Hyderabad: Most enterprises face the issue of not being able to hire young graduates with right skill set thus causing a huge gap between demand and supply. This is what Avanish Mundhra faced while working as a global head of recruitment at Futures First Info Services for 12 years. That is when he decided that he needs to start a company that addresses this pain point and gives students the opportunity to hone their skills before they step into the practical world.

That is how Mundhra and his two friends Rakesh Patel and Vijay Kaushik founded Cantilever Labs in 2018. Based out of T-Hub, the startup has so far worked with 18,000 students wherein it trains them for placements ranging from 10 days to two years. The startup works with engineering, MBA and commerce colleges like IIT Bombay, IIT Madras, BITS Pilani, SIBM and others in Hyderabad.

“We train students on subjects that we hope will be useful for them as they sit for their placements in their last year. We integrate best practices from top institutes into the curriculum and also work with corporates to design courses and curriculum for students. We make courses and curriculum customised for colleges that we partner with,” said Mundhra, founder and CEO, Cantilever Labs.

It had collaborated with various colleges of Hyderabad like SNIST, Anurag Group, JNTU, MEC among others. In order to make a larger impact, it started testing various programs on the B2C front as well since February and is looking to ramp up its presence in B2C space.

The startup offers training programmes and recruitment solutions for corporates as well. Using their analytics and assessment tools, corporates can hire better talent and get candidates of their choice. Through its partnerships with colleges and academic institutions, the startup can offer trained students to corporates even as the latter can offer their requirements to the colleges.

The startup is funded by HDFC Bank wherein it got a grant under the bank’s SmartUp programme. As part of the second batch of the Lab32 programme by T-Hub, Cantilever Labs got access to six-month incubation and also support in terms of mentorship and contacts, informed Mundhra.