Accelerated by increasing smartphone users and the shift to digital-learning models, the edtech industry in India is expected to reach $30 billion in size in the next ten years.

The sector was already witnessing huge traction but with COVID-pandemic led lockdown, the edtech industry has witnessed exponential growth. Because of the growth, the edtech industry has garnered the interest of investors globally. In 2020 alone, the edtech sector received $16.1B in VC funding, a 32x increase from 500M received in 2010.

India has emerged to be among the top three countries in the world after China and the USA to get the most venture capital funding in the edtech sector. The Indian edtech sector received an investment of $ 2.1 billion in the calendar year 2020.

Growth Trends In the Edtech Industry In India

Previously dominated by the K-12 segment, the edtech sector is now witnessing strong growth in the post-K-12 segment. Online education offerings for the K-12 segment (Classes 1 to 12) are projected to increase 6.3X by 2022, creating a $1.7 billion market. And the post-K12 market is set to grow 3.7X to touch $1.8 billion. 

Let’s have a detailed look at the Growth trends In the edtech Industry in India.

Low Cost of Online Education

When compared to traditional education (school, college), online education is more affordable. There are numerous e-learning platforms available for the students where they can get access to quality education at the most affordable cost. Because of the affordability factor, students belonging to different income categories and social class can get access to quality education with attractive visuals and expert teachers.

Government’s Digital Initiative To Promote E-learning

The Government of India is doing its best to promote online learning in the country through initiatives like the SWAYAM programme and DIKSHA.

Also, because of lockdown restrictions in the country, the Indian Government has been encouraging the heads of Higher Educational Institutions to switch to online methods of education and ensure that the academic sessions are not interrupted.

SWAYAM is a programme that is designed to achieve the three cardinal principles of Education Policy, i.e. access, equity and quality. 

The objective of the programme is to take the best teaching-learning resources to all, including the most disadvantaged. SWAYAM enables students to access all the courses taught in classrooms from Class 9 till post-graduation anywhere at any time. 

DIKSHA (Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing), an initiative of the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT), Ministry of Education, is a national platform for school education that can be accessed by learners and teachers across the country and currently supports 18+ languages and the various curricula of NCERT, CBSE and SCERTs across India.

Growing Internet Userbase

There are around 624 million active internet users in India as of February 2021. These active users offer a huge growth opportunity for the edtech stakeholders. Particularly in Tier 3/4 cities, segments such as online tutoring and competitive exam preparation can have strong growth. And with more people in the target audience pool, every segment of the edtech industry can have ample growth opportunities.

Increasing Number of Edtech Startups

There are more than 6,950+ EdTech startups in India, as per Tracxn, a platform that tracks startups and private companies. Leveraging technology to offer the best services, these edtech startups offer smart classroom solutions, adaptive learning platforms, learning management systems, and collaborative platforms.

All these factors combined with inflow of investments, acquisition, up-gradation in offerings and more players quickly shifting and adding students are accelerating the digital learning movement in our country.

Edtech Startups In India

BYJU’s

Started by Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath, BYJU’s is the world’s most valuable edtech company. Also, with its latest funding of $350 million, BYJU’s has surpassed Paytm to become India’s most valuable startup, at a post-money valuation of $16.5 billion.

The startup offers Disney Byju.s early learning App for LKG to the 3rd-grade student, Byjus’s App for grade 4 – 12 students & CBSE/ICSE/State board and competitive exam preparation (JEE, NEET, CAT, and IAS) and coding for kids.

Teachmint

Started by Mihir Gupta, Anshuman Kumar, Divyansh Bordia, and Payoj Jain in 2020, Teachmint is an all-in-one education technology platform created specifically for the tutors of the digital age.

Committed to democratizing online education, the Bengaluru-based edtech platform combines live classes, student engagement tools as well as various other classroom facilitating features. 

The edtech startup recently raised $16.5 million in Series A funding, which it aims to use for hiring top talent, R&D on teaching technology, strategic acquisitions and further market expansion.

Quizizz

Quizizz is an Edtech startup with markets in India and the US that uses gamified quizzes to help people learn or teach anything on any device, in-person or remotely.

Started by Ankit Gupta and Deepak Cheenath, the edtech startup aims to continue building tools that make teachers’ work easier and give educators more time to provide personal support to their students.

Quizizz, which recently raised $12.5 million in Series-A funding, claims that the platform is used by more than 60 million people a month and is used in over 65% of US schools.

Unacademy

Ranked number 4 on LinkedIn’s top startups list, Unacademy aims to build the world’s largest online knowledge repository for multi-lingual education.

Founded by Gaurav Munjal, Roman Saini, and Hemesh Singh in the year 2015., Unacademy claims to have 50M+ active learners and 1000+ top educators on its platform. As per the startup, it daily conducts 2000+ live classes.

Last year, Unacademy acquired six edtech startups- Kreatryx, CodeChef, Coursavy, PrepLadder, Mastree and NeoStencil.

Early this year, Unacademy stated that it plans to acquire two-three more companies in 2021. And In February 2021, Unacademy acquired a majority stake in TapChief.

Ingenium Education

Started by Pramudit Somvanshi, Mohit Patel, and Aakash Gupta, Ingenium Education claims to be the world’s first macro skill-based adaptive assessment solution for K-12 students.

The Noida-based edtech startup provides a technology platform for schools, coaching institutes, home tutors, and parents, with a combination of administrative, academic, and marketing features.

Ingenium Education recently raised a seed funding round led by Lead Angels Network, which the startup aims to use to scale its engineering and sales team.

VC Firms Backing The Edtech Industry In India

Blume Ventures

Backing the next wave of revolutionary founders and ventures from India, Blume Ventures is an early-stage VC fund that backs startups with both funding as well as active mentoring. The VC firm typically invests in tech-led startups, led by founders who are obsessed with solving hard problems, uniquely Indian, and impacting large markets.

Till now, Blume has backed 145+ startups with 22 successful exits.

In the edtech space, Blume has invested in 6 startups, namely Classplus, Unacademy, UOLO, Mastree, FlipClass and Leverage Edu.

Accel

Accel is among the most active investors in the edtech space in India. Formerly known as Accel Partners, Accel works with startups requiring seed, early and growth-stage investments. 

With offices in Palo Alto and San Francisco, with additional operating funds in London, India and China, the firm has edtech startups including Vedantu and SplashLearn in its portfolio.

Lightspeed India 

Lightspeed India Partners has invested in direct and cross-border Indian companies since 2004. The VC firm has an advisory team with offices in New Delhi, Bengaluru and Singapore. Lightspeed India invests in early-stage startups in India and Southeast Asia, including technology or technology-enabled businesses targeting consumers, small businesses and enterprises.

The edtech portfolio of Lightspeed India includes BYJU’S, FrontRow and Teachmint.

Omidyar Network India

Part of the Omidyar Group, Omidyar Network India makes equity investments in early-stage enterprises and provides grants to non-profits in the areas of Digital Identity, Emerging Tech, Education, Financial Inclusion, Governance & Citizen Engagement, and Property Rights.

The edtech portfolio of Omidyar Network India includes Vedantu, WhiteHat Jr, Aspiring Minds, Centre for Teacher Accreditation (CENTA®), Doubtnut, Varthana, UOLO, Kutuki and Masai School.

Sequoia India

With over decade-long operations in India, Sequoia India has been the front runner and among the most prominent investors in the Indian startup ecosystem. 

Helping daring founders across India & Southeast Asia build legendary companies, Sequoia India invests in both young companies finding their stride as well established ones looking for the next level of growth.

The edtech portfolio of Sequoia India includes BYJU’S, Cue Math, Unacademy, Eruditus, Doubtnut, and Classplus, among others.

Edtech-The Future of the Education sector 

The growth of the edtech industry in India is expected to be driven by K12, higher education, test preparation and upskilling categories. With more edtech adoption and a different outlook for education in the post-COVID world, the sector can achieve bigger numbers than anticipated.

But for the sector to have consistent growth, stakeholders must need to improve the overall customer experience.

Though the edtech sector is witnessing massive user growth, the sector still has infrastructure constraints due to poor connectivity and low-end devices. So, for wider edtech adoption, stakeholders must cater to the need for affordable edtech offerings. Additionally, edtech startups must build better-optimised solutions that address these challenges. 

Edtech startups, through better technological and innovative products, should focus on better learning outcomes, student engagement and onboarding. 

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