NEW DELHI: Taking on edtech platforms like Unacademy which are allegedly poaching teachers from its facilities, India's premier coaching centre Allen Career Institute (ACI) on Tuesday announced to foray into the online edtech space.
Allen Career Institute has launched its maiden digital arm, Allen Digital Pvt. Ltd, and according to its Managing Director Anand Maheshwari, they felt the need to extend services to more students who are not in a position to relocate to avail its physical tuition centres.
With the launch of Allen Digital, the group is eying to expand its roots beyond 40 cities in India.
"Additionally, the ubiquity of digital will allow us to achieve scale at a faster rate without having to compromise on the quality of teaching, " Anand Maheshwari said in a statement.
The company has pioneered coaching for entrance examinations such as JEE (advanced and main) and NEET (UG) and now aims to improve learning outcomes for students in India and beyond through the new digital venture.
The move comes as edtech platforms like BYJU's and Unacademny have forayed into physical coaching centres nation-wide.
Unacademy, which recently laid off more than 600 employees in the funding winter, is opening a coaching centre in Kota and has reportedly hired several teachers from Allen institute.
Allen Career Institute's co-founder and Chairman-designate, Brajesh Maheshwari, this month announced to take strict action against teachers who leave the institute and join rival edtech platforms.
"Jo koi jaata hai toh aaj se iss baat ko pakka krle, vo humesha k liye blacklisted at Allen (Any teacher who leaves will be blacklisted at Allen forever), " said Brajesh Maheshwari.
"Sharafat ki duniya khatam, jaise duniya waise hum, " he added.
Allen Digital will enable students throughout their preparation by providing mentor support, online and offline support, career counselling and psychological counselling.
Additionally, the institute will also provide a curated range of non-science courses in short-term, long-term, workshops, and crash course formats.
"Building on our Institution's core values, Allen Digital is dedicated to provide the best by offering academic excellence poured from the expert faculty and proven pedagogy on the state-of-art platform in order to bring the best results for our students, " said Pankaj Agarwal, Vice President, Allen Career Institute.
Allen Career Institute recently raised $600 million from Bodhi Tree Systems, an investment platform by former 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch and ex-Disney executive Uday Shankar.