EdTech Market Is Booming In India

From an estimated size of $700 million today, the EdTech market (that includes higher education, professional skilling courses and of course the primary education) is headed for 8x to 10x growth in next 60 months (5-years). Why? Because of the massive adoption of online education post the outbreak of pandemic that brought with itself lockdown of most institutions including the schools, colleges and the professional institutes.

EdTech, which was already clocking a healthy double-digit, year-on-year growth before Covid-19, suddenly got a massive boost with inflow of investments, acquisition, upgradation in offerings and more players quickly shifting and adding students thanks to one of the lowest Internet data charges.

Sample this: There are over 4,530 active EdTech start-ups in India today, out of which 435 were founded in the last 24-months alone. The total funding raised by these EdTech firms since 2010 stands at $2.46 billion.

These EdTech players are offering a whole host of Apps for all age-groups of students. The more students and teachers adopt to the ‘new normal’ (online classes), the better it is for those managing the EdTech companies. Add to it the positive influence of the recently announced National Education Policy (NEP 2020). When implemented as recommended, the Indian education sector will further see a massive public spending that will further fuel the education market in the country, experts say.  

The NEP 2020 recognizes the need to leverage the advantages of technology while acknowledging its potential risks and dangers. It emphasizes the need for carefully designed pilot studies to determine the benefits of online education. The existing digital platforms are to be optimized and expanded to meet challenges with the aim of providing quality education for all. To this end, the focus on the Digital India Campaign will be ramped up and teachers will be given the required training to become effective online educators. 

August 2020 saw the education technology platform, Byju’s, owned by Think and Learn, acquiring the coding platform, WhiteHat Jr. in a $300 million deal. The idea was to make the fast-growing segment of coding in education technology available to students. This is just one example of how rapidly the sector is expanding. 

Data sourced from Omidyar Network India backs up the analysis by RedSeer Consulting that the $735-million EdTech market, which establishes under 1 per cent of India’s $90-billion private education market, is predicted to bag 120 per cent growth in FY2020 and reach $1.7 billion by the end of the year. 

The National Education Policy 2020 that was unveiled recently by the government recently focusses on putting a halt to “the fragmentation of higher education by transforming higher education institutions into large multidisciplinary universities, colleges, and HEI clusters/Knowledge Hubs, each of which will aim to have 3,000 or more students”. The radical set of policies will boost the industry to build vibrant communities of academicians and nobles, break down damaging silos, and enable students to become an all-rounder. 

A 6 per cent CAGR in student enrolment is expected to be seen in the market which will boost the market to approximately 53 million in FY25. The online lifelong learning market will expand as well as the pandemic has instituted the requirement for continuous learning. Certainly, good times are ahead for the EdTech players and students.