The key players in India’s edtech space

At a time when most businesses were fighting for survival amid pandemic-related problems, India’s edtech industry seized the moment.

Besides a tidal wave of new users across segments, the industry also saw round after round of fundraising at all stages, including some for freshly minted startups. While the government’s human resource development ministry projects that India’s edtech expenditure will reach US$10 trillion by 2030, research firm KPMG estimates that there are at least 3,500 edtech startups in the country today.

Time will tell if the newer, smaller players that have gone the niche route can someday match giants like Byju’s, but if fundraising is any parameter to go by, then it seems that investors have far more faith in India’s mushrooming edtech startups than some of us.

Here’s an idea of how India’s edtech funding has been like recently:

And here are details on the funding rounds that we’ve kept track of:

Apart from the most prominent players, our list also includes edtech startups that have received fresh funding and are regarded as promising, according to reports sourced from business intelligence platform Tracxn. We’ve also culled data from Indian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (IVCA) and PGA Lab’s edtech report, “The Great Un-lockdown: Indian Edtech,” to shortlist the top edtech companies in different segments.

Indian edtech received a total of US$2.22 billion in investments in 2020, according to the IVCA-PGA Lab report. In 2019, this number stood at US$553 million.

The K-12 and test prep category bagged the most funding at US$1.98 billion, with sizable amounts also going to continued learning (US$142 million) and higher education (US$84 million).

Though K-12 and test prep continues to be a steady favorite, entrepreneurs and investors are also taking a chance with newer trends, such as online STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) courses and startups that aim to turn children and adults alike into full-stack programmers.

Credits