Touching lives through instant, efficient & convenient language skills

Chander Madan, Founder & CEO – eAge Solutions

Chander Madan has been in technology Industry for over 23 years prior to founding eAge Edusolutions. Having worked with two pioneers of its time in technology- NIIT an IT education company and Hewlett Packard (HP) known for its innovation in IT industry, Chander is also a chartered financial analyst. He calls himself “finance trained and still a CFO at heart”. Chander feels privileged to have worked in a variety of functions including Finance, Operations, Strategy, Product Marketing and General management while at HP, managing 15 different countries in Asia Pacific.

He is passionate about using tech as an enabler to simplify processes that in turn results in cost effective and efficient operations. Chander setup eAge edusolutions – India’s leading digital spoken English service provider with a target to achieve enormous scale by surpassing the barriers in the brick and mortar format. eAge offers engaging training sessions with live teachers and these sessions are powered by Zilleon – proprietary virtual class platform that facilitates live interaction between students and teachers.

He loves to travel and spend time with family when not working in addition to listening to music during leisure. Here are some intercepts shared by the Tech-EduPreneur with team ABT.

Who is your greatest inspiration & why?

Throughout my professional career I have been privileged and honoured to work with some very talented people and outstanding leaders. During my stint at HP, I was fortunate enough to work with some great leaders who were a source of inspiration. One of the names that stand out is Mr Adrian Koch, my ex-boss at HP and my mentor and guide. I am impressed by his passion and commitment to business, willing to be challenged and a great balance of strategy and execution with agility.

As an entrepreneur I am inspired by Uber co-founder Travis. It is amazing to see how he has been able to build a transportation network without owning any vehicles. I believe it is world’s most valuable start-up. While there are similar use-cases of monetizing spare capacity in other industries , Uber’s achievements are simply awesome.

What led you to form eAge Edusolutions?

I used to be a part time tution teacher in early part of my career and continue to learn new skills throughout my professional life. I believe education is a key to development, this belief and my love for technology gave birth to my edtech start-up eAge.
eAge was incorporated with a vision to harness power of technology to enable education. As a first step in that journey, we have chosen to focus on spoken English training using our interactive technology platform to impart language training to learners who are getting ready for a job or would like to polish English language skills to enhance their career.

What is the market need that you are addressing at eAge EduSolutions?

There is a huge gap in the language learning market where lack of quality training Institutes impact learners. We are bridging the knowledge gap by connecting learners with experienced teachers using state of the art technology platform that enables a flexible, convenient learning with in the comfort of your home. While we are focusing on English training targeted at Indian market for now, we look forward to expand our service to other subjects and geographies.

If you were to do one thing differently, what would that be?

The entrepreneurial journey is a roller coaster ride and it is important to take decisions based on the gut and instinct rather than data. I would have loved to bring the product and test market sooner than we did. It is some time better to launch the product if you get it 80% right instead of perfecting it to 100%.

Tell us about your most cherished moment.

The most cherished moment for us is when we see happy customers who share stories of enhancement in their career by virtue of eAge programs. One of the proud moment has been when we got selected to work with Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) to train more than 2 lakhs (Two hundred thousand) students for Rin Career Ready Academy.

What would you like to achieve in the next 5 years?

In next 5 years, we aim to touch millions of learners using mobile platform that enables instant, efficient and convenient education to masses.

Here is a video of Chander Madan at the Icons of Learning Conclave, 2016, by BERG Singapore.