14 Indian edtech startups successfully raised funds amidst Covid-19 pandemic
May 12, 2020 15:11(Image source from: forbes.com)
While majority of the businesses are doing their best to stay afloat, 14 Indian edtech startups were successful in generating funding even during the tough times of Covid-19.
The rising graph of success of the edtech sector has witnessed a rapid rise in the investments. Just in the first quarter of the year, the edtech sector emerged as one of the biggest sectors with Byju securing $400 million in funding and Unacademy securing $100 million in a round led by facebook.
But, amidst the 14 edtech startups that have successfully raised funding, 9 out of them have risen seed funding which suggests that the investors are willing to be on the early stage startups that can prove their worth even amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
As per the reports, Byju’s is planning on its second round of funding to raised over $10 billion valuation. The last reported valuation of the edtech company was at $8.2 billion.
Online education has witnessed a massive growth amidst the lockdown. While other sectors have been having a hard time coping, this is that one sector that has managed to make it big.
Almost every other platform has switched their content availability to free for making the same more accessible to the kids.
“Even in a challenging environment, edtech is expected to remain a very hot sector of VC investment,” a report from KPMG suggested.
Some of the startups that have generated revenue amidst the lockdown include the list mentioned below:
Startup |
Funding date |
Round |
Amount |
Classplus |
May 04, 2020 |
Series A |
$9 million |
Pedagogy |
Apr 30, 2020 |
Seed |
$400,000 |
Expertrons |
Apr 29, 2020 |
Seed |
Undisclosed |
Qin1 |
Apr 29, 2020 |
Seed |
Undisclosed |
Vedantu |
Apr 24, 2020 |
Series C |
$7 million |
GUVI |
Apr 23, 2020 |
Seed |
788,156 |
Pariksha |
Apr 20, 2020 |
Seed |
Undisclosed |
Vedantu |
Apr 08, 2020 |
Series C |
$12.6 million |
Lido |
Apr 07, 2020 |
Series B |
$7.5 million |
Camp K-12 |
Apr 02, 2020 |
Seed |
$4 million |
Lido |
Mar 30, 2020 |
Series B |
$3 million |
Auxilo |
Mar 26, 2020 |
Series B |
$6.7 million |
Univariety |
Mar 20, 2020 |
Series A |
$1.1 million |
CollegeKhabri |
Mar 13, 2020 |
Angel |
Undisclosed |
Callido |
Mar 07, 2020 |
Seed |
Undisclosed |
Oda Class |
Mar 02, 2020 |
Seed |
Undisclosed |
Source: thenewsopediaindia.co.in
The schools and the colleges all across the country were shut down even a month before the official lockdown was announced as a precautionary method. With the lockdowns getting extended and the school curriculums getting extended , the educational organisations have now realised that they need to switch their models of teaching as well.
This is where the online learning platforms have made their entrance.
With this sudden shift, the edtech startups are witnessing their growth increasing by the minute. Just Byju’s experienced enrollment of 6 million new students to access free lessons on its platform. Even Unacademy witnessed 1 billion watch minutes on its platform.
Toppr also witnessed a 100% growth in its free user engagement on its platform in March.
Zishaan Hayath, CEO & co-founder, Toppr.com stated saying that the trend is here to stay. With the ease of learning that online education brings, online learning is currently under a lot of demand. It is also quite convenient and personalised, which further adds to the equation. As the parents and students are exploring this more and more, they are realising the shift it brings along.
Not just that, another edtech start-up, Lido raised funds in March and was looking for over 500 tutors from across the country as they were doubling their services with the edtech boom happening.
Gaurav Jain, Co-Founder and Investor, Venture Catalysts, who has invested in a start-up Qin1, said that the covid-19 pandemic has enabled new opportunities for the growth of the edtech market in India. Besides the formal education, parents and students are also looking to learn from the extracurricular segment as well, which is also set to witness a rapid boom pretty soon.
Qin1 is one such startup that focused on providing children with extracurricular activities via a digital platform.
By Somapika Dutta