EdServ Softsystems Limited

EdServ Softsystems Limited is one of the online education companies in India. Founded in 2001 by Mr. S. Giridharan, EdServ is world’s first 4th generation education company which makes use of technology to meet the education and employment needs of the people.[1] Currently, it has over 30 lakh registered users from all over India.

EdServ went for IPO on Feb 05, 2009.[2] Currently, it is listed on major stock exchange markets in India; namely Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE: 533055) and National Stock Exchange of India (NSE: EDSERV).

Company’s headquarter office is located in Kodambakkam, Chennai, India.[1] As of March 2011, it has 10 offices and 35 centres across India. It employs over 500 people, excluding the distributors and dealers network of the company which spans across the length and breadth of the country.

Contents

History

Formerly known as Lambent Softsystems Private Limited (Company was re-christened to M/s EdServ Softsystems Limited on as late as April 22, 2008[3]), EdServ was incorporated by Mr. S. Giridharan in 2001 with a view to provide training solutions, customized software solutions, staffing solutions and placement consulting to both Corporate as well as Institutional clients (IT, Healthcare, Banking, Financial Services, Manufacturing, Retail sectors etc.).[2][3] At that time, it was mainly focused on IT learning and placement solutions.

For the financial year 2007-08, EdServ registered revenue of Rs. 3.95 crore with adjusted net profit of Rs. 2.92 crore. Next year, for the six month period ending September 2008, firm recorded revenue of Rs. 4.34 crore with an adjusted net profit of Rs. 1.82 crore.[4]

IPO

EdServ went for IPO on Feb 05, 2009. CARE, a credit rating agency in India, assigned an IPO Grade 1 to EdServ IPO, which meant that company had ‘poor fundamentals’. Accordingly, IPO got lukewarm response on the first two days from the investors. But till the end of IPO on Feb 09, 2009, IPO got oversubscribed by 1.3 times in spite of poor ratings from CARE.[4]

Acquisitions

EdServ, in its initial years, was mainly focused on IT training and placement solutions. After IPO, it began concentrating on online education sector. Intent on moving into an Education and Training space, it made series of acquisitions in the following years; namely 2tion.com (Sep 30, 2009),[5] SchoolMate (Feb 23, 2010),[6] SmartLearn WebTV (March 2, 2010),[7] Sparkling Mind (March 30, 2010).[8]

Business model

EdServ’s business model is based on the following four pillars

  1. Humanware Education And Deployment System (HEADS): HEADS is a patented learning model which connects learning with placements.
  2. Trademarked content: All content is copyrighted. Part of the content is indigenous and the rest is third party copyright content.
  3. e-learning and patented education models: EdServ has many patented education models like HEADS, Vidhyadhana, etc.
  4. New product development and acquisitions: Since its inception, EdServ has acquired different online education companies and has come up with many new products like EdSmart, AreaPartner, Humthum etc.

Products

EdServ provides education solutions across all fields, from K-12 to careers through Industry Demand Aligned education with career orientation. Lampsglow, 2tion, Vidhyadhana, SmartLearn WebTV, SchoolMATE, AreaPartner are some of the products under EdServ umbrella.

Lampsglow

Lampsglow is the complete education solutions package. It is a comprehensive learning programme based on technology and interactive methods for all levels, from pre-school to graduation and post-graduation. It includes solutions for regular academic curriculum as well as for various competitive exams like Olympiads, Talent Search Examinations, IIT-JEE, AIEEE, CAT, CA-CPT etc. It also includes IT courses for graduates and post-graduates and a programme to assist them in their placements.

Vidhyadhana

Vidhyadhana is an innovative business concept modeled into a practical business prospect. It is an ongoing programme aimed at integration of technology with the conventional Indian educational system. Vidhyadhana helps in school building process right from staff recruitment to technology deployment at school level. The important feature of this programme is to enable technology based learning in each classroom of India with the help of computers and projectors.

Placement solutions

It is a comprehensive programme designed by EdServ to seamlessly connect education and employment. It focuses on job-oriented training. Under this, a student is first enrolled in education training programme and then his profile is fed into the career databases of partner companies. In the event of recruitment, the profile of candidate is available to partner companies and action is taken depending upon the performance report of the candidate.

2tion

2tion.com is a robust platform created to address the needs of students and their parents, and tutors. It acts as a link between tutors and students. It has millions of users, both students and tutors, from all over the globe. It has all technology tools like whiteboard and videos and animations to make learning more interactive.

EdSmart

EdSmart is a mobile application designed to meet the education needs of the people on mobile. It is basically a hybrid mobile app and runs on almost all mobile platforms.

Competitors

There are many online education organizations in India. Of those, Educomp Solutions, Aptech, Examsguru, Everonn Education and NIIT are EdServ's main competitors.[9]

Key financial data

Year Mar ‘06[10] Mar ‘07[10] Mar ‘08[10] Mar ‘09[10] Mar ‘10[10]
Total Revenue (Rs. lakhs) 40 18 396 858 5,268
EBITDA (Rs. lakhs) 19 8 345 674 3,051
Net Income (Rs. lakhs) 23 1 253 369 1,802
EPS (Rs./share) 10.08 0.16 9.02 3.07 15.01

Timeline

Sr. No. Date Events
1 Mar 13, 2001 Lambent Systems Private Limited founded by Mr. S. Giridharan[3]
2 Oct 03, 2001 Lambent signed as a partner by Microsoft for Exchange Solutions[11]
3 Dec 05, 2001 Company name changed to Lambent Softsystems Private Limited[3]
4 Feb 13, 2002 Infosys Technologies granted staffing solutions contract to Lambent[12]
5 Jun 07, 2002 ERP product develop programme MERU launched by Lambent[3]
6 Aug 18, 2005 Sun Microsystems (India) Private Limited signed up for authorized Java education partnership[3]
7 Sep 23, 2005 Oracle signed up for authorized education partnership[11]
8 2007 ELMAQ education acquired by Lambent Softsystems Private Limited[12]
9 Jan 09, 2008 Company name changed to EdServ Softsystems Private Limited[12]
10 Jan 28, 2008 HEADS model launched by EdServ[11]
11 Apr 22, 2008 Conversion into a public limited company and company name changed to EdServ Softsystems Limited[11]
12 Feb 05, 2009 IPO issued by EdServ Softsystems Limited[2]
13 Mar 12, 2009 Online Placement Campus launched by EdServ[13]
14 Apr 21, 2009 Power Partner Model launched by EdServ with a view to target 1 million job positions[14]
15 Jun 12, 2009 EdCademy, the academic in-campus support programme for Engineering & Management students launched by EdServ[15]
16 Jul 02, 2009 Mother Teresa University gives LoI to EdServ to implement EdCademy[16]
17 Jul 23, 2009 Complete implementation of EdCademy Assessment Engine for Anna University by EdServ[17]
18 Sep 30, 2009 2tion.com acquired by EdServ Softsystems Limited[5]
19 Oct 08, 2009 Training deal from Government of India granted to EdServ[18]
20 Nov 10, 2009 'VIDHYADHANA', the Academy of Excellence for schools launched by EdServ[19]
21 Dec 07, 2009 $ 25 million raised by EdServ through GDR / FCCB issue[20]
22 Jan 27, 2010 EdServ becomes VTP of Ministry of Labour, GoI[21]
23 Feb 23, 2010 SchoolMate acquired by EdServ Softsystems Limited[6]
24 Mar 02, 2010 SmartLearn Web TV acquired by EdServ Softsystems Limited[7]
25 Mar 19, 2010 ‘LAMPSGLOW’ education service portal launched by EdServ[22]
26 Mar 30, 2010 Sparkling Mind acquired by EdServ Softsystems Limited[8]
27 Jun 03, 2010 EdServ’s Vidhyadhana Academy signs MOU with 40 year old city school.[23]
28 Aug 25, 2010 EdServ strikes e-training Partnership with Canadian Company[24]
29 Oct 06, 2010 5 Year Gujarat Government Training Deal granted to EdServ[25]
30 Jan 25, 2010 CA Online Training on lampsglow.com launched by EdServ[26]

References

  1. ^ a b http://www.indiainfoline.com/Markets/Company/Fundamentals/Management-Discussions/Edserv-Softsystems-Ltd/533055
  2. ^ a b c http://www.chittorgarh.com/ipo/ipo_detail.asp?a=194
  3. ^ a b c d e f http://www.moneycontrol.com/company-facts/edservsoftsystems/history/ES08
  4. ^ a b http://www.vccircle.com/500/news/edserv-ipo-the-first-issue-in-past-four-months-scrape-through
  5. ^ a b http://www.thehindu.com/business/companies/article26999.ece
  6. ^ a b http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2010-02-23/news/27620641_1_schools-s-giridharan-edserv-chairman-and-ceo
  7. ^ a b http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/edserv-buys-smartlearn/387294/
  8. ^ a b http://www.vccircle.com/500/news/edserv-buys-pre-school-business
  9. ^ http://www.moneycontrol.com/competition/edservsoftsystems/comparison/ES08#ES08
  10. ^ a b c d e http://www.moneycontrol.com/financials/edservsoftsystems/profit-loss/ES08
  11. ^ a b c d http://www.sharekhan.com/stock-market/company-details/company-profile/history/Edserv-Softsystems-Ltd/13191166.00/EDSERV/history.htm
  12. ^ a b c http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/edserv-softsystems-ltd/infocompanyhistory/companyid-22745.cms
  13. ^ http://www.hindu.com/2009/03/15/stories/2009031555271200.htm
  14. ^ http://www.pressreleasepoint.com/edserv-targets-1-million-live-job-positions-its-placement-campus
  15. ^ http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2009-08-19/news/27651622_1_brand-building-edserv-ceo-s-giridharan-warrants
  16. ^ http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/edserv-softsystems-hits-5-upper-circuit/13/56/66452/on
  17. ^ http://www.equitybulls.com/admin/news2006/news_det.asp?id=57775
  18. ^ http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2009-10-08/news/27662000_1_s-giridharan-edserv-mes
  19. ^ http://www.moneycontrol.com/stocks/stock_market/corp_notices.php?pno=4&autono=293861&tab=peers
  20. ^ http://profit.ndtv.com/news/show/edserv-softsystems-to-raise-funds-17732?schedules=india
  21. ^ http://gujarati.economictimes.indiatimes.com/cmpnewsdisp.cms?companyID=22745&newsid=337083
  22. ^ http://profit.ndtv.com/news/show/edserv-launches-lampsglow-education-service-portal-31237
  23. ^ http://m.pressmart.com/Home.aspx?event=TNewInExpress&dt=04062010&page=004_055&mdl=
  24. ^ http://www.moneycontrol.com/stocks/stock_market/corp_notices.php?pno=2&autono=358866
  25. ^ http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/edserv-in-skills-training-dealgujarat-govt/410445/
  26. ^ http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-01-25/news/28426264_1_ceo-s-giridharan-education-and-placement-services-edserv-chairman

External links