Ganesh Neelanjanmath, Founder of iCent app
iCent app was founded and developed by Ganesh Neelanjanmath, a former international student who arrived in Canada in 2010 to pursue post graduation in Project Management at Sheridan College.
With an engineering degree in Computer Science from B.V.B. College of Engineering and Technology, Karnataka, India, an ITIL V3 Foundation Certification and over 15 years of experience working in India, Europe, Canada and the US, Ganesh served multiple organizations as a software programmer, business analyst, an intrapreneur leading and managing teams and innovative projects. Today, Ganesh is a successful entrepreneur leading iCent, his own bootstrapped venture, with the operational team and clients spread across the globe. iCent clients appreciate and benefit from the breadth and depth of his experience that results in the crafting of expert solutions. Based on his challenges, experience and learnings as an international student in Canada, Ganesh founded 'iCent-the International Student app' to empower public institutions with an effective information delivery and communication management tool, bridging the gap between International Offices and International Students. Having conceived the idea in 2013 and launching the app in 2015, iCent has served over a hundred thousand International Students across five hundred campuses spanned over multiple countries in Canada, USA, New Zealand and the European Union.
Genesis of iCent®
-
2010
Ganesh arrives in Canada
Ganesh arrives in Canada as an international student to pursue higher education at Sheridan; faces the initial newcomer acclimatization challenges and visits the International Centre often for help
-
2012
Helps new international students
Starts assisting a few international education aspirants from India; builds an FAQ webpage to help aspirants self serve with basic information and examples from his learnings
-
2013
Idea of iCent is born
After assisting over a hundred people in his personal network, notices most traffic to the website coming through smartphones; analytics indicate repeat usage and demand; the idea of iCent app is born
-
2014
Builds minimum viable product
Approaches Sheridan International to seek interest for a minimum viable product. International Coordinator Elena Shik puts Ganesh in touch with the then Director International, Andrew Ness
-
2015
Pilot launch of iCent app
iCent app is launched for the first time at multiple pre-departure orientation events overseas and the app is downloaded by 1100 students in the very first week of launch; builds excitement in the team
-
2016
Public launch of iCent app
After a year long pilot with Sheridan, serving over 3000 international students and enhancing the app with necessary features, iCent makes its first public launch in Ottawa at the CBIE national conference
-
2017
Growth of iCent app
iCent gets launched at over a hundred campuses across multiple provinces in Canada. Success stories and case studies of international and study abroad app are presented at international conferences
-
2018
iCent app goes global
iCent goes global with new clients’ acquisition in overseas international education markets while growing the home base in Canada to over 300 campuses and venturing into the newcomer space
-
2019
iCent app reaches a milestone
iCent serves over one hundred thousand international and domestic students at over 500 campuses globally; establishes partnerships with international education associations for best practices
-
2020
COVID-19 support
The journey continues as iCent prevails its support for clients during the unprecedented times of COVID-19