The recent evolution in Information and technology has resulted in a change from the conventional method of learning toward M-learning. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, technology has helped institutions on a global scale to ensure the continuity of learning processes. This technological advancement has transformed the way students learn through the use of M-learning applications.

MELIMU is an edtech enterprise, which was started in 2012 in Kenya with a vision of 'Education for All'. With more than ten years in the market, MELIMU offers a wide range of Learning Management System(LMS) including LMS for higher education, skill development, corporates, healthcare, and other associations, forming some of the targeted verticals. It was launched globally in 2021 and is currently serving more than twenty five countries across the globe. Silicon India magazine recently engaged with the MELIMU team.

Here are some highlights from our conversation with MELIMU's COO Pramil Verma how they evolved to be one of the leading players in the EdTech Industry.

What was the idea behind starting MELIMU and What are some of the flagship services a MELIMU?
MELIMU is dedicated to revolutionizing mobile-first learning technology by enhancing learning anytime, anywhere, and on any device. It can be used in flight mode or in a basement without any network. Learners can use it anytime without any internet and electricity. With more than ten years of presence in the market, we have launched a new version that has features like interactive learning content development. MELIMU has launched GoPlugg which is a community for service providers and customers to share more information and knowledge on a global stage. It also allows service providers to customize & launch their product's plugins in the MELIMU's marketplace and other people can utilize it by installing.

The biggest challenge we noticed was during the pandemic when people were using different platforms for work and education. Various live sessions and sharing were seen happening during this time and MELIMU was successful in helping the users to collaborate, to avoid using different platforms.

How is MELIMU different from the competitors providing similar solutions in the market? What are some of the USPs of your company?
A lot of new companies have come up during the pandemic but globally only 3-4 key players exist. We have been in the market for more than 10 years now and that has allowed us to test our product in the market amidst three million users. Our product is mature and has been able to resolve a lot of customer challenges by providing robust solutions. Product maturity happens when you have a lot of users to identify the hidden challenges.

MELIMU Learning Management System (LMS), is a single tenancy architecture system which means, for each customer, we are deploying separate LMS. That's why it's easy to follow different compliances in different countries, as per the countries' rules, regulations and policies. We are the only company to launch a facility like Goplugg, which is like a community, the development environment allows customers to do customization within the LMS on their own and can add more features or download features from the marketplace, or sell them. Also we have more than 300 APIs to getintegrated with any 3rd party systems and is already integrated with Sales force, SAP Success, Zoho CRM, Zoom and many more.

It has been seen since 2020 that there are customers who are targeting B2C and B2B markets and it is a challenge for them, as they need to deploy a different kind of LMS. MELIMU provides a comprehensive solution by using single LMS system.

How do you leverage technology to better serve your client?
India is known as the IT hub, globally and next-generation technology is our focus. In our LMS, we have worked on artificial intelligence and business intelligence and have been able to achieve a very robust system. For example, AI is helping institutions and organizations discover what a student knows and then create a customized curriculum for them. So, AI adapts studies and data and improves efficiency to fill the gaps and also recommends courses that the student needs to take up, by assessing the lack of knowledge. In 2020, we also launched a face recognition technology for various online examinations that would help the invigilators make an informed decision about a student in the examination halls.

What are the challenges that you see in the market and how does MELIMU help overcome them?
The Major challenge is regarding bandwidth and when we launched in Africa in 2012 this was a major concern. We didn't think this would be a concern in India with 5G but we do have certain areas in our country that face a lot of bandwidth challenges, especially in the dense populated with high rises and hilly areas. This was seen to become a major issue during the pandemic. We have seen such problems arise even in cities like all metropolitian cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Uttrakhand and more.

In the last 3-4 years, we have also seen various types of learning like online and hybrid learning, and it was a challenge to provide a single platform to the customers to access the content instead of different platforms.

What are the innovations and upgrades that MELIMU has used to enhance its portfolio and what does the future road map look like?
We are working with the L& D areas and have the responsibility to spread a lot of awareness as it is a fast growing sector. MELIMU is catering to different verticals and sectors in various countries and the future roadmap is based on the market and customer demand. By 2025, we plan to launch a smart classroom, Simulation based learning, OTT platform, and augment and virtual reality.