Indian edtech startups see investment of $2.22 bn in 2020, shows data

Indian edtech startups have seen a total investment of $2.22 billion in 2020 as compared to $553 million in 2019, according to Indian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (IVCA) and PGA Labs data.

The IVCA report ‘The Great Un-Lockdown: Indian Edtech’ released on Thursday stated that 92 players received funding in 2020, out of which 61 players received seed funding.

Byju’s and Unacademy have raised the most capital, $2.32 billion and $354 mllion, respectively, in 2020, while B2B edtech received a total funding of $31 million in 2017-2020.

The report estimates that education is a $117 billion market in India with around 360 million learners in 2019-20. The report further said around $49 billion is spent on school education, 66% of which is spent on primary education and 27% on secondary education. Around $42 billion is spent on supplementary education, which primarily comprises private coaching and test preparation.

The education and edtech market can be divided into 5 segments: pre-K, K-12 and test preparation, higher education, continued learning and B2B edtech.

According to the report, the education market is expected to grow 2x to $225 billion by FY25 at a CAGR of 14 per cent over FY20-25.

Rajat Tandon, president, IVCA said, "Edtech is one sector which goes in sync with the Moore's Law, with the advancing tech, education technologies in India have become a change maker. This report covers investment activities across edtech and analyses what the future of innovation holds in the next decade. While these are testing times for so many entrepreneurs globally, edtech in India has emerged a clear winner. This report also projects how new unicorns are being presented globally, putting India yet again on the globe in regards to tech, innovation and digital consumption."

Madhur Singhal, practice leader, Education, Employment and Entrepreneurship, Praxis Global Alliance added, “Large shifts in learner requirements is reshaping the Education and edtech landscape globally. With an increase in focus on self-paced learning, an informed selection of tools/aids on top of better awareness & accessibility, and the idea of continuous learning beyond schools & colleges via professional education courses is driving innovations in the way learning content is being a consumer and delivered in India.”

Vaibhav Tamrakar, vice president, PGA Labs added, ”Digitisation of educational institutions and learning ecosystem, continuous learning for employability and professional career growth, and student-lifecycle services such as student housing and Fintech in education are some of the whitespaces where the next EdTech unicorn can emerge from India in the next decade.”

The education sector has received growing attention from the government with budgetary allocation increasing from $11.3 billion in 2018-19 to $13.2 billion in 2020-21. The report states that India is one of the largest markets for education with 360 million learners in FY20 and is home to some of the largest edtech companies with a global marquee investor base.

Authors of the report have also stated that the education sector in India is quite fragmented with various players across segments. The past few years have witnessed the emergence of the edtech sector with supplementary learning opportunities for students and working professionals. The growth of the edtech sector has coincided with increased internet penetration in the country, particularly in tier-3/4 cities and villages.

The sector has also seen increased investor activity due to the tremendous growth potential of the edtech players in India. Segments such as online tutoring and competitive exam preparation have witnessed an increase in investments by PE and VC players in the past few years.

The lockdown imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19 has increased the demand for edtech products in India manifold. In response to the growing demand, edtech players have scaled up their offerings and new players with innovative business models catering to unserved segments have emerged post-Covid-19. Also, the recently introduced National Education Policy 2020 is expected to give a fillip to edtech (both, in the classroom and outside the classroom) due to the increased focus on concept-based learning for students.