Resilience shown by India’s EdTech Sector during COVID-19
Tags: Covid19 India, Indian Economy, Covid 19, Edtech, India

One of the sectors that showed huge growth in India during COVID-19 and also had a burst of new companies, is the EdTech Sector. Indian company BYJU’s has already become the world’s most valuable EdTech company at over $10 billion valuation. They have a partnership with Disney for their kids’ platform and recently acquired a breakthrough startup called Whitehat Jr., which teaches coding to kids using gamification methods.

Before COVID-19, there was a standard adaptation curve among people for online learning platforms in India such as BYJU’s, Unacademy, Toppr, ExtraMarks, Edx, Testbook, Coursera, Udemy, CueMath, Udacity, Khan Academy, GradeUp, Mrunal, free YouTube Courses, etc. There were a lot of apprehensions in everyone’s mind ranging from the usefulness, effectiveness and acceptability of these platforms to the price and content. Today it is five months since the schools had opened across the country and people have understood that they have to switch to one of these platforms to continue the education of the child. Many people who are preparing for all sorts of competitive and entrance exams across the country are doing the same.

A survey has revealed that from Apr ’19 to Mar ’20, the EdTech segment has shown an uptick in site visits by 26% than the same period during 2018–19. In 2019, as per a report by TRAI, there was a 3.35% quarterly growth rate in Internet penetration across the country. Currently, the only hindrance for the growth of the EdTech sector in India is the less internet and smartphone penetration in the country. Fortunately, this is something that the Government of India would also have to pay attention to, sooner or later, since education needs to be provided to everyone. The telecom companies are working hard to improve their reach across the country and provide the best services. Apparently, Telecommunications is another sector which has performed exceptionally well during COVID-19, even after the pending AGR dues of the major Indian Telecom companies.

The above Google India Trends data shows how the search queries have shot up for online education-related terms as soon as the lockdown was implemented in India by late March’20.

The above list shows how the top EdTech companies have performed, before after lockdown implementation.

As we can see in the above image, the three of the top-10 eLearning platforms in India have performed exceptionally well during COVID-19.

The above image shows the amount of funding generated by a few major EdTech companies during COVID-19. And this is happening at a time when investors are very careful, and investments are going to the sectors which are most resilient during this pandemic. This speaks volumes about how the Indian EdTech companies have the capacity to generate a large number of employment opportunities for the people.

Also, have a look at the below chart by NASSCOM which provides insights into the major sectors in India and at what growth stage are they.

EdTech is an emerging sector as per this analysis.

The below image shows the major EdTech players in India, with divisions according to the type of content they provide.

Between 2015–2019, more than 3500 EdTech startups were incorporated in India. The global EdTech expenditure is predicted to reach $10 trillion by 2030. By 2021, the Indian EdTech industry is supposed to be worth $2 billion. And by 2022, it is expected to reach $3.5 billion. Also, the National Education Policy, which was announced recently, is also likely to give a push to the EdTech landscape in India. There has been an increasing adoption of EdTech platforms among medium and lower medium-income households in India.

There is no shortage of funding for the Indian EdTech companies. Given the current business environment in India and the state of the Indian Economy, if a sector posts five times growth it’s funding, then this is definitely a good sign.

In the K12 segment, which means education for classes 1 to 12, there is an increase in subscriber base from 45m before lockdown to 90m after lockdown, in India. It is worth mentioning that these are the number of paid subscribers. There is also an increase in the overall time spent on the EdTech apps, the expenses of EdTech companies on ad sales and the number of people downloading the EdTech apps.

With all the above discussion, it is safe to say that the growth EdTech sector in India is here to stay. As more and more people realize the benefits of upskilling and learning at home itself without the need to take offline classes, this sector will penetrate even deeper into the Indian market. There is still a huge unexplored potential of EdTech in India, and many firms are exploring it.

India has a huge opportunity to become a leader in the EdTech space. Four out of the Top-10 most valuable EdTech companies across the world are Indian, and for the other six companies, India is a crucial market with the most potential for growth. Also, many other companies, primarily startups, are looking to pivot their business to EdTech. They have the opportunity to leverage their existing capabilities and use the latest available technologies to create many more unicorns. Most Indian apps still focus on school learning or competitive exams preparation. To take this to the net level, India needs to have a comprehensive and high-quality content app such as Coursera, Edx or Udemy. There is a lot of potential in Indian companies to do that.

This is the reason that many are calling EdTech as the Sunrise Sector. And it surely is.

References:

1. BrandLabs, I. (2020, July 16). India’s Edtech Boom: A Tale Of Digitisation, Engagement And Covid-19. Retrieved August 23, 2020, from https://inc42.com/features/indias-edtech-boom-a-tale-of-digitisation-engagement-and-covid-19/

2. TRANSFIN. (n.d.). Retrieved August 23, 2020, from https://transfin.in/edtech-startups-in-india-during-covid-19-pandemic

3. The Edtech Story #1: The Edtech Landscape: A brief Overview — NASSCOM Community: The Official Community of Indian IT Industry. (2020, August 07). Retrieved August 23, 2020, from https://community.nasscom.in/communities/product-startups/the-edtech-story-1-the-edtech-landscape-a-brief-overview.html

4. Akshay@iwebtechno.com. (2020, August 13). The Edtech Story #2: Indian Edtech sector takes off during Covid-19 — NASSCOM Community: The Official Community of Indian IT Industry. Retrieved August 23, 2020, from https://community.nasscom.in/communities/product-startups/the-edtech-story-2-indian-edtech-sector-takes-off-during-covid-19.html

5. The Edtech Story #3: Edtech in India — Pre-COVID vs During COVID — NASSCOM Community: The Official Community of Indian IT Industry. (2020, August 20). Retrieved August 23, 2020, from https://community.nasscom.in/communities/product-startups/the-edtech-story-3-edtech-in-india-pre-covid-vs-during-covid.html

6. Shah, R., & Madan, B. (2020, June 29). Covid-19 — A booster for the EdTech Industry in India. Retrieved August 23, 2020, from https://corporate.cyrilamarchandblogs.com/2020/06/covid-19-a-booster-for-the-edtech-industry-in-india/

7. Nandita Mathur, S. (2020, June 26). Byju’s raises funding from BOND, valuation rises to $10.5 bn. Retrieved August 23, 2020, from https://www.livemint.com/companies/start-ups/byju-s-raises-funding-from-mary-meeker-s-vc-firm-valuation-rises-to-10-5-bn-11593162078797.html