Speaking to TechGraph, Amit Agrawal, Founder of OckyPocky said, “I tracked down that 94% of Indian graduates battle to secure jobs due to a lack of confidence. This unfathomable understanding assisted me with distinguishing that confidence-building is rooted in English language skills.”
Edited excerpts from an interview:
TechGraph: Before we start the interview, can you let our readers know more about OckyPocky?
Amit Agrawal: Well, do you know that kids can grasp the English language while learning in their mother tongue? With OckyPocky, this is not just possible but proven. On this premise, The WhizKidz team created a character called OckyPocky (an octopus) that assists children in learning English. OckyPocky is a robust self-paced learning program that uses cutting-edge technologies such as AI and NLP.
OckyPocky has been established with the principle that the mother tongue is the most salutary when it comes to personalizing lessons for kids. The platform’s long-term goal is to impact more than 10 million blended learning audiences and empowering them with the confidence that comes only from efficient communications skills.
The mission is to change the way kids learn starting at age 2, the app has featured in the top 5 in its category on Play Store with huge daily engagement numbers.
TechGraph: How did ‘OckyPocky’ happen? What was the story behind the launch?
Amit Agrawal: With my roots in a humble tier IV town in UP, I was looking to contribute to the growth and development of India’s hinterlands when I identified that the momentum coming from preschool kids on video with smartphones. That’s when I had a vision around a massive tech-led impact for kids across tier II, III, and IV regions of the country.
Through my exploration, I tracked down that 94% of Indian graduates battle to secure jobs due to a lack of confidence. This unfathomable understanding assisted me with distinguishing that confidence-building is rooted in English language skills.
Since early childhood is the foundation stage for language learning and kids’ minds are the most fertile at this stage, I decided to help my motherland India to construct a superior establishment for the future generation at a stage where it truly matters.
Thus, OckyPocky was born!
TechGraph: How do you feel ‘OckyPocky’ stands out from BYJUS Junior, Vedantu Kids, and others who are already in this business?
Amit Agrawal: I firmly believe that healthy competition makes us faster; collaboration makes us better. Unlike others, the App offers customized live English, spoken English, and creative classes for grades 1 to 8.
Mapping all children to educators, OckyPocky guarantees that every doubt gets cleared in the language with which they are generally agreeable and comfortable. Aside from English, its different lines of product are themed around “skills that matter”; the startup intends to teach creativity and logical reasoning, for example, different types of expressions in India like Madhubani, Rubik’s 3D Cube, and so forth
Catering primarily to non-English speaking families, the app engages more than 200,000 kids per month, teaching them 8 million words in just 30 days. OckyPocky uses tech-for-good and provides English language learning, powered by speech recognition, AI, and blended learning.
TechGraph: What according to you is the scope of kids learning platforms like this in the Indian market?
Ankur Agarwal: New-age parents are highly competitive and take their kids’ education very seriously, especially in the early years. This is a trend being witnessed not just in the country’s urban regions but also across the hinterlands. Furthermore, given the insecurities caused by waves of global recession, parents are readily adopting new media tech solutions to train their kids in essential skills right from the outset of their academic lives. Thus, the scope of online learning platforms is massive in India.
This growth is further being catalyzed by the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. For over a year now, children have been gaining education by way of online classes. This has only increased the affinity to online learning for both kids and their parents.
In the post-COVID world, the scope of impact for online learning platforms is, therefore, tremendous and far-reaching. At OckyPocky, we are geared up for this hyper-growth on the horizon and look forward to making a positive impact on the lives of children, the future of our country.
TechGraph: The past few months have been challenging for businesses. How did you deal with the pandemic?
Ankur Agrawal: Being a pioneer has significant drawbacks as we were concocting and discovering simultaneously. Children at a young age have high energy and a low capacity to bear products they don’t care for. Prevailing upon them was a ton of iterations in our character “kid’s best friend” and gamification. Characterizing kid tech for a vernacular nation comes with its difficulties and challenges.
TechGraph: The past nine months have been challenging for businesses. How did you deal with the pandemic?
Ankur Agrawal: As mentioned earlier, kid tech for a vernacular nation comes with its difficulties and challenges. We have seen increased adoption and unprecedented growth on the back of COVID-19 and lockdown effects. We are expanding support to more and more languages. We will continue to be the thought leaders on pedagogy and tech innovation.
TechGraph: Did you register any rise or fall in your platform during this nine-month phase?
Amit Agrawal: In a major development, we secured Angel Funding from Lead Angels and some existing investors. Our revenue has grown explosively with users across 100+ cities in India.
TechGraph: What does your 2021 expansion plan look like?
Ankur Agrawal: Going ahead, OckyPocky wants to spread its message to each vernacular home in the country while proceeding to assemble its front-line innovation to empower better learning results. With its educator preparing endeavors, it intends to engage 10,000+ instructors who will turn into the Dronacharyas of its learning transformation.
OckyPocky’s overall objective is to turn into the no 1 language-learning resource bank for India assisting youngsters with getting innovative, adaptable, and better engaged with critical thinking. Through a triumphant mix of innovation, top-tier learning assets and professional instructors, and a cost-proficient stage, it means to democratize training for youngsters by customized learning extravaganza.