Kunnal Sharma
Founder & CEO
Kenznow is a digital platform that provides students and professionals with unbiased assistance and more than ten different study abroad services, all of which are available online. Below is the excerpt of Kunnal’s exclusive interview with CEO Insight.
Tell us about your professional back ground and experiences. What inspired you to establish Kenznow?
In 2002, I began my professional career by working for a startup that pioneered online cross border remittance services, across the world, called Remit2India. Over time, we became one of the largest online remittance players in India and I was fortunate to head the global remittance business. That success was evident to us back then and by 2012, we were able to realize shareholder value for The Times of India Group by selling the franchise to Network International, Dubai.
Entrepreneurship is something I chose to pursue in 2016 after working for a long time in global payments industry. Since then, I have been able to incubate three businesses in different growth sectors, and our newest endeavor is Kenznow which is part of Higher
Edtech industry. The other two businesses are Cleuz, our digital products lab and UnCrushed Leaves, a travel experience outfit.
Over the past two decades I have learned that to be successful, one needs to be persistent, be passionate and have a bent for execution. If a workplace has all three of these elements, I believe it will have an impact in the industry.
Could you talk about the learnings and experiences that you had acquired from Symbiosis International University and how you apply them in your current role?
The whole MBA program at Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development (SCMHRD) was rigorous. I had a great time at SCMHRD, and I believe that the institute has its special ways that prepare us for the challenges of working in the real world. Apart from the normal classes, they also focus on students' emotional and physical well being. Although this is a required component of the curriculum, I gradually understood how critical these aspects are.
In the previous two years, regardless of what the globe has seen in terms of the pandemic I believe that these two components, taking care of ones physical and mental health, are most critical for every individual. And I've come to understand that through the courses of Vipassana meditation and more, one learns to be mindful of surroundings. As a result, I believe this experience has been both educational and beneficial to my life. Furthermore, being a student of a prestigious university also provides you with access to a strong alumni network.
Define Kenznow as an organization and where is it positioned in the industry? What are the company’s greatest strengths and unique propositions that it offers to its clients?
Kenznow is the world's first online platform for education abroad and we've achieved this by uniquely positioning and focusing on two distinct verticals of international education.
Over the past two decades I have learned that to be successful, one needs to be persistent, be passionate and have a bent for execution. If a workplace has all three of these elements, I believe it will have an impact in the industry.
Kenznow is the World's first online platform for Education Abroad and has the vision to make Earth One Nation #MakeEON
Could you talk about the learnings and experiences that you had acquired from Symbiosis International University and how you apply them in your current role?
The whole MBA program at Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development (SCMHRD) was rigorous. I had a great time at SCMHRD, and I believe that the institute has its special ways that prepare us for the challenges of working in the real world. Apart from the normal classes, they also focus on students' emotional and physical well being. Although this is a required component of the curriculum, I gradually understood how critical these aspects are.
In the previous two years, regardless of what the globe has seen in terms of the pandemic I believe that these two components, taking care of ones physical and mental health, are most critical for every individual. And I've come to understand that through the courses of Vipassana meditation and more, one learns to be mindful of surroundings. As a result, I believe this experience has been both educational and beneficial to my life. Furthermore, being a student of a prestigious university also provides you with access to a strong alumni network.
Define Kenznow as an organization and where is it positioned in the industry? What are the company’s greatest strengths and unique propositions that it offers to its clients?
Kenznow is the world's first online platform for education abroad and we've achieved this by uniquely positioning and focusing on two distinct verticals of international education.
One is the Kenznow Advisory, a study abroad advisory service for students to learn about their options for pursuing higher education. Two, is providing lifelong education options for professionals, which we have nurtured as part of Kenznow Institute. Here we connect with professionals, discuss about market needs, and encourage them to get online degrees from foreign universities for their career growth.
Furthermore in terms of the unique proposition, we have taken this offline industry of study abroad advisory, and made it fully online. And this provides us with a distinct edge as our investments in physical infrastructure is minimum. Having said that, in the present context, we have been able to enroll students and professionals throughout 120 locations in India via our digital product in the previous three years.
Going forward, what are the goals that you wish to invest in and how do you plan to take them further?
Well, with respect to Kenznow, we are focused to grow both our target segments.
One, students going to study abroad we expect them to grown by over 100% by 2025 and Kenznow wants to play a critical role in expanding its service offering to reach out to over 10M students looking for highereducation in India.
Two, Lifelong learning is a reality for India Inc. Kenznow would play a pivotal role to proliferate this concept among the professionals employed in India so that they excel in their jobs and stay relevant in the ever changing environment.
Kunnal Sharma,Founder & CEO, Kenznow
Kunnal is a Symbiosis International University alumnus with over two decades of professional experience in a variety of well known firms and is also the founder of three businesses. Kunnal worked at Times of Money for over 14 years before branching out into entrepreneurship and establishing Cleuz, UnCrushedLeaves, and Kenznow.
Location: Mumbai
Furthermore in terms of the unique proposition, we have taken this offline industry of study abroad advisory, and made it fully online. And this provides us with a distinct edge as our investments in physical infrastructure is minimum. Having said that, in the present context, we have been able to enroll students and professionals throughout 120 locations in India via our digital product in the previous three years.
Going forward, what are the goals that you wish to invest in and how do you plan to take them further?
Well, with respect to Kenznow, we are focused to grow both our target segments.
One, students going to study abroad we expect them to grown by over 100% by 2025 and Kenznow wants to play a critical role in expanding its service offering to reach out to over 10M students looking for highereducation in India.
Two, Lifelong learning is a reality for India Inc. Kenznow would play a pivotal role to proliferate this concept among the professionals employed in India so that they excel in their jobs and stay relevant in the ever changing environment.
Kunnal Sharma,Founder & CEO, Kenznow
Kunnal is a Symbiosis International University alumnus with over two decades of professional experience in a variety of well known firms and is also the founder of three businesses. Kunnal worked at Times of Money for over 14 years before branching out into entrepreneurship and establishing Cleuz, UnCrushedLeaves, and Kenznow.
Location: Mumbai