Photo of Sudeep Sreedharan (Left), Managing Director of AceTek College and Dale (Right), Senior Business Advisor at SME Centre @ SMCCI.
AceTek College began its journey under a different name in 2008, initially as a corporate industrial training provider specialising in baking supplies manufacturers across the region.
“At that time, we were mainly targeting the local market, running programmes primarily focusing on baking. Later on, we also developed some digital marketing programmes. We incorporated WSQ and registered some diploma programmes as well,” shared Sudeep Sreedharan, Managing Director of AceTek College.
The College was bought over in 2020, and the new management, including Sudeep, decided to rename it AceTek College and make it more accessible by locating it closer to the city centre. They also focused on expanding their suite of training courses.
While initially successful, the College soon began experiencing financial losses. “In 2022/3, we started incurring losses. That was the main reason why we decided to explore the overseas market. We also applied for the EduTrust license,” Sudeep explained.
It was during this critical time that Sudeep re-connected with Dale Aroozoo, a Senior Business Advisor at the SME Centre @ SMCCI.
The Turnaround: Expanding to India
The College conducted market research across India, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar to narrow down their expansion options. “Of the three, India has the largest population size, with a high interest from students to study abroad. Thus, it became an automatic choice for us to focus our efforts [within] that market,” Sudeep noted.
In January 2024, AceTek College achieved EduTrust Provisional Certification. Leveraging this milestone, they availed the Market Readiness Assistance (MRA) grant for Overseas Market Presence to hire a Business Development manager in India.
Sudeep stressed that the MRA grant was vital in enabling international growth. “Initially our finances were not so healthy. The grant was able to provide support to my company in covering some of the expenses”.
This strategic support paved the way for AceTek’s first cohort of international students in April 2024. The College has since grown rapidly, expanding by relocating its main administrative office and classrooms to Fortune Centre to accommodate the growing student population. They also made a strategic move to set up an overseas centre.
“Now we are offering our baking programme in India, with a partner institution. They already have more than 100 students registered there,” Sudeep shared.
Achieving Sustained Success
AceTek College continued its impressive trajectory, being awarded the prestigious 4-year EduTrust certification in Singapore in January 2025 and seeing a marked increase in annual revenue.
Sudeep credits Dale Aroozoo’s support – from sound advice on overall strategy and assistance in building the MRA grant proposal, to linking them with reliable vendors – as crucial to making a swift recovery. “I think [his help] has made it easier for us to, in such a short time, achieve [this level of] growth,” he concluded.
Looking ahead, Sudeep plans to further develop in other countries and build e-learning programs to facilitate out-of-campus learning through a learning management system.
Sudeep’s key takeaway is clear: for a business to be sustainable, it must have multiple revenue streams and actively explore overseas markets.
About AceTek College
AceTek College has been providing professional training to Singapore’s food services and baking industry since 2009. Since then, AceTek College has developed various programs to equip our students with the necessary professional skills to succeed.
The College is currently a Registered Training Provider (RTP) with SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) and is also a registered private education institution with the SSG.
As an RTP, the College provides Singaporeans and residents with access to Government supported upskilling and training via the nationwide Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) framework. The College also delivers a suite of Diploma qualifications registered with SSG and short courses for aspiring professional.
Currently, the College has 23 programs listed with the Singapore SkillsFuture (SSG) under the WSQ framework. AceTek College also partners with the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) to provide UTAP training support for NTUC members. The Union Training Assistance Programme (UTAP) is a training benefit for NTUC members to defray their cost of training.
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