When one hears the word ‘ipassio’ – it’s identifiable that the word has something to do with
passion. And that’s correct, ipassio is the ultimate answer to extracurricular dreams and
childhood passions that millions of people have, across the world. This hobby learning platform
provides extracurricular classes that cover a lot of ground on an individualistic level between the learner and the teacher.
Currently leading in the online hobby learning industry, this platform was founded in the year
2015 by entrepreneurs, Tanuj Shah (CEO, Co-founder) and Anuj Shah (COO, Co-founder).
While Tanuj brings in the scalable, secure, super-fast performing technology and user-centered
perspective to the platform, Anuj helms the growth, reach, and consumer experience aspects of
operational and business verticals. The duo cohesively developed the vision of a platform –
where individuals from different backgrounds and cultures could get access to highly acclaimed
and qualified teachers. This proficient faculty would, in turn, impart to learners the hobbies they
wished to learn and imbibe.
The brand’s name ‘ipassio’ is keyed by the two duo – as the letter ‘i’ in the name signifies the
individuals coming into the platform to learn and discover their abilities whereas the latter bit of
the name – ‘passio’ – is the Latin term for ‘passion’ – something that everyone associated with
the platform is – from the ipassio team to the teachers and learners.
But the story of how it all began, starts from the time the founders faced several obstacles while
trying to learn their own favorite hobby. While CEO Tanuj Shah faced difficulties in terms of
travel and not getting undivided attention from the tutor, COO Anuj Shah wasn’t finding the right
faculty around his vicinity. While the two were trying their best to find the right fit for their
respective hobbies, the conversation on how others would also struggle in the same aspect,
started. Tanuj adds, “Early on while attending hobby classes in 2004, I realized that the world of
hobbies should collaborate with advanced technologies (digitally and through hardware) to solve
the issues of learning, time, and distance. Further on, being a technocrat, I always wanted to
provide the best-in-class, adaptive, robust, and accelerated technology, and a seamless user
experience to our world-class faculty & avid learners. This, in turn, heightens the quality of
online, live learning. Passionately learning, at the comfort of one’s home, from someone
halfway across the globe with the help of the advanced technologies – that’s what we planned
and agreed on.” And this ultimately led to the birth of ipassio – the entrepreneurial duo’s second
venture (Their first is the UI/UX tech and innovation firm, Userfacet).
One would wonder how the pandemic might have currently affected this startup, just like many
others. But it was the other way around, as Anuj states – “The new normal completely changed
our growth rate. Millions of people worldwide decided to stay indoors as a precautionary
measure. And so, going back to their hobbies online was what many chose to do in their spare time. The duration that usually would be spent outdoors was spent online, on our platform. We have achieved massive growth in the number of our users, on a global scale. This is also due to our teacher’s proficient coaching and our customer service and responsiveness. Our users’5-star reviews are a testimony to this.”
From 2015 up till now, ipassio has grown and is now available in more than 70 countries and is home to more than 300 different hobby courses. Their hashtag #Pickitupagain suggests how people could go back out there and pick that hobby or activity that they left behind in the process of things. As individuals who believe strongly in quality education, the founders state that ipassio is a platform that’s making its mark internationally, having both teachers and students who are signing up from different countries. As a website that specializes in hobbies, it’s open to all kinds of people from different walks of life. Now students, teachers, parents,
working individuals and senior citizens can opt for personalized OnliVe (Online + Live) courses
which are carefully distributed over durations that are suitable for both, long-term and short-term
training.
