HYDERABAD: While the relationship between an institution and its alumni has traditionally been limited, the trend is shifting as organisations realise that alums can help open many doors in a world where graduates are expected to be ready to face the challenges of the professional world as soon as they step out of the campus.
The stock of IIT-Kharagpur went astronomically high after one of its graduates, Sundar Pichai, became the CEO of Alphabet Inc and its subsidiary Google. It was similar for the Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration (WGSHA), a constituent unit of Manipal Academy of Higher Education, whose alum, Chef Vikas Khanna, was awarded his first Michelin star in 2011. Since then, these institutions have become a hotspot for students hoping to make it big in their fields.
Realising the potential that the alumni hold, 38-year-old Paresh Masade founded Vaave, a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform, to help Indian educational institutions reimagine alumni engagement. The platform helps institutions effectively harness the power of the alumni networks by connecting the institution to the alumni and creating connections, Masada tells TNIE.
He says the idea of Vaave was conceived during his student days at the NITIE, now known as the IIM. At NITIE, they used to have sessions with alumni every other day, he says, adding that his learnings from his interactions with alumni outweighed what he had learnt in the classroom.Stating that there are universities in the US that run entirely on alumni funding, he mentions that all of these acted as “trigger points” for the birth of Vaave.
Masade outlines various ways in which alumni can contribute to the institutions they were once a part of, including providing career guidance to current students, enhancing placements through internships and projects, contributing funds for infrastructure and research and offering mentoring and financial support for student start-ups. “The alumni want to give back, but they don’t have the right channel,” he says.
In 2011, he secured his first client, VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology (VNR VJIET) in Hyderabad. By 2014, when the company commenced operations at T-Hub, it had amassed a clientele of 12 companies. In the same year, they secured investment from Utthistha, an accelerator programme. While their initial funding predominantly came from friends, family, and occasionally clients, they later attracted investments from Angel investors. “We are looking forward to raising funding in another series of investments,” says Masade.
Acknowledging the initial challenges of the unconventional field of alumni engagement until 2018, Masade notes a positive shift, partly driven by government initiatives. “There was a push from the government as well. Back then, the Human Resource Development Ministry issued notices saying that all universities need to have alumni engagement. The NAAC also values it,” he says.
Presently, Vaave serves over 1,000 institutions nationwide, including five IITs, six IIMs, and the IISC, Bengaluru. The company has also expanded its services to corporate alumni, with Qualcomm India being an early adopter among more than 25 corporate clients.