What are your education and career backgrounds and When did your entrepreneurial journey begin? Where are you based now?
I did my graduation in Mechanical Engineering from NSS Engineering College, Palakkad, under Calicut University, from 1995 to 1999.
The beginning of my entrepreneurial journey is the beginning of my career as well. In 2000, I set up RainConcert, a company that focused on solving issues in society with technology. I led RainConcert for 15 years and was based out in Trivandrum. SheTaxi & E-Toilet were born out of RainConcert. We had also worked with over 200 startups in the US, UK, Europe, India, MENA, and Africa.
After leaving RainConcert, I founded Bloombloom. Bloombloom took shape initially as a B-HUB (co-working and co-learning spaces) in Trivandrum, inside the Mar Ivanios Campus, one of the biggest institutions in India, at Nalanchira in 2017. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have expanded our online medium across India and the Middle East through Fest and B-Camp.
What is the full name of your company and what is its headcount? Please share your vision and mission of the company?
Our company is named “Bloombloom”. Our team currently composes of 20 enterprising individuals including myself.
Our mission is to fulfil all the roles of an ideal university from standardizing content to its delivery to bring opportunities for collaboration and development including employability through distinct content creators with the most relevant, passionate, inspiring and skilled content.
Any individual from a remote village to a metropolitan city should have access to the best education and they should be able to get equitable and equal opportunities. Thus, Bloombloom envisions accomplishing this over the years.
What is your core business? Please elaborate on your business model.
We’re a poly-sided platform that caters to learners, educators, companies, communities, institutions and so on. Our online platform is currently being developed where individuals can come and access courses, workshops, challenges, mentorship, opportunities, and find communities where they can socialize and create a place where they belong.
Our entire model is built on bringing consistent income to the educators based solely on the number of hours they have spent teaching and the number of students they have taught. Furthermore, our platform is to spread passion and inspiration that has been steadily decreasing in our conventional education.
When did you start/promote Bloomboom and what is your target audience? What was the primary inspiration behind its promotion? Tell us about your online platforms and offline B-HUBs. Also, elaborate on the distinguishing/innovative features of your collaborative university.
It was around 2019-2020 Bloombloom started spreading their presence on the internet as they had to shift their programmes completely online due to the ongoing pandemic. However, our offline B-HUB was creating a local knowledge and collaboration ecosystem from 2017.
We’re building the World’s First University of Collaborative Education where anyone, anywhere, can access resources from around the world to learn, collaborate and innovate from the most passionate and skilled individuals irrespective of age or any other factor so to speak.
Our offline platforms, or B-HUBs, are co-working and co-learning spaces where the two spheres of education and employment co-exist. All our online features can be accessed as miniature versions in our B-HUBs (or colleges of the University).
On our platform, anyone can be an educator if they have the skill and passion for the subject. They go through our selection process and are on-boarded as educators based on a set criterion.
Our Original Programmes are as follows:
- B-CAMP
B-Camp is a 21-day discovery summit in becoming the creators, innovators, entrepreneurs, changemakers, and leaders of tomorrow. B-CAMP introduces 21 diverse topics and shared by 21 inspiring experts over the course of 21 days to children of all ages with a month of internship towards the end.
- FEST: The School of Innovators
Fest: The School of Innovators is one of the first educational initiatives in the country that is completely aligned with the New Education Policy, 2020, of the Government of India. Fest is designed to complement the current education system while grooming children with the skills necessary to survive in the future. There are power-streams that can be chosen based on the child’s interest, such as Astrophysics, Governance, Arts, Coding, and Game Development and various streams to be added. This year-long programme taken by industry leaders and practitioners has activities, challenges, mentorship from various industries and experts, and a one-month internship at the end of the FEST year.
Distinguishing features of the initiative:
● Learning at Bloombloom is an experience curated through the collaboration between corporate entities, communities, inspiring individuals, and industry experts.
● All classes are taken by highly passionate individuals, each excellent in their own way, to young and aspiring learners who seek them out.
● Our classes link them to the real world, giving their academic ventures purpose and direction.
● The classes are set to inspire and direct students to flourish in their areas of interest while preparing them for the ever-changing world.
- We bridge the gap between age and education.
Tell us of a recent development at Bloomboom that has taken place
This month, on the 4th of April, HRH Pooyam Thirunal Gouri Parvathy Bayi of the Travancore Royal Family, and the Honourable Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, Dr Ashwath Narayan (Minister of Higher Education, Information Technology and Biotechnology, Science and Technology and Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and Livelihood) launched B-Camp & Fest: The School of Innovators in Karnataka (virtually) from Trivandrum.
We have launched a Governance stream powered by Swasthi Shishya, a project of the Swasthi Foundation in December 2020.
We’re currently conducting a pan-India virtual B-Camp with over 1,000 registrations so far with Chef Pillai, Kailas Menon, Gopi Sundar, and many other inspiring personalities as our educators.
What are the details of student outreach and impact in India and other countries if any? Name some reputed education institution subscribers if any.
Through B-camp and Fest, we have been able to reach around 6000+ students from all over the world with 500+ educators. This initiative has helped in improving interest in studies, improving imagination, social skills, improved presentation skills and challenge-taking mindset along with problem-solving skills among students. In the recent launch of B-camp & Fest in Karnataka, Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, Dr Ashwath Narayan has announced 50 scholarships for deserving children in his constituency (Malleswaram) through the programme as a part of student outreach.
What are your future plans?
We have upcoming plans to collaborate with many educational institutes such as Sree Sarada Vidyalaya, Kalady, Kerala, Vikaasa School, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, Labour India Public School, Kerala, and Milagres College, Mangalore for making learning more insightful and relevant by taking up subjects based on the child’s interest along with traditional learning.
We shall also be hosting our B-Camp in the Middle East just like last year around the time of their summer vacation. We are also looking forward to partner with the Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, Dr Ashwath Narayan, to host Fest and B-Camp in Karnataka.