Vi Partners Startups To Offer Employability, Upskilling Services To Indian Youth

Telecom operator Vi has partnered with digital startups Apna, Enguru and Pariksha to expand its digital offerings. With these new partnerships, the telecom operator is looking at engaging young customers, especially job aspirants.

Vi Jobs and Education has integrated job search startup ‘Apna’,  Enguru–English learning startup and Pariksha, a platform specialising in government employment exam preparation, the company said. This initiative primarily targets the prepaid user base of the telecom operator.

“In line with Vi’s brand promise ‘together for tomorrow’, we’ve been looking at the need gaps in consumers’ daily lives, where we believe we can play a role of an enabler to help them get ahead in life. When we look at youth in this country their key aspiration is to get a good job and become more employable. We believe that these integrated solutions will enable Vi customers to further their efforts in gaining a competitive edge and march ahead to meet their career aspirations,” Avneesh Khosla, CMO of Vodafone Idea Limited, said. 

As part of the partnership, Apna service will be available for all Vi customers at no cost. For Enguru, Vi will offer a 14-days free trial with unlimited interactive live classes. Post-trial period, Vi users can avail of a 15-20% discount to continue with the service. 

Moreover, the telecom provider will offer a one-month free subscription for Pariksha. At the end of the free period, users will have to pay a subscription fee of INR 249 per year. 

Apna, which is a job marketplace startup for bluecaller workforce, entered the unicorn club last year after raising  $100 Mn in a Series C round led by Tiger Global. It helps job seekers find employment, as well as companies to find talent. It has clients such as Zomato, Urban Company, PhonePe, BurgerKing, edtech giant BYJU’S and Bharti AXA, among others. 

On the other hand, spoken English learning app Enguru was launched in 2015. As English is linked to many career opportunities in the formal sector, the startup chose to enter the crowded edtech segment with the proposition of bridging the workplace English gap. Another edtech startup Pariksha helps government job aspirants with various offerings including free daily tests, mock test series, preparation strategies and mentoring. 

Citing The State of Mobile 2022 report, Vi also stated that job searchers will be the top category for mobile users across the globe. With rising mobile penetration in India, the country has emerged as the top smartphone market. 

In 2021, India saw the second-highest number of mobile app downloads in the world, with over 27 Bn downloads, App Annie’s annual State of Mobile report said. 

In the third quarter of the financial year 2022, Vi’s gross revenue decreased 10.8% to INR 9,717 Cr. The telecom operator’s losses widened 59.5% to INR 7,230 Cr in the quarter on a year-on-year (YoY) basis. 

For Vi, one of the key focus areas has been to grow its digital footprint through strategic digital and content partnerships, Ravinder Takker, MD and CEO of Vi, said in the Q3 earnings call. 

“We have a very strong pipeline which will start unfolding over the next few months,” Takker said. He also mentioned that the company has some partnerships lined up in categories like gaming, education, skilling and health. 

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