From 50K to 400K Students: How Rishi Jain Scaled Digital Scholar with Zenler

In a recent podcast conversation, Rishi Jain, founder of Digital Scholar.

From scaling a digital agency to reshaping digital education, Rishi Jain’s journey is a powerful example of building with purpose. As the founder of Digital Scholar, he created India’s first agency-style institute focused on practical, market-ready skills. By choosing Zenler as the core learning platform.

Lets dive in why Rishi Jain chose Zenler?

Rishi shares how he built India’s first agency-style institute and scaled it to over 400,000 enrollments with the support of Zenler as the core learning platform. His journey reveals how identifying skill gaps, choosing the right technology, and focusing on practical education can create a powerful model for growth.

The Birth of Digital Scholar: Solving a Real Market Gap

Before starting Digital Scholar, Rishi was running EchoVME, a 150-member digital agency offering services like performance marketing, influencer marketing, and SEO. While hiring for his agency, he realized a serious challenge:

“Students were not ready for the market… they were not
really able to do well in different roles.”

To solve this, Rishi launched Digital Scholar in 2019 with a vision of making students “agency-ready.” Unlike traditional institutes that teach case studies of billion-dollar brands, Digital Scholar focuses on hands-on, practical learning relevant to businesses working with smaller budgets but aiming for measurable ROI.

Today, Digital Scholar runs programs offline in Chennai and Mumbai, is expanding to Dubai, and has even launched a postgraduate MBA in Digital Marketing in partnership with Wolf University (USA).

The Search for the Right Platform

Rishi’s journey with online course platforms started long before Digital Scholar.

On Udemy, he uploaded free courses that reached nearly 200,000 people.
He then moved to Teachable, but costs were high and features were limited.
Platforms like Podia and Kajabi also had restrictions, such as caps on student numbers and limited pricing options.

It was at this point that he discovered Zenler in 2019. The platform’s affordability and truly unlimited model made it a “no-brainer.” Rishi migrated his 50,000–70,000 students from Teachable to Zenler in one go — sending out emails and WhatsApps to bring everyone onboard.

Why Zenler Was the Game Changer:

According to Rishi, five features made Zenler stand out:

All-in-One Ecosystem:
Zenler replaced multiple tools like email platforms, Zapier integrations, and external landing page builders. Everything could be managed under one roof.
Seamless Zoom Integration:
Live classes could be shared directly with students, with recordings uploaded back into the LMS.
Unlimited Scale:
“Unlimited students, unlimited videos, no bandwidth caps.” Zenler handled the massive scale of 400,000+ enrollments effortlessly.
Robust Assignment System:
With 70,000+ student submissions, Digital Scholar uses Zenler’s inbuilt assignment review, rejection, and feedback system extensively.
Multi-Account Access:
Zenler allows three accounts under a single login. This flexibility enabled Rishi to expand into other niches without data overlap.

Student Journey with Digital Scholar

Rishi has designed a unique student experience using Zenler’s flexibility:

Immediate Pre-Training: Students don’t wait for classes to begin. They get instant access to pre-recorded modules and assignments, which also strengthens sales conversions.
Live Classes: Sessions are run on Zoom and uploaded directly into Zenler for later access.
Assignments & Tracking: All assignments are tracked, reviewed, and fed back within the platform.
Post-Course Access: Students retain access for 1–2 years, after which it auto-expires — ensuring clear lifecycle management.

This approach provides students with instant gratification and long-term structured learning.

ROI That Speaks for Itself

Digital Scholar runs entirely on Zenler’s $647 annual plan. In return, the platform supported over $1.5 million in course revenue in just one year.

“When I consider the ROI — $647 versus almost one and a half million — you can see it yourself.”

Zenler effectively became Rishi’s “second brain,” storing thousands of hours of video content securely, acting both as a delivery system and as the cloud library of his institute.

Please note pricing for the platform changes as cost increase.

Looking Ahead: From Skills to Degrees

Digital Scholar has already impacted 400,000 learners worldwide and continues to expand its reach. With MBA programs, international expansion, and a skills-first philosophy, Rishi believes the future of education lies in practical, hands-on learning supported by robust technology.

“We are totally skills-first rather than theoretical. That’s what makes the difference.”

Rishi’s Advice to Educators

For anyone considering Zenler, Rishi’s words are clear:

“There’s no platform as good as this. You can close your eyes and go for it. You can build your website, memberships, community, run Zoom, send emails… What more could you ask for?”

Video Interview Summary

In this Zenler Podcast episode, Rishi Jain, founder of Digital Scholar, shares how he built India’s first agency-style digital marketing institute and scaled it to over 400,000 enrollments using Zenler as the core LMS.

Rishi explains that the idea for Digital Scholar emerged from hiring challenges at his digital agency, EchoVME, where he noticed a major skill gap among graduates. To solve this, he launched Digital Scholar in 2019 with a skills-first, hands-on approach designed to make students “agency-ready.”

He walks through his journey across platforms like Udemy, Teachable, Kajabi, and Podia before discovering Zenler. Zenler stood out due to its all-in-one ecosystem, Zoom integration, truly unlimited scalability, robust assignment system, and multi-account access, making it ideal for large institutes.

Rishi also details the end-to-end student journey—from instant access to pre-recorded content, live Zoom classes, assignment submissions, and long-term course access automation. With over 70,000 assignments reviewed and thousands of videos hosted, Zenler functions as Digital Scholar’s “second brain.”

From a business perspective, Rishi highlights the massive ROI: a $647 annual Zenler plan supporting over $1.5 million in course revenue in a single year. Looking ahead, Digital Scholar is expanding internationally and launching a postgraduate MBA in Digital Marketing, reinforcing its mission of practical, skills-driven education.

He concludes by strongly recommending Zenler to educators, calling it a reliable, scalable, and complete ecosystem for building serious education businesses.

----------------------------------