Innovation

“Not every Classroom needs four walls” is the ethos that drove Ms. Vidushi Malhotra & Mr. Apoorv Bamba, the co-founders, to establish Ingenious Faces. Their every action is dedicated towards disrupting the perception of success by redefining learning models, reimagining career paths, revolutionizing talent sourcing and reckoning new markets.

Mr. Apoorv and his co-founder started off by organizing workshops from college to college spreading awareness about their concept and mindset. At present Ingenious Faces works with B-to-B partnerships with Governments and Universities. They formulate customized programs for universities which can be combined with the classroom learning, such as, foreign exchange programs. Ingenious Faces launched an Entrepreneurship Fellowship Program in Ladakh whose purpose was to divert the local talent from moving to cities in search of opportunities. They opened an entrepreneurship center in Ladakh for the local best talent to start entrepreneurial ventures in their vicinity itself which would also increase employability in the village as well. On the whole, Ingenious Faces follows an Entrepreneurial Employability model.

Inspiration

The inspiration and thought process behind starting this company was to eliminate the loopholes in the current education system which basically focuses more on rote learning rather than experiential learning. Keeping this in mind every move they take is aimed at changing people's perceptions of success through reinventing learning models, redesigning career trajectories, revolutionizing talent procurement, and foreseeing new markets. Also the idea that there is no one way to achieve success and we can take ten different paths to succeed without stressing out on a degree inspired the company to launch a global education platform which would give maximum exposure to every potential student. Curation of global exchange programs and implementation of global projects are the main goals of the organization to leverage this exposure.

Overall impact

"The company's main aim is to build entrepreneurial as well as intrapreneurial skills in our students through intensive programs customized to help each individual excel on their own terms and create meaningful impact. ... We design our programs with Learnability, Employability and Entrepreneurial Mindsets as our top priorities", shared Mr. Bamba.

Ingenious Faces works directly with the government and universities, one of the most important program in India is NAROBA FELLOWSHIP program in Ladakh, the most important impact of this event is that it impacted the community of Ladakh and also impacted the development of the Himalayan region by bringing economic benefits and creating jobs for the local unemployed youth.

They are also working with South African government and currently running this program to train thousand of unemployed youth every year and we are taking them from unemployment to jobs same with the Dutch government also.

Ingenious Faces already has more than 10000 students who have to experience projects. 4500+ students and entrepreneurs have been impacted from its programs. They also have 500+ institutional and corporate partnerships. Ingenious Faces is currently operational in 20+ global destinations.

Business benefit

The company started its journey by conducting workshops in different colleges where the students were “educated about the existing gaps” in college education in contrast to the real-world scenario. This model was later enhanced to the current model where Ingenious Faces partners with universities and colleges to “bridge the gap” for the students. This is done by providing Internships, Global Exchange Programs, etc where the students get to experience the existing ecosystem in the marketplace relevant to their ideas. The packages are made for different universities, and governments in order to better cater to the existing needs. The business thus works towards empowering students with “experiential learning”. Apart from this, incubation centers are also created in collaboration with various governments to bring entrepreneurial opportunities to even the remotest locations like Laddakh. This helps in providing job opportunities for the entrepreneurial students as well as the locals.

In order to make it more feasible for the universities and help students in the remotest of places, Ingenious Faces has also started a free online platform under the name Belong. This is a global ecosystem of employment and learning where real-life problems from the corporate world are made available for students to work on and create an impact through their innovative ideas.

These collaborations between the existing traditional education system and the innovative solution to the problems in the existing system has benefited students the most by using entrepreneurial employability models. As the collaborations have been beneficial for all involved stakeholders, this company has a lot of business opportunities to work on. The business works on a B2B model and has been generating significant mean annual revenues of Rs 1 Cr. Ingenious Faces has been profitable since its inception in 2018.

Social and environmental benefit

Ingenious faces is an organization which is dedicated towards bridging the gap between academic and practical knowledge while redefining the boundaries of learning. They have managed to touch thousands of lives through their innovative business model and a comprehensive ecosystem of students, entrepreneurs and young professionals.

According to Mr. Apoorv, one of the major ethos behind Ingenious Faces is to provide equal education to one and all. Their efforts in educating and employing students from remote locations globally have been commendable.

Ingenious Faces have made monumental efforts to curb unemployment through their collaboration with various government institutions. Unemployment has been a major concern in India and Ingenious Faces, through their professional network and advanced technical platforms, have borne the burden of the unemployed yet ambitious youth of the country. This very network has been a significant bridge between the talent and the opportunity for a lot of young aspiring leaders.

Ingenious Faces is working towards a dream of revolutionizing the way students in our country perceive and approach education. We hope that they can successfully disrupt the traditional mindset of our country with respect to education and career paths while the sun shines bright on every student in the remotest corners of the country, giving them the belief to pursue their dreams.

Interview

Apoorv Bamba, Co-founder