Tata Neu enters edtech with upskilling vertical NeuSkills

According to the promotional material circulated by Tata Neu, the new vertical, NeuSkills, is launching two bootcamp-based courses later this month for data analytics and front-end developers. Each course is offered at a “promotional” price of Rs 60,000, exclusive of tax.

Candidates taking up the courses may get internship opportunities at Tata companies, among others. They could also potentially get a job at the Tata Group, according to the NeuSkills website. It mentions Tata companies such as BigBasket, 1mg, Croma, AirAsia, Tata Cliq, Tata Consultancy Services, Cult.fit and Westside for both internships and job placement opportunities.

Tata Digital, which owns the super app, did not immediately respond to ET’s request for comment.

“Scale is the name of the game. The question — are they a reluctant player or a serious one — will make the difference,” said Narayanan Ramaswamy, national leader of education and skill development practice at KPMG India, referring to the new Tata business. “Tatas getting into this is really good for the job market, because we need so much reskilling and upskilling as we go.”

Tata Neu has revamped the super app and is promoting it actively during the ongoing Indian Premier League. ET reported last month that the Tata Group’s ecommerce team had gone back to the drawing board to revamp the Neu landing page and was considering changes to its consumer-facing interface.

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The larger Tata Group has an existing B2B play in edtech: digital classroom solutions provider Tata ClassEdge.In the software engineering and data sciences segment of online upskilling courses, NeuSkills will be competing with bigger rivals such as Scaler, Byju’s-owned Great Learning, UpGrad, Masai School and Newton School.

Tiger Global-backed Scaler last month ventured offline, with Scaler School of Technology in Bengaluru, to offer a four-year residential undergraduate programme in computer science. Byju’s and Unacademy, which have laid off thousands amid the business slowdown, are also expanding offline.

“Navigating the edtech landscape can be quite the adventure, with some believing it’s as simple as repurposing content and using a well-known brand name to achieve success. However, the reality is much more nuanced,” an early-stage founder in the space told ET.

ET reported in December that edtech and reskilling startups that guarantee white-collar jobs were beginning to tap non-tech firms as new-age companies went slow on hiring.

Upskilling businesses mainly target working professionals who are either looking to move to a better existing pay scale or be more efficient at their current jobs. ET reported last month that edtech startups offering online skilling courses had emerged as a silver lining amid the ongoing downturn in the K-12 and test preparation verticals as demand for reskilling remained steady.