7Svar is an early-stage bootstrapped startup that aims to make music learning accessible to everyone, including beginners and advanced learners.
The edtech company, which started just this year in February, aims to achieve this by providing a comprehensive package: courses from experienced instructors, help students source music instruments, and eventually help learners earn through the company’s partnerships with D2C brands.
Since the launch, 7Svar has sold more than 200 courses. It has also managed to get 200 monthly active users and 50 to 60 daily active users.
We spoke to one of the company founders Karan Kartikeya to learn more about the young startup. Here are the edited excerpts:
Q. How did you come up with the idea? What was your Eureka moment?
In November 2022, following a gathering at my place, Ashutosh [co-founder] expressed his desire to learn the guitar. He approached Tarsh [co-founder] to inquire about enrollment, but Tarsh’s institute was situated 10 kilometers away from Ashutosh’s residence. I then asked Tarsh about potential alternatives, which included either relying on YouTube or online music learning platforms. While online tools work to some extent, offline play isn’t really easy to get around. In our case, we had a few guitar instructors in our proximity but they were not very experienced. Daily commute is also not possible for ones who have a regular job. Moreover, home tutors charge a hefty amount for the same training.
Together, we formulated the users’ music learning journey, leading to the concept of the 3I’s: Instructor -> Instrument -> Investment. This process revealed a genuine need for music education that was hindered by any of the 3I’s, with no existing market players targeting these issues.
What began as a casual conversation unexpectedly unveiled an untapped market demand. We conducted market analysis for better insights and solicited reviews from students and working individuals via Google Forms. Our findings disclosed that approximately 75% of individuals faced challenges in learning music due to one of the aforementioned 3I’s or the inflexibility of available courses.
Q. What is your business model? How do you plan to monetize this?
The current revenue source is from the courses and instrument delivery only. This includes a pay/renew-per-course model which involves charging users for individual courses they enroll in, giving them flexibility to choose specific topics. The company also has an instrument provision fee, which is generating revenue through partnerships with D2C brands or music event organizations, which could involve referral commissions or promotional collaborations.
Eventually, there will be commissions on facilitating advertising or sponsorships and certifications. The company also plans to conduct paid workshops and special events to generate revenue.
Q. Edtech hasn’t had a good couple of years. What makes you bullish on the sector, and about your startup’s prospects?
For learning music online in India, the major player is Byju’s Future School. We aren’t worried about them because their courses can only be afforded by well-earning individuals in India, where the per capita net national income is $2066. The course prices range from $80 to $840. Therefore, the majority of learners drop out because of the hefty price.
Other competitors include Musicmaster.in and Spardha School of Music. They work well on a pricing model when compared to Byju’s but still are charging more than the affordable individual classes.
There are some region-based startups as well performing well in their operating region. These include SwirlMusic, Topbeat, and Muzigal. They offer music learning but are limited by instrument unavailability, basic websites, and rigid course curriculum.
If we dive deep, we find some common problems in all of the above-mentioned companies, which 7Svar is solving. For instance, instrument offering wherein none of the above provides this feature, but 7Svar offers doorstep delivery of the instrument. We have partnered with our local instrument-selling wholesalers to provide the best quality instrument.
Another example is the seasonal drop-off. With exams approaching in school or universities, users tend to pause learning, which causes a huge depletion in the revenue of the company for a few months, and recovering that user to start learning again is hard. Whereas, 7Svar partners with the schools directly to overcome this problem.
