Focus Edu Care to invest Rs 40 cr for expansion

Focus Edu Care, a provider of classroom and virtual education, is planning to invest around Rs 30-40 crore on expanding its presence across the country. The company plans to increase the number of its study centres from 20 centres to 150 centres in the next two years.

The company offers vocational training in fields like competitive exam coaching, healthcare and finance. In its teaching methodology, it uses a combination of video conferencing and conventional classroom techniques. “We are in talks with foreign universities for tying up with them for our courses,” said Anirudh Baheti, managing director, Focus group of companies. The planned investment for centre’s expansion will be sourced from internal accruals.

So far the company has established an equal number of its own centres and franchisees. It plans to continue with the model. It is looking at virtual learning as a key growth factor in the coming years. The size of the e-learning market in India is estimated to be around Rs 100 crore.

“Virtual learning is a nascent industry. It has been only a few years since it become popular internationally. With convenience in studying for a course from home and getting to learn from good faculty through video conference, we expect it to grow 50-60 per cent in the next five to 10 years,” said Baheti.

Focus Edu Care has a turnover of Rs 15 crore at present. It is part of the Focus group which has interests in financial services, healthcare staffing and placement, software consultancy services and education services.