As COVID-19 fuels demand for online courses, here’s Ronnie Screwvala's next big gambit

Capitalising on a spurt in demand for online courses since the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, outbreak, veteran entrepreneur Ronnie Screwvala has drawn up a multi-prong strategy.

Apart from shoring up resources to cater to the increasing demand for online professional courses, the co-founder of edtech start-up upGrad is also on the prowl for acquisitions, but with a slight difference.

"I have set up a fund of Rs 50 crore for acquisitions," Screwvala told Moneycontrol. "A lot is happening in edtech, and there are some phenomenal entrepreneurs out there," he added.

But the businessman makes it clear, he is not there to 'save them,' and is not going to use the money to acquire companies. Instead, he is in talks with founders of promising start-ups who are in need of funds. Screwvala has offered them to merge their companies with upGrad, and then use the Rs 50 crore-corpus to fund their activities.

"We have shortlisted three companies and are having serious discussions...I can see the other side, and the challenges they are facing," said the entrepreneur who had grown UTV into a media conglomerate that was later bought by Disney in 2012.

Three years later, he founded upGrad, an online higher education platform providing programmes for professionals across sectors.

Rising demand
Unlike most of the other sectors that have been laid low because of the virus, the edtech space has seen a renewed interest from customers.

"While earlier people would acknowledge the importance of these professional courses, they would defer from taking a decision to actually invest in them," Screwvala said.

But that has changed with COVID-19. Not just that customers are now interested in these courses, but there is a realisation that re-skilling is absolute necessary to remain relevant in the job market.

"If you are not among the top 50 employees, then the chances of you losing a job is higher," the entrepreneur pointed out.

The higher interest has helped upGrad increase its numbers by two times.

Screwvala, who daily chats with customers, also sees a change in the mind-set of companies, chief executives and HR heads, who now see that investment in these courses, does bring a return too.

"The challenge for us is to change the culture within the organisation to cater to this demand. If during a war time we are in such a situation, then in peace time we need to gear up to make it grow faster," the upGrad co-founder and Chairman said.

COVID-19 strategyStressing on the need to have a two-pronged strategy to see through the present economic crisis, Screwvala said entrepreneurs not just need to focus on how to resume operations, but also understand the consumer behaviour.

For instance, in the auto sector, more consumers may want to buy vehicles to limit public transport given the importance of social distancing. At the same time, they also want to keep a check on their spending.

"This means that once the lockdown lifts, there could be higher demand for motorbikes and cars below the Rs 10-lakh range. So does an auto company have a plan to cater to this possible change in consumer spending," he argued.

Apart from framing a strategy - both for present and post COVID-19 times - leaders should also focus on effective communication down the ranks. "As a leader it is your responsibility to paint the scenario to employees, share strategy and validating it frequently," Screwvala said.