We expect to accelerate towards a revenue goal of $25 mn in 2026: Madhavi Shankar

Adgully has been turning the spotlight on the entrepreneurs who fought against all odds to bring their dreams to fruition in our special series – START-UP STARS. We at Adgully wholeheartedly support the ‘Vocal for Local’ movement and have been featuring numerous local/ homegrown businesses, brands, and Apps in the country launched in the last few years.

SpaceBasic is a leading B2B SaaS company empowering universities to drive student success with a connected campus experience, which empowers universities to embrace the changing world by digitalising student life on campus. It has over 50+ schools and universities that are automating everyday tasks with SpaceBasic.

Madhavi Shankar is the CEO & Co-founder of SpaceBasic. Prior to this, she was a part of the founding team at Vodlo, Australia, as Product Manager, building and deploying specialised software for enterprises & governments. She holds a B.E. in computer science engineering from CMR University, India, and an M.S. in Engineering and an MBA from University of Technology, Sydney, Australia. Indu Navar is the Co-founder and Chairwoman of SpaceBasic. Prior to this, Navar was the founder & CEO of Serus Corporation, USA. The company was acquired by E2OPEN. She started her career at NASA in Moffett Field, California. She holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from Bangalore University, India, and an M.S. in computer science from California State University, Chico.

In an exclusive interview with Adgully, Madhavi Shankar, CEO & Co-founder of SpaceBasic, speaks about her start-up’s journey so far, digitising the non-curriculum life of students in universities, schools and student housing communities, growth plans, and more.

What inspired the founding of your start-up, and what problem did you set out to solve?

From the experience I had in Australia as an international student and drawing comparison to my experience in India, I wanted to build something in the education space. When I met my co-founder for the 1^st time, our conversation helped realise we both shared the common passion of create change with the use of technology in underserved sectors in India.

With rigorous due-diligence, we discovered, the student housing communities within schools and colleges follow archaic manual processes to carry out day-to-day tasks like verbal security permissions for students, handwritten data management and more.
These manual processes were labour intensive, plagued with problems and especially could not ensure the safety and security of students. This pattern continued across big and small colleges.

We knew there had to be a better way! We zeroed in on this problem, and with SpaceBasic, solved it with technology, today. 

Our AI-enabled SaaS platform digitises the non-curriculum life of a student by automating everyday tasks and communication within universities, schools and student housing communities, in one workspace.

Could you provide an overview of your product/ service and its unique features or benefits?

At SpaceBasic, we empower universities and student housing communities (hostels) drive student success with a connected campus experience. We understand the challenges faced by universities and campus housing communities (hostels) in managing everyday tasks and communication. Our integrated workspace brings together essential functionalities in one seamless solution, enabling students to navigate their university experience with ease while providing management and staff with AI-driven insights for streamlined operations. 

Our platform has resulted in 5x cost savings and 8x faster hostel operations from the features below:

• Automated Campus Housing 
• Digital Cafeteria 
• SpaceBasic Pay
• Smart ID (Digital Access Control)

As a trusted partner, we are proud to serve 150K users across 60 top colleges and universities, in India.

How does your start-up differentiate itself from competitors in the market?

SpaceBasic is an innovative vertical SaaS product that completely revolutionises core campus operations, distinguishing us from traditional large ERPs. Our solution stands out with its effortless deployment, exceptional configurability, and utilisation of data-driven insights. This ensures a seamless user experience while directly impacting costs and enhancing operational efficiency. With SpaceBasic, educational institutions can achieve unprecedented levels of effectiveness and productivity.

What milestones has your company achieved so far, and what are your future growth plans?

SpaceBasic has grown 300% year over year, and we expect to accelerate towards a revenue goal of $25 million in 2026 capturing revenues from the US and India markets.

Our ambition is to become a Unicorn company, in the large growing ed-tech sector.

How has the start-up evolved since its inception, and what challenges have you overcome along the way?

SpaceBasic’s AI product empowers universities to drive student success with a connected campus experience. With SpaceBasic, students easily navigate the university experience with Automated Campus Housing, Digital Cafeteria, SpaceBasic Pay and Smart ID cards, while faculty and staff have access to AI-driven insights from everyday tasks and communication, leading to 5x cost savings and 8x faster operations.

How does your start-up contribute to the industry or community you operate in?

Build sustainable campuses for the next generation of citizens – students – by reducing wastage and cost leading to reduced carbon footprint and emissions. Also, reducing time spent on redundant tasks for educators so that they can spend time focusing time on students’ success.

What problem does your start-up solve?

Over 80% of universities in India and SEA use little to no technology outside of the classroom. Campus operations like student housing, managing cafeterias and access control are ineffective and all performed manually with fragmented data sources. Using manual processes churn large volumes of data every day. The data is fragmented and un-leveraged; Not available to key decision makers for forward planning; and there is no mechanism to act and make data driven decisions.

How much funding has the company raised, and from which investors?

We have raise seed capital from marquee angel investors and seed funds from India and Singapore.

Who are your target customers, and how are you acquiring them?

Our target customers are educational institutions. We are acquiring them through our sales team, referrals, word of mouth, and leads.

What are the major challenges that the company faces currently?

Getting in front of more universities faster.

What is the company’s growth plan and vision for the future?

Our goal over the next year is to digitise 1 million students’ campus experience with SpaceBasic.

How does the company measure success, and what are its key performance indicators (KPIs)?

• Growth – internal & external
• Internal – Team, productivity& culture
• External – Number of colleges, students, regions

What are the exit strategies for investors?

• IPO
• Strategic acquirer