Art flies around truth, but with the definite intention of not getting burnt. Its capacity lies in finding in the dark void a place where the beam of light can be intensely caught, without this having been perceptible before-Franz Kafka.
It is this very light that Kafqa Academy - a leader in India's performing arts learning industry, set out to find and nurture. Born out of the belief that the world needs more art and more artists, Kafqa is the opus of Shariq Plasticwala - ex-Amazon director, IIT Bombay alumnus, actor, writer and director.
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While Kafqa began as a learning platform offering online performing arts training in dance, music, and speaking, it has since evolved into an ecosystem that also offers talent management and content creation services to hobbyists and professional artists.
The content created by Kafqa attracts 100M annualized viewership across long and short video format platforms resulting in the growth of organic demand by 50%+ month on month. The initial artists managed by Kafqa have grown viewership 100%+ month on month on their social channels.
Shariq joins us today to talk more about his passion project, Kafqa Academy and the road ahead. Read the full interview below:
Q1) How did Kafqa come into existence, and what is the vision behind it?
I’ve been passionate about performing arts ever since childhood and have kept my artistic pursuits alive over the years by dabbling in theatre, whenever possible. The pandemic and resulting restrictions made it increasingly difficult for enthusiasts like me to pursue our passion, may it be learning musical instruments, singing, dancing, theatre, or even public speaking. Hobby schools and instructors were left with no other choice but to move online, but not without the quality of the learning taking a hit in the process.
With Kafqa, we wanted to reimagine how performing arts can be imparted while enhancing the experience for both students and instructors. We started Kafqa Academy with a vision to create a global performing arts academy that serves learners while nurturing a highly-skilled community of artists and offering them opportunities. Our aim is to make performing arts affordable and accessible for everyone who is passionate about some art form and enable our artists to reach a wider audience.
We have merged the seemingly polar worlds of art and technology, to create India's leading technology-enabled online performing arts platform that provides innovative, interactive, and fun experiences for our learners and lets our instructors reach students from the remotest corners of India and the world.
Q2) Tell us about your journey from pursuing aeronautical engineering to being a director at Amazon India, and then moving on to become the founder of a performing arts academy.
Technology has always fascinated me and led me to pursue engineering as a career and build technology-enabled marketplaces and platforms for global brands. I was among the seed team members at Amazon India and spent 8+ years building their commerce marketplace.
However, through all these years, I’ve kept my passion for theatre alive by writing, directing, and acting in plays. I wanted to combine my passion for performing arts and technology to create a space where people can systematically achieve the full potential of their artistic abilities, and that’s how the concept of Kafqa Academy came to life.
Q3) What has been your Eureka moment?
The eureka moment for me came in the form of an insightful hashtag data point that indicated online viewers strongly preferred TikTok dance videos over music, fitness, and even football.
It was also enlightening to learn that the market opportunity for performing arts in India is currently worth $3 billion and is expected to touch $7 billion by 2027. While there were plenty of business cases in the fitness space, there was much room for experimentation in the field of performing arts. It was at this intersection of art and technology that I wanted to start my entrepreneurial journey!
Q4) What makes Kafka unique?
Our reach and the level of interaction we provide between students and instructors give Kafqa a unique advantage. Our technology solutions address some of the most pressing issues faced in the performing arts space. We provide a personalized online learning experience to our learners through one-to-one interaction, gamification, and tracking, so that students and instructors can gauge progress, address concerns, and clear the various levels of training.
We ensure to examine every part of the learning experience and derive insights from feedback to create innovative solutions for our students.
For us, a key focus area is to support our artists who are recovering from the impact of the pandemic and empower them with the right infrastructure, technology, and training to improve their earnings and experience.
Q5) Where is the current presence of Kafqa? What are the plans for its expansion?
Presently the Kafqa team comprises over 100 people, of which 50 are instructors. We currently have over 100,000 registrations from students belonging to the 6 to 14 years age group. In due time we plan to expand the age profile of our students and add more art forms to our portfolio to cater to a broader audience.
While 40% of our students are based in metros like Bengaluru, Delhi, and Mumbai, the majority of our user base comes from almost 600 cities across India. On average, we see close to 14,000 registrations per month and hope to see these numbers grow, as we get closer to achieving our goal of building a community of 50 million learners and artists in the next 7 to 10 years!
We also plan to cater to the ever-rising demand for Indian art forms abroad, serve students from across the globe, and create new opportunities for our artists.
It feels great to be part of a movement that is set to secure the future of performing arts, and I must say that the future sure looks bright!
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