California’s Rs.40 crore growth strategy for Indian education technology sector
California-headquartered PowerSchool (NYSE: PWSC), a leading provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education in North America, is gearing up for strategic expansion in the Indian market, having augmented its Bengaluru headquarters by significantly expanding space for its Centre of Excellence (CoE).
PowerSchool aims to expand the India-based employee base to 2,000 personnel within the next 3 to 5 years from current workforce of 1,300, as it is investing Rs.40 crore in line with its robust growth strategy for the India-based education technology sector.
The CoE will be focused on bringing the latest technology into PowerSchool’s edtech products to address different challenges faced by educators and improve student learning outcomes.
Hiring is planned across all PowerSchool business units in India to elevate R&D, product innovation, customer service & success, marketing, and sales functions. Some of the key technology-focused positions to be added include Data Scientists and Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning (AI/ML) experts.
The future-focused positions will support PowerSchool’s plans to integrate AI functionality that enables educators to unlock the untapped potential of personalized education, Power School said on 8 Jan 2024.
Earlier this year, PowerSchool acquired Jarulss Software Solutions Private Limited, also known as Neverskip, a Chennai-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) software company, to strengthen PowerSchool’s India business and expand its reach to more than 900 schools and 1.2 million students in India.
PowerSchool also specializes in providing a leading learning management system (LMS), PowerSchool Schoology Learning, to some of the top schools in India.
Sharing his views on the development, Power School CEO Hardeep Gulati said, “India is a critical part of PowerSchool’s global strategy, and we envision a robust future in this region. Our strategic focus will be on leveraging local talent, fostering innovation, curating cutting-edge technology solutions, and contributing to the growth of the education technology landscape and student achievement overall.
“The expansion of our new Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru not only reflects our commitment to the Indian market but also serves as a strategic hub for our expansion plans in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. We will be responsibly growing the PowerSchool team in India in the coming years.”
PowerSchool India MD and Country Head Apoorav Nischal elaborated, “Our hiring focus in India will be multifaceted, with 50% emphasis on bolstering our capabilities distributed across various functions. Looking ahead, we are committed to fostering AI/ML skills, which are integral to our product innovation strategy and will play a crucial role in shaping the future of education technology.
“We have invested in this new CoE which is thoughtfully designed keeping in mind PowerSchool’s collaborative work culture and evolving industry requirements, creating a symbiotic and sustainable working ecosystem for all. Additionally, we will also be looking into the expansion of Chennai office space in the near future.”
PowerSchool currently serves over 50 million students across 90+ countries. With a public markets valuation of over US$4 billion, and revenues expected to reach approximately US$700 million in 2023 and growing to US$1 billion by 2026, PowerSchool has proven financial stability and a strong growth trajectory. Fiinews.com
