An alumnus of NIT, Surathkal (Karnataka), Bangalore-based Krishna Kumar is the chief executive of Simplilearn.com, an education startup which he has swiftly transformed into one of the fastest growing online training and certification companies in Asia (revenue: Rs.5.5 crore in 2012). After quitting a highly paid job with Infosys Technologies in 2000, Kumar promoted a software development company named Tech Unified Pvt. Ltd with three technocrat friends. In early 2007, Tech Unified was acquired by ORG Informatics Ltd for $12 million. In 2010, Kumar promoted Simplilearn.com (holding company: Simplilearn Solutions Pvt. Ltd), which currently offers 64 certification courses for working professionals in six categories including project management, IT services, IT security, quality and financial management. These courses are accredited internationally. During the past three years, it claims to have trained 50,000 working professionals worldwide.

Newspeg. Kumar was recently in Delhi to announce an increase in the portfolio of courses to 100 by year end, and also offer its courses on mobile phones.

History. Behind the lightning growth of Simplilearn.com into a transnational professional skills training, enhancement and certification firm is a backstory of a blog Kumar started after selling Tech Unified in 2007. The blog on which Kumar opined about project management and professional skills enhancement, became very popular worldwide. Two years later, he sensed a business opportunity and in 2009 began offering online skills development courses. A year later Simplilearn.com launched formal professional training and certification programmes. Impressed by the success of the company, in 2012 Indo-US Venture Partners invested an undisclosed amount to fund its expansion. Currently Simplilearn.com has a headcount of 450.

Direct talk. “In some professions there is a well-established path for professionals to move to the next level of qualifications. But in most you get stuck with what you have. To move up the executive ladder, people need to acquire additional skills and certification. In a fast globalising world with increasing inter-dependencies and complex projects, the demand for people with specialised skills has never been higher. So, after identifying the type of skills in demand we aggregated content mostly from eminent professors in American universities, and developed it into e-learning programmes. Today 70 percent of the professionals we train and certify online are sited abroad,’’ says Kumar explaining the firm’s modus operandi.

Future plans. With an established  reputation as Asia’s top online professional skills training and certification firm, Simplilearn.com has begun franchising authorised training partners for some of the firm’s popular programmes. “Building on past experience, this year we are set to increase the number of courses we offer to 100. We also intend to offer our skills development programmes on the mobile phones platform and set up an office in the Middle East. Now that we’ve acquired momentum, we can’t afford to lose it,’’ says Kumar.

Way to go, Bro!

Autar Nehru (Delhi)