribution in India toward making quality education accessible for all.
Buddy4Study has been in the limelight since its inception in 2011. Due to its fruitful endeavours toward bridging the huge gap between scholarship providers and scholarship seekers.
Being the premier platform for scholarships in the nation, the company utilizes cutting-edge technology to aggregate scholarship information from around the world, providing invaluable support to both those seeking scholarships and the organizations offering them.
Those who are searching for suitable scholarships can have convenient access to profile-based national and international scholarships with end-to-end application support.
Whereas for scholarship providers, the company's portfolio offers a suite of specialized services for end-to-end management and monitoring of scholarship programs. It covers scholarship design, scholarship promotion, application management, shortlisting, selection process, interviews, documentation, verification of documents, and a robust scholar tracking system.
With its groundbreaking concept, Buddy4Study has built a reputation for credible CSR implementation partnerships with several corporates in this domain.
The company has introduced a lineup of prominent offerings, including Scholarship Management Services (SMS), the Student to Scholar Program (S2S), a Student Management Panel (SMP), and the Scholar Tracking System (STS), all designed to advance their mission.
Leveraging its cutting-edge solutions, the company has been successful in extending its reach to more than one million students and helping them pursue their dreams by fetching them those scholarship programs that suit them best.
Buddy4Study is an exemplary story where a unique and transformative idea knits its way to success. A mere college project fueled the inception of the company in 2011.
During their initial phase, as they embarked on their journey, the founders recognized that a significant number of students throughout India were unable to unleash their full potential due to the scarcity of affordable financial support. This predicament persisted despite the availability of substantial scholarship funds distributed worldwide to foster education.
This motivated the whole team to work towards bridging this unfathomable gap between demand and supply in this space.
During a chat with Startup City, Mr. Manasvi Singh – Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Buddy4Study, said, "We wanted to create a product that would help those who wanted to pursue their education but did not have the means and awareness to access the available resources.
Keeping in view the current state of the largely unorganized scholarship ecosystem in India, we came up with the idea of using technology to our rescue.
A robust scholarship search engine was designed where students can not only search for scholarships but also create their profiles, find scholarships that match their profile, apply for all such scholarships, and stand a chance to win.
Simplification of scholarships was the mantra that we used to build our product. That is how we got our name, Buddy4Study, a trusted pal that students would count upon for anything and everything related to scholarships in India. We aimed for our product to comprehensively cater to various aspects from the student's viewpoint."
The avant-garde concept's integrated solutions aim to resolve a myriad of challenges faced by students as well as corporations by establishing a clear connection between them.
For students, the process couldn't be more straightforward. They only need to complete a straightforward four-step sequence, which entails registering, setting up their profile, browsing through suitable scholarships, and finally, submitting applications to secure scholarships.
"The quick and efficient process presents the best-matched or best-fit scholarships before students that they stand a chance to win. All this is done using advanced machine learning, AI, and Data Science.
Our smart algorithm makes finding that one scholarship out of the hundreds and thousands available online a simple four-step process", adds Mr. Manjeet Singh – Co-Founder and chief Executive officer at Buddy4Study.
Scholarship-providing corporates are aided with gilt-edge offerings that benefit them with the unique advantage of launching and managing a scholarship without any hassles. Here's a glimpse:
Scholarship Management Service – A robust technology solution to launch and manage the scholarship program right from promotions, receiving applications, shortlisting students, informing, scheduling, conducting interviews and fund disbursed to tracking and monitoring the growth of scholars.
Student2Scholar Program (S2S) – The program's primary objective is to engage the student community in actively pursuing the most suitable scholarship opportunities. Encouraging participation can be particularly challenging in rural, remote, or underprivileged areas.
Student Management Panel (SMP) – Despite every effort and initiative of corporate/foundations, there is a limitation to what amount can be funded to deserving needy students.
There is a strong case for the students who could not make it or miss the scholarship by a narrow margin. Buddy4Study plays the role of torch bearer to show these students light to the world of other scholarship opportunities available.
Student to Scholar –The groundbreaking product aims to measure the impact of the scholarship program with complete visibility.
Leveraging artificial intelligence, machine learning and data science, it not only tracks the growth of scholars but also enables companies to track and monitor their CSR initiatives.
Academic growth is measured through grade cards and mark sheets uploaded on the dashboard.
Providing us with more insights on the company's exclusive portfolio, Mr. Manasvi Singh –says, "While our online scholarship search portal caters to the requirements of the students looking for scholarships, the on-ground team works across the length and breadth of the country to reach out to remotest locations where there is no or limited internet access.
Buddy4Study is actively engaged with noted names like L'Oréal India, DLF Foundation, Learning with Vodafone, and Marubeni as a preferred CSR implementation partner in the domain of education.
We support these organizations with end-to-end scholarship management services, delivering results that are not possible with the regular implementation techniques."
Spearheading a unique service offering, Buddy4Study has successfully carved a niche for itself in a very short period. The company's peerless strengths have enabled it to stand tall among the rest, positioning it uniquely as a leader.
Studded with a host of unheard-of benefits for both the consumer spaces, the portfolio further consolidates the company's leadership in this space.
What sets Buddy4Study apart and elevates its offerings are several key distinguishing factors. These include a technology-driven scholarship search engine, the most extensive collection of verified and carefully selected scholarships, comprehensive step-by-step application assistance for students, a tele-support system, email support, SMS subscriptions for staying updated on the latest scholarships, and regular email notifications regarding newly available scholarships.
Here's a brief look into what enables the company to stand tall among the rest of the players:
A dynamic team of expert professionals hailing from India's most reputed institutions carrying rich backgrounds in entrepreneurship and start-ups.
In-house team for content, media, digital marketing, sales, promotions, on-ground operations, recruitment, tele support, web design/development, software and programming, application development.
In-house operations team working across 20 states in India.
Latest technology adoption – AGILE implementation in progress.
In the course of its journey, Buddy4Study has achieved several significant milestones, each serving as a stepping stone towards climbing the ladder of success and realizing the company's vision.
Notable accomplishments include the introduction of the Scholarship Management Service (SMS), a globally recognized innovation. The remarkable achievement of Buddy4Study reached a registered subscriber base of five hundred thousand students, all of whom have completed their profiles and are active members, and the successful launch of the Buddy4Study mobile application.
Speaking of the achievements, Mr. Singh adds, "In just a few years, we have moved from a small startup to an operationally positive enterprise. We recently raised our series 'A funding' and are prepared to expand on a global scale. Our growth naturally comes from our 120-strong workforce which is operating across India."
Top 2 Edu-Tech Innovative Company Award Globally by Capgemini in Paris June 2017.
Winner of The Best CSR Project Award by India CSR at the National CSR Summit in March 2017.
The Best Education Start-up of the Year Award by the Indian Education Congress in 2016.
Winner of South Asia & Asia Pacific Manthan Award 2014 (out of 69 teams from 36 countries).
Top 100 Social Enterprise of 2015 as Action for India Forum in February 2015.
Top 50 Most Innovative IT Product Companies of 2015 as per NASSCOM in October 2015.
Buddy4Study has obtained a firm footing in the Edu-tech space as one of the fastest-growing start-up's space. The company has been following a strategically developed plan toward making education accessible to all students.
The multidimensional growth plan focuses on the expansion of the service portfolio, extending its reach across the globe and building the largest scholarship repository in the world.
The company is all set to venture into the financial loans for education segment. This would be another step towards furthering the cause of extending education accessibility to all students.
Manasvi holds a prominent role in overseeing corporate affairs at Buddy4Study. With an engineering degree from J.S.S.A.T.E and a management background from IMT-Ghaziabad, he brings a wealth of experience encompassing both corporate and entrepreneurial domains.
His primary responsibility is to guide the organization towards the realization of its vision of ensuring accessible education for all. Manasvi spearheads strategic partnerships in both the B2C and B2B sectors, collaborating with government and non-government entities alike.
As a Co-founder of Buddy4Study, his leadership has been instrumental in propelling the company from a startup to India's largest technology-driven scholarship platform.
Manasvi, an adept in marketing strategies, is a seasoned entrepreneur with a track record of success. He achieved a lucrative exit from his first startup, MyOwnSpace, which he transformed into a highly profitable venture. Prior to venturing into entrepreneurship, Manasvi played pivotal roles in Sales and marketing for renowned companies such as Vedanta, Emami, PepsiCo, and Reebok.
He has earned a reputation as a startup catalyst, turning fledgling enterprises into thriving and established entities. His proficiency in Sales and marketing, adept people management skills, and knack for nurturing success stories are well-regarded. Manasvi is a respected thought leader, frequently sharing his insights as a speaker in various startup workshops.
Manjeet is the driving force behind the robust scholarship search engine that Buddy4Study takes pride in. An Engineer from MERI, Kolkata, his proven expertise in software technology is the backbone of the portal. Manjeet has been a part of the startup ecosystem and a serial entrepreneur.
Manjeet has successfully started, scaled, and sold his previous two startups, Elucit and Pinig Tech. Manjeet's entrepreneurial experience and technology expertise have helped Buddy4Study to scale fast and keep innovating new products.
Manjeet leads the teams responsible for technology innovation, digital marketing, and finance, and he is unwaveringly dedicated to the vision of creating a platform that aims to be visited by every Indian student, out of the 22 crore students, at least once in their search for scholarships or financial assistance.
