TutorVista scouts schools and tutorials for takeover

TutorVista, which operates in the online tutorial, schools and hybrid tutorial space, is aggressively looking at acquisitions of schools, tutorials, and setting up greenfield schools in three states.
The company recently received a funding of Rs 86 crore ($19 million) from Pearson Group, Lightspeed Capital and Manipal Group.

K Ganesh, founder and CEO of TutorVista, told DNA Money his partnership firm with Manipal Group - Manipal K-12 Education India Pvt Ltd - will begin its greenfield schools in Mangalore and Jaipur by the next academic year.

The company will invest close to Rs 9 crore ($2 million) in the two schools.

The joint venture is also scouting for regional offline tutorials in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu for inorganic growth in that space.

Manipal K-12 Education currently runs brick and mortar tutorials in Karnataka and a greenfield school under the name Manipal Sharda School in Mysore.

“By the next academic year, we want to be in three more states (for greenfield schools). Right now, we are only in Karnataka, but we definitely want to be in a few more states. These will be normal CBSE schools,” said the serial entrepreneur. 

 Manipal K-12 Education recently formed a joint venture with Chaudary Group - C G Manipal K-12 - to acquire a chain of four schools under the brand name Campion in Nepal. The company is looking at more such acquisitions of schools for aggressive growth.

“We see huge potential for technology leveraged education area in India. We are looking to partner with promoters who have set up schools and have grown them to a certain level, but now need different kind of a mindset and capital to take it to a higher level,” Ganesh said.

He said his company was looking at bringing in brand, technology and capital to push schools to a higher level.

“What we do in schools management is pretty much what hotels do in terms of hotel management. Take over a school, put our brand, our teachers, training curriculum, technology, methodology and run it for the owners. The original owner becomes the landlord and takes the economic value of the land,” Ganesh said. TutorVista, which began its operation as online tutorial three years back with 90% of its customer base in the US, is of late focusing more on Indian market due to the emerging opportunities in the Indian market.

Charting growth
The firm is scouting for regional offline tutorials in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

The company was looking at bringing in brand, technology and capital to push schools to a higher level.