TiE Chandigarh holds an engaging session with teacher-turned entrepreneur Dheeraj Bhatia

Chandigarh, August 9, 2024: TiE Chandigarh today organised an engaging session with teacher-turned entrepreneur Mr. Dheeraj Bhatia at a private hotel here today. The session, “Journey from School Teacher to Leading Publishing House- EdTech: Dheeraj Bhatia’s Inspiring Entrepreneurial Journey”, was moderated by Puneet Verma, Vice-President, TiE Chandigarh and founder of Cybrain Software Solutions.

Bhatia, who hails from the Tricity, is the Co-founder of Sanjeevani Wealthgrow Pvt Ltd, Director-Eduge learning LLP, and former Co-Founder of Kips Learning Solutions. Bhatia began his venture in the mid-1990s, recognizing a significant gap in computer education in schools, he co-founded KIPS with the ambition to revolutionize this sector. Starting with minimal resources, funding in initial phases was through personal savings and revenue reinvestment.

Under Bhatia’s leadership, the company expanded its reach, serving over 6,500 schools and more than 5 million students across India and Middle East. This led to the acquisition of Kips by ABP Group, one of the largest players in India’s Publishing Sector. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Kurukshetra University and has completed the Educating Global Citizens Program at Harvard Graduate School of Business.

He explained how TiE played a crucial role in Bhatia’s career development. In 2008, during a one-on-one talk at the TiE Delhi chapter, he connected with influential business leaders such as Sanjeev Bikhchandani, founder of Info Edge (owns portals: Naukri.com, shiksha.com, 99acres.com), Patu Keswani, founder of Lemon Tree Hotels, and Satya Narayanan R, founder of Career Launcher. These interactions opened new opportunities and helped advance his career.

Bhatia while speaking at the session explained his entrepreneurial journey began in the mid-1990s when he was a part-time Computer teacher at DAV School, Yamuna Nagar in 1991. In 1995, recognizing an opportunity, he partnered with his friend, Mr. Ravi Nanda and co-founded KIPS India operating from a rented house.

Bhatia explained how Kips quickly became a household name when he ventured into educational publishing. With a unique model of distributing books exclusively through a single distributor, they captured 90% of the schools in the Tricity region. Their success didn’t stop there. They began expanding and took five years to establish their first marketing teams in UP, Punjab, and Rajasthan while managing operations across India themselves.