Thank you for reading. Apna's financials notes that the revenue comes from "supply of services". According to information sourced by us, this is the explanation: "The revenue you see in their Indian subsidiary is the funds transferred as service and hence pronounced as revenue but it is a fund transfer." The company did not respond to The Ken's questions.

Olina Banerji

Hi Vivek. Thanks for reading. From my own usage of the app, there are multiple languages that the app's available in. As for penetration to tier-2/3 markets, Apna has strategically moved where the big gig employers have moved. So they are present in markets like Agra and Lucknow. The geographical concentration of workers in important to launch.

Olina Banerji

Thank you for subscribing Krishan!

Olina Banerji

Thank you for reading and writing in. I was looking at marketing costs here, though you're very right, all included, it could touch 15K.

Olina Banerji

When you say there's not enough on "how and why" the approach is different, what do you mean? Could you elaborate?

Olina Banerji

Hi Amukta. Thanks for reading the article. Truly sorry to hear about your burnout. I think a lot of us are facing similar issues. The article tries to convey why exactly then there's a need for an evolved HR function. The article's not saying anywhere that HR has figured it out. And its precisely in grappling with these challenges of remote work/WFH and dealing with mental health fallout, that HR needs to up its game. The article is trying to chronicle this unique change in our workplaces. And one of the groups of people most impacted are HR managers. Don't know how that makes it an infomercial.

Olina Banerji

Thanks for pointing it out Swati. The error has been fixed.

Olina Banerji

Hi Diwakar. Thank you for reading. You're right--the returns come from the cut collected by the education services company, which for all practical purposes acts as a service provider for the trust. There are usually three entities--the owner of the asset, the trust (which is supposed to own/lease the property) and the education services provider. A company like Lighthouse will have reps on the trusts' board, it may even purchase a stake in the company that owns the asset. That way they have more control over the destiny of the school. It's definitely not a simplistic structure :) As for your other question, KKR now owns 95% stake in Lighthouse.

Olina Banerji

Thank you Aditya. The error has been fixed.

Olina Banerji

Hi Vedashree. We didn't state that we have this news exclusively and you are right they have been reported before. We worked to confirm at what stages these deals are at. Having said that, I think its a miss on our part that will be rectified.

Olina Banerji

Hi Gokul. Thank you for reading. That's actually a very interesting perspective. Maybe fodder for another story in addition to how these companies fit into the larger conglomerate.

Olina Banerji

Hi Charan. Thank you for your comment. I hope you read the piece since the article doesn't convey that the spread of quality education should stop. Or that IIMs are the only islands of excellence. The story ends with pointing to other centres opening up in the private sector. But there is a need for course correction while these newer IIMs are still growing, is what the story argues. The argument isn't mine--you will find several people within the IIM system (and outside) report the same.

Olina Banerji