upGrad's Mayank Kumar and OYO's Ayush Mathur unveil new startup BorderPlus

Mayank Kumar, co-founder of edtech firm upGrad, and Ayush Mathur, a former senior leader at OYO, have teamed up to launch BorderPlus, a platform aimed at connecting blue-collar workers in India with international employment opportunities.

Drawing on their experience from diverse industries, they see a growing need for workers in countries like Germany and Denmark, where shortages in hospitality, healthcare and other sectors are on the rise.

Focusing on the healthcare industry

The platform’s initial focus is on the healthcare industry in Germany, where BorderPlus is piloting its first batch of candidates. The co-founders plan to expand into fields such as hospitality, retail, teaching, construction, logistics and trucking, as well as other regions in the future.

They say India’s large working-age population can be the key to meeting global labor shortages, provided that workers receive the right training and language skills.

BorderPlus will offer programs lasting six to nine months, with the final one to two months conducted offline for language practice. The first training center is already running in Pune, followed by a second in Mumbai.

Expansion plans

The startup plans to establish more centers across the country to handle final-stage training. Each monthly batch will have around 20 to 30 students, but the co-founders aim to move to weekly batches as the platform scales.

To make language learning more accessible, BorderPlus is developing an AI-powered chatbot based on OpenAI’s technology, allowing candidates to practice spoken language through interactive conversations.

Mayank Kumar, who will still be involved in strategic decisions at upGrad, believes India’s demographic advantages make it uniquely positioned to supply talent worldwide, just as it did with IT services. He says the country’s real resource is its people, and that training and placing them in global roles can create significant opportunities.

Mathur, who spent over a decade at OYO and led the company’s European operations, says his observations about labor shortages in hotels, particularly for housekeeping roles, shaped the vision for BorderPlus.

He believes Indian workers are culturally adaptable and can fill these job gaps effectively if they receive proper training. With plans already underway to accept and train more candidates, the startup hopes to meet the needs of international employers while offering Indian workers a path to better opportunities abroad.