About Vawsum
Vawsum Schools Pvt. Ltd. is a Kolkata-based education technology company serving more than 1,000 schools and colleges across India. We build the software that runs an institution - admissions to transfer certificate - and we build it for Indian schools rather than adapting something designed elsewhere.
Talk to us
Why we started
Running an educational institution is a noble profession, and the chance to work alongside the people doing it was the reason Vawsum was started in 2016. Most school software at the time was either built abroad and retrofitted for India, or built for large chains and priced accordingly. A school of eight hundred students in Jalpaiguri or Dimapur was expected to buy hardware it did not need, pay for modules it would never open, and train staff on an interface designed for an office rather than a staffroom. We built the opposite. The product is modular, so an institution starts with the two or three things it actually needs. It is hardware-free by default, so a school is not asked to install equipment before it can begin. The app is deliberately shaped like the social apps parents already use, because adoption fails on unfamiliarity more often than on features. And it is white-labelled, so parents download your school's app carrying your name and your logo, not ours.
The company
Registered in Kolkata in 2016, operating pan-India
| Legal name | Vawsum Schools Pvt. Ltd. |
| CIN | U74999WB2016PTC215728 |
| Registered office | 24, Hemanta Basu Sarani, 1st Floor, Mangalam Building, Block-A, Kolkata 700 001 |
| Sector | Education technology – school and college management software |
| Institutions served | 1,000+ across India, with 250+ concentrated in West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam and Nagaland |
| Boards covered | CISCE, CBSE and West Bengal state board, across English, Hindi and Bengali medium institutions |
| Product pillars | ERP, Connect, Scholar, Secure+ and Growth |
Part of a group that is fifty years old
Vawsum is the technology arm of a Kolkata group with roots in chartered accountancy, manufacturing and government consulting
This matters more than it might appear. Schools hand an ERP vendor their fee ledger, their student records and their staff payroll, and they are entitled to ask whether that vendor will still exist in five years. Vawsum is not a standalone venture – it sits inside a group that has been operating in Kolkata for roughly five decades.
| Company | Field | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Agarwal Maheswari & Co | Chartered accountancy, ~4 decades | Clients across FMCG, jute, steel, NBFC, realty and pharma |
| MB Enterprises | Manufacturing, ~3 decades | Manufacture and export of industrial safety equipment |
| Optimix Consultancy Pvt Ltd | Consulting and projects, ~2 decades | Awarded by the Government of India for “Zero Defects” in the Aadhaar roll-out |
| Vawsum Schools Pvt Ltd | Education technology, pan-India | School and college ERP, engagement app and digital learning |
The accountancy practice is the part school finance officers tend to appreciate. Fee structures, concessions, defaulter handling and audit-ready reporting were designed by people who have spent decades reading books rather than only writing software.
The founding team
Supported by a team of engineers and MBAs from the IITs and IIMs
Aditya Maheswari
Co-Founder and CEO – Business Strategy and Finance
- Economics Honours, Presidency University, Kolkata
- MBA, Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) Delhi
- CFA (USA)
- 6+ years with Hindustan Unilever, handling the Lakme and tea procurement portfolios
- 9+ years in education technology
- Alumnus of Calcutta Boys’ School
Gagan Maheshwari
Co-Founder – Technology
- B.E., Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi
- 15+ years with HP, Infosys and Samsung
- Experience across healthcare, internet banking and railway projects
- 9+ years in education technology
- Schooled at Lincolns High School and BSF Senior Secondary Residential School, Siliguri
The team behind them
Vawsum is built and supported by a team of engineers and MBAs drawn from the IITs and IIMs, working across product, implementation and support.
The internet banking background matters for a product that moves school fees. The person who built Vawsum’s security architecture previously built internet banking systems for a nationalised bank.
Recognition
Awarded by central government bodies, industry chambers and academic institutions
- Best Startup Award presented by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha (2019)
- Best Startup Award for Interactive Digital Learning, Department of Telecommunications, Government of India (2019)
- Innovation Showcase of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India (2018)
- Selected by NITI Aayog to meet the visiting French delegation (2018)
- Best Education Startup Award, Indian Chamber of Commerce (2019)
- Best Startup Award, Confederation of Indian Industry (2019)
- National Finalists, Social Venture Competition by Tata and IIM Calcutta (2019)
- Seed funding of INR 20 lakh from the NALCO Centre of Excellence for Technology Entrepreneurship (2019)
Vawsum has also been covered by national media including Times Now and Dainik Bhaskar.
What we hold to
The five commitments that shape what we will and will not build
Frequently asked questions
About the company, the team and how we work
1. Who founded Vawsum and when?
Vawsum Schools Pvt. Ltd. was founded in 2016 by Aditya Maheswari, who leads business strategy and finance, and Gagan Maheshwari, who leads technology. Aditya read Economics at Presidency University Kolkata, holds an MBA from FMS Delhi and a CFA (USA), and spent six years at Hindustan Unilever. Gagan is an engineer from Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi, with fifteen years at HP, Infosys and Samsung.
2. Where is Vawsum based?
The registered office is at 24, Hemanta Basu Sarani, 1st Floor, Mangalam Building, Block-A, Kolkata 700 001. The company operates pan-India, with the strongest concentration of institutions in West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam and Nagaland.
3. How many schools use Vawsum?
More than 1,000 schools and colleges across India, including over 250 in West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam and Nagaland. Clients range from single-campus schools to groups such as JIS, Julien Day, Bandhan, BDMI, Holy Christ, Scottish Church Collegiate and LMET International.
4. Is Vawsum an Indian company?
Yes. Vawsum is registered in Kolkata under CIN U74999WB2016PTC215728 and the product is built for Indian institutions rather than adapted from software designed for another market. That shows in NEP-compliant report cards, CISCE and CBSE templates, fee structures that match Indian collection practice, and a helpdesk operating in English, Hindi and Bengali.
5. What group is Vawsum part of?
Vawsum is the education technology arm of a Kolkata group operating for roughly fifty years. The group includes Agarwal Maheswari & Co, a chartered accountancy firm of around four decades; MB Enterprises, an industrial safety manufacturer of around three decades; and Optimix Consultancy Pvt Ltd, a consulting firm of around two decades that was recognised by the Government of India for zero defects in the Aadhaar roll-out.
6. What awards has Vawsum received?
Vawsum received the Best Startup Award presented by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha in 2019, and the Best Startup Award for Interactive Digital Learning from the Department of Telecommunications, Government of India, in the same year. It was selected for the Innovation Showcase of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India in 2018 and by NITI Aayog to meet a visiting French delegation. It was also recognised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce and the Confederation of Indian Industry, and was a national finalist in the Social Venture Competition run by Tata and IIM Calcutta.
7. What does Vawsum actually sell?
Five product pillars. ERP runs the institution from admission to transfer certificate. Connect handles parent and teacher communication. Scholar covers digital learning and live classes. Secure+ covers student safety, attendance and gate passes. Growth covers admissions and lead management. Each works independently, so an institution can take one or all five.
8. Do we have to buy hardware to use Vawsum?
No. The platform is hardware-free by default and runs from phones and browsers. Where a school already owns biometric machines, RFID readers, payment terminals or bus tracking units, Vawsum works with that equipment rather than asking for it to be replaced.
9. How is Vawsum priced?
Installation, training and subscription are agreed in discussion and scaled to student strength, with GST at 18%. There is no single published price because a two-module deployment at a school of four hundred and a full ERP at a group of six campuses are not comparable. Contract duration and payment terms are also agreed rather than fixed.
10. What support does an institution get?
A multilingual helpdesk in English, Hindi and Bengali, training customised for each stakeholder group, checklists and sign-off sheets so nothing is missed during configuration, public FAQs, articles and videos, and regular refresher webinars.