Though they had confidence in the potential of their former international student Ganesh Neelanjanmath (Founder & CTO, Neel-Tech, Inc.), it was a pleasant surprise for Canada’s Sheridan College, when iCent (International Center), Ganesh’sapp that acts as a 24x7 virtual international office, bestowed them with tremendous RoI. The facility of downloading iCent (populated with pre-departure content such as packing checklist, immigration compliance, airport arrival assistance, what to expect upon arrival and others) prior to their arrival nullified cultural shock and gave international students a sense of belonging at the institution, which translated into astonishing retention rates (withdrawal of each full-time international student costs $15,000 upwards per annum). iCent also automated numerous international office operations akin to payment collection (for trips, workshops and others), Push notifications and document collection(study permit, emergency contact details and so on), saving 2-4 weeks of manual human effort hours each term.

Being the only content delivery solution in its category in Canada, iCent caught great fire in the country and enthralled major clients coast to coast (Nova Scotia Community College, Golden Hills School Division, St. Lawrence College and several more public institutions), which

enabled Neel-Tech to achieve 200
percent annual growth rate solely
through iCentapp. Downloaded by students from 105 countries across 35 campuses till date, the references made in its content have attained nearly half a million hits. Consequently, the app that commenced its journey with higher education internationalization, kept on adding various layers to cater to study abroad programs, language schools, and general immigrants (assisting in job seeking, application process for permanent residency, schools for kids, banking, health care and much more).

The digitization of student handbook & journals into an app allows institutions to measure the consumption of information using readily available management reports &analytics

This Canadian-headquartered company with offices in the U.S., India, Brazil, Spain and China provides the license of iCent’s web-based tool to institutions. While its light edition endows non-profits with a quality yet economical app and standardized version comes with basic functions, iCent’s enterprise-level content management solution is pre-configured with128 functions and delivers content in 12 languages for a fraction of cost institutions would invest in building their own app. Neel-Tech also administers the maintenance of this plug-and-play code-less app, which is compatible with nearly 800 devices.

Acclimatizing Students

Ganesh has worked closely with customers during his tenure at the international space in Spain, which helped him understand both inbound & inbound & outbound students’ pain points & processes.“iCent, the one-stop-shop and student adaptation tool,serves as an index hand holding students step-by-step with every key information they require to be successful in their academic and social life in the new country, depending on their educational level and program of study, ”adds Ganesh. Further more, leveraging its partnership with banks, telecoms and other vendors, Neel-Tech addresses other necessities like sim cards, bank accounts, grocery shopping and residency. The digitization of student handbook & journals into an app allows institutions to measure the consumption of information using readily available management reports & analytics. Also, reports surface students’ challenges and problems so they can be addressed, thus improving institutes’ support and service operations.

Neel-Tech is now planning to cover domestic students as well by automating certain day-to-day operations (booking appointment with staff, counselling services, campus clinics, AR--based campus maps and more). iCent has received great traction from prominent U.S. colleges and universities following its launch in the world’s largest international educational conference in Los Angeles, not to mention the marketing endeavours that are coming alive now. Hence, Neel-Tech anticipates a 300 percent growth by the end of 2017. In next two years, Neel-Tech aims to establish in other markets akin to India, UK & Australia and be the catalyst enabling student’s success in higher education domain worldwide.