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Is Indian Edtech Industry failing or flying?
Dhwani Beri
Here is to understand mass layoffs on one side and decent funding happening simultaneously. India is now the biggest home to some of the largest EdTech companies having a global marquee investor base.
The digitization of education has reshaped the education methods, curriculum, techniques, and practices. During Covid 19 pandemic, we have witnessed a huge boom in the edtech industry. Almost all Edtechs observed a hockey stick growth as students, institutions were confined to their homes and forced to adopt online learning to continue their formal education. One of the biggest winners was Zoom whose stock price went from ~$76 in Jan’20 to $478 in Nov’20, that’s 600% in less than a year. Zoom was not even an EdTech, but Zoom Classes became a household affair during covid, they almost became synonyms to online classes during this crisis.
If we talk about 2020, the EdTech startups show a total investment of USD 2.22 billion in comparison to USD 553 million in 2019. So almost 92 players attracted good funding in 2020, out of which 61 players received seed funding. It is being revealed that it is only Byjus and Unacademy that raised most of the capital. in 2020.
The synergy of education and technology has changed the way of learning. In short, we have moved towards hybrid learning after the advent of Edtech. Due to the advent of Edtech, internet penetration in India is expected to reach 45% by the end of 2025. According to a report released by the Data labs by Inc42, almost 186 Edtech start-ups growth spurt is registered till now primarily driven by the K-12 segment.
Though there are some EdTech that are facing a crisis due to the reopening of schools and colleges, resulting in falling valuations or slowing of funding rounds. As per the data shared by Crunchbase, global venture funding fell by 10 billion dollars in February. But this is not permanent, there are many schools and educational institutions that are looking forward to doing partnerships with the edtech start-ups, to make education and education-related information easily accessible for all.
EdTech companies now have changed their metrics to show their growth. Now they are showing the growth through the number of paid enrollments which they are planning to achieve through their team of salesmen and not through learning outcomes or results.
Byjus is already working on this business model to be on the top, in February Byjus announced its tuition center by naming it a “First-of-its-kind comprehensive program’’. Byjus is targeting to enroll 1 million students in tuition programs.
Not only Byju’s, other edtechs like Cuemath, Internshala, and Physicswala are also have unique business models. If we talk about Cuemath, they have raised USD 57 Million recently which is approximately 442 Crores as a fresh funding from Alpha Wave. Cuemath is one of the most popular online math edtech tutoring platforms.
Internshala is now becoming the most popular platform to help students in getting Summer internships. Through Internshala, students can apply for internships in big brands including Decathlon, Oyo, Reliance, Kotak Mahindra Bank, etc.
Learning is an important step in every student’s journey. Physics Wallah offers live lectures to encourage the students to explore the concept in depth instead of memorizing. It’s also a very unique business model and the best example of hybrid learning. As per the sources, Physics Wallah is expected to raise $100 million with West Bridge GSV ventures. The start-up is also planning to expand in categories like K-10 and open several more PW Pathshalas across India.
Hybrid learning is the key USP edtech industry. This helps Edtech in keeping a stronghold in the education sector. It is a key to ensuring quality teachings and getting the best learning outcomes. It’s a powerful combination of physical classroom techniques and e-learning. It has created a newer avenue for students and learners all across the nation.