Exclusive: Charu Noheria of Practically talks about Practically’s phenomenal growth over the past year
Practically is India’s first experiential app designed for students in classes 6th12th with a focus on STEM learning. For schools, they offer a cuttingedge product ‘Practically School Solution’ which is the world’s first comprehensive product suite offering end to end school solutions from school administration to stimulating content. This solution offers 3,000+ videos and 1,000+ Simulations & Augmented Reality (AR) experiences to teachers making the teaching process more convenient and engaging. It also enables teachers to conduct their own virtual classes and empowers them to enhance their lesson plans with immersive contextual content. The teacher app is FREE for all education institutions, so all teachers have the best quality content, academic workflows and AI-based insights at their fingertips. Practically aims to make learning fun, interactive and distraction-free for students.
MS. CHARU NOHERIA
Co-Founder and COO
Practically,
Recently, Practically achieved two milestones- being recognized as a Minicorn by Tracxn and acquiring the world’s most widely used school ERP, Fedena.
We find out more in this exclusive tete a tete with Charu Noheria, Co-founder and COO, Practically on the journey so far, brand’s latest developments and what’s in store for 2022 for one of the fastest growing edtech platforms in the world.
You have been recognized as a ‘Minicorn.’ How has Practically evolved over the past years?
We launched the Practically app in April 2020 to help bridge the gap that existed in STEM learning. Prior to our launch, when we had surveyed the Indian K-12 market there were many apps, including some incumbents, that offered pinpoint solutions. We arrived at the insight that there is a need for one platform to fulfill all the academic requirements. In addition, there was no solution focussing on experiential learning which can truly revolutionize the way we deliver education today. We developed Practically, as the world’s first immersive and experiential onestop solution that offers everything from immersive content to detailed study material, live classes to coding workshops — all on one platform. We launched the first version of the app with immersive content for 6th to 12th grades in 2020. Since then, in addition to adding new content and games every month, we have added some amazing features like Live classes, coding, Scan Anything, collaborative teaching tools, lesson plans, etc. In a very short span of time, we have grown to 1.5 million downloads at an encouraging pace. In October 2021, we broke into the Top 10 education apps in India on the Google Play store, indicative of the growing brand equity. We are very soon launching K-5 courses on the app and also looking to launch content in various Indian languages.
More than 1,500,000 students across India and the Middle East are already benefiting from the engaging content and features on Practically. With the recent Fedena acquisition, we have further strengthened our product suite making Practically the world’s most comprehensive school solution and also increased our user footprint to 180+ countries.
What are the key distinguishing features of Practically?
Practically is the only such product in the world that combines a game engine, immersive learning assets, innovative features for personalized learning and AIassisted study buddy in one compact cross-platform app, focussed on STEM learning. It is designed to bring back joy into classrooms and enable better learning outcomes for students with thousands of exhilarating, life-like 3D videos, simulations, and Augmented Reality (AR) experiences combined with learning pathways. Last year, we launched the revolutionary #ScanAnything feature which drives learning from real-life objects around you becoming the world’s first EdTech company to do so. The app also provides the learner option to engage in live classes, seek help from experts and interact 1×1 with a mentor.
Practically’s acquisition of Fedena school ERP has given the brand an edge over others. Can you please tell us more about it?
Practically, at present with our latest acquisition of Fedena ERP has become the world’s first comprehensive product suite offering end to end solutions to schools. We now offer one-in-all product and services that a school needs from experiential learning content, innovative and collaborative teaching tools, to easy-touse administrative and support tools. This move not only boosts our active user base but also gives us an immediate global reach, besides allowing us to offer our product and services to Fedena’s existing network of schools.
Fedena is a globally recognised solution provider and is the world’s most widely used school ERP present in as many as 180 countries. The acquisition has strengthened Practically’s stature in the EdTech ecosystem and has increased our reach in the domestic and global markets.
With so many interesting developments, what is the way forward for Practically?
Practically has now expanded pan-India and we have added over 150 employees to cater to national sales. We are looking to double our sales muscle in the coming months. Beyond India, the Middle East and SouthEast Asia are markets where we have started to build our teams and have started acquiring early customers. By way of strategic partnerships and acquisitions, we are also looking to move to a couple of other international markets by the end of this financial year. Additionally, we plan to launch our K-5 product this year. 2022 does look like an exciting year ahead for us.
With schools re-opening gradually, how do you envision edtech to fit in the scheme of things?
Digital adoption and blended learning are the biggest trends in the ed-tech space. The edtech sector has always been ahead of its time and will continue to co-exist with schools. It is important for schools to select solutions that are designed to complement the curriculum and empower teachers to make their classes more engaging.
According to a report by PGA Labs and IVCA, India’s education sector is poised to grow from the current $117 billion to $225 billion by FY25. We believe that technology adoption in the education sector is yet to peak, and the growth trajectory is likely to continue beyond the pandemic years. Blended learning aptly brings together the best of traditional classroom teaching, online tools and the latest technology. It offers flexible teaching, promotes self and continuous learning ecosystem, experiential education and customized curriculum, helping students to explore and learn beyond their classrooms.
The main objective of edtech platforms should ideally be the empowerment of learners and educators. The Indian education tech industry is capable of causing a paradigm shift in blurring the boundaries that prevent people across age groups and economic backgrounds from gaining access to the best of education and becoming one of the strongest economies in the world.
