UpGrad eyes Middle East to expand its global footprint

Ronnie Screwvala has been disrupting long before 'disruptor' became a trendy word. As a first-generation entrepreneur, he dabbled with manufacturing toothbrushes, entered TV production, and eventually growing the business into the mega entertainment conglomerate UTV.

After divesting UTV to Walt Disney Company in 2012 for $4.1 billion, he had a body of work that would have sent most into content retirement.

Not Screwvala though. In his second innings, the 58-year-old Mumbai native wanted to do something that could be game-changing for millions, not just for him. Screwvala's time and talent are now dedicated to education (via upGrad), sports (through U Sports) and social work (through The Swades Foundation with wife Zarina).

As upGrad made a big push into the Middle East market recently, Screwvala explained the pivot from entertainment to edtech in an exclusive interview with IANS.

"Firstly, it was to roll up my sleeves and start something new from the ground up. Secondly, it needed to be a sector with scale, needed disruption and it had to be something India could take externally to the world. Thirdly, there was the need to use some of my strengths, like building brands and pre-empting trends. The idea was to take the path less trodden and find a new way of doing things where the past was not that relevant," said Screwvala.

He was also keen that his second innings should be high impact. As chairman and co-founder of upGrad, Screwvala is tapping into the demand for continued education from career professionals.

Focusing on the post-graduation, higher studies and specialisation areas, upGrad offers courses to over one million total registered learners in more than 50 countries across the world in in-demand subjects ranging from management to machine learning.

Screwvala sees huge potential in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Middle East, where countries have deep digital penetration.

"We're committed to expanding to new international markets as we march forward with our goal of offering affordable, accessible, and relevant higher education. We're thrilled to bring upGrad's global expertise to the region in the form of our tailor-made online courses," he adds.

"Our expansion efforts have also recently been strengthened with Temasek's $120 million funding. We'll be leveraging this fresh capital to make a positive social impact in the Middle East region."

Recent buzz around edtech has also been driven by Indian startup, Byju's. The darling of venture capitalists, it is one of India's most valued startups at $16.5 billion after a slew of fundings recently. Unlike Byju's, which serves school-going students, upGrad has focussed on professional upskilling and has been very selective in opting for external capital.

Asked if success in raising funds has become a benchmark for startups and edtech firms, Screwvala said: "For many, unfortunately yes. However, for others who are focussed on building long-term businesses, this is not always the case.