Nikhil Gopalan is the Founder of Cokonet. He started Cokonet Academy in 2010 with a single SAP classroom at Ulloor Junction, Thiruvananthapuram. Sixteen years later, Cokonet operates from a Trivandrum head office and a Kochi branch, with two business arms: Cokonet Academy (the original tech-training business) and Cokonet Overseas Pvt Ltd (formally separated in 2023 to handle overseas study placement, language training, and the Healthcare-to-Germany pathway).
He still sits on senior counsellor calls every week, especially for Germany-bound nursing students, and has personally overseen curriculum design and faculty hiring across all 16 years.
1.The 2010 origin story
The original thesis for Cokonet Academy was simple. Kerala IT graduates were leaving college with textbook knowledge and no enterprise skills. SAP, the enterprise software that ran most large global businesses, was the most painful version of this gap: companies hired graduates only to send them through expensive bridging training, and graduates without that training were locked out of better-paying SAP-skilled roles entirely.
Cokonet Academy at Ulloor Junction was built to fill that gap. One classroom, one SAP track, one promise: graduates would walk into an interview ready to contribute on day one. That promise scaled into a full-spectrum tech-training operation by 2018, and by 2020, Cokonet was running cohorts in SAP, Data Analytics, Cloud, Digital Marketing, and UI/UX.
The overseas pipeline began informally. Cokonet Academy's tech graduates increasingly wanted to study or work abroad after their certifications. The Academy started offering counselling, then language training, then full-service placement. By 2022, the overseas side was a meaningful business in its own right.
2.2023: the formal separation
In 2023, Nikhil Gopalan formally incorporated Cokonet Overseas Pvt Ltd as a separate entity to handle the overseas placement, language training, and Healthcare-to-Germany pathway business. Cokonet Academy continues to operate as the tech-training arm.
The reason for separation was operational, not financial. Overseas placement is a different business from tech training: different counsellor profiles, different timelines, different regulatory environment (RBI, FEMA, MEA), different partner relationships (universities, hospitals, German federal employment agency). Trying to run both under one banner had started to dilute focus. Separation gave each business its own leadership, P&L, and customer experience.
PG Yogarajan was brought in as Managing Director of Cokonet Overseas in 2023 to run the new entity. Shruthi Sreedhar leads Language Training as Director. Nikhil Gopalan continues as Founder of both arms.
3.Today's Cokonet (2026)
Two business arms, two offices, multiple programmes:
Cokonet Academy
Sixteen years old in 2026. SAP, Data Analytics, Cloud and DevOps, Digital Marketing, UI/UX. Trivandrum and Kochi batches with both classroom and hybrid online cohorts. Continues to be the entry point for many students who later pursue overseas placement through Cokonet Overseas.
Cokonet Overseas
Three years old as a separate entity in 2026. Three core service lines:
- Study Abroad placement across 22 destinations.
- Language Training in 8 programmes: German, French, IELTS, PTE, TOEFL, Duolingo, OET, and CEFR-aligned diagnostics.
- Healthcare-to-Germany pathway: the flagship 14-month programme that takes Kerala BSc Nursing graduates from zero German to a registered Pflegefachfrau or Pflegefachmann at a German hospital.
4.What Nikhil Gopalan still does directly
As founder, Nikhil Gopalan is intentionally not the day-to-day operator (that role belongs to PG Yogarajan for Overseas and a dedicated team for Academy). He focuses on:
- Curriculum and faculty hiring. Every senior faculty hire goes through him, both Academy trainers and Overseas counsellors. He believes the single biggest driver of student outcomes is the human at the front of the classroom or on the call.
- Germany healthcare pathway oversight. Sits on senior counsellor calls every week for Germany-bound nurses because the stakes are highest in this pathway: 14 months of preparation, family commitment, and a career-defining outcome. He personally meets the families of nurses about to depart.
- Partner relationships. The institutional relationships with Goethe-Institut, TELC, NORKA-ROOTS, NSDC, and several German hospital chains are maintained at founder level.
- Strategy and ethics. The no-commission stance toward education loans, the refusal to push students into placements that do not fit their goals, the parents-handbook-in-Malayalam initiative: these are founder-level decisions that shape the operating culture.
5.Contact
Nikhil Gopalan does not take direct first counselling calls; those go through the senior counsellor team led by PG Yogarajan. He is available for:
- Partnership enquiries from universities, hospitals, or institutional bodies.
- Media and press requests.
- Speaking engagements for parent groups, college placement cells, and policy forums on overseas education.
- Complex case escalations where a senior counsellor has requested founder review.
For these, route through:
- Trivandrum Head Office: Peedikayil Chambers, Ulloor Junction, Thiruvananthapuram 695011. Phone: +91 62385 94143.
- Email: [email protected] (mark "Attn: Nikhil Gopalan, Founder").
Looking for a counsellor, not the founder?
If you are a student or parent looking for placement counselling, the senior counsellor team (led by Managing Director PG Yogarajan) handles all first consultations. Free 60 to 90 minute first session.
Book a counselling slotProfile last updated May 2026. Nikhil Gopalan is the Founder of Cokonet Academy (established 2010) and Cokonet Overseas Pvt Ltd (incorporated 2023). Both entities operate from Peedikayil Chambers, Ulloor Junction, Thiruvananthapuram (head office) and VSRA-59, Vennala, Ernakulam (Kochi branch).