For India’s edtech sector, the past 24 months have been the most pivotal since the Jio revolution in 2016 that had managed to bring online learning to students’ mobile phones in the most remote pockets of the country, says early-stage venture firm Blume Ventures in its latest report.
The pandemic pushed education online, and made after-school tuitions and hobby classes a hit, giving space for large opportunities, it said, noting the impact of Covid-19.
However, even as ‘core education’ goes back offline, Blume said “digital traces will remain in peripheral services around core learning.”
Since 2020, more and more edtechs have expanded globally, gaining massive interest across North America, the Middle East and SouthEast Asia. The access to these markets has helped them capture higher ARPUs (average revenue per user) and provide services that would have had limited demand back home, the report said.
India also benefited from the fallout of Chinese edtech companies, emerging as an alternate market to invest in for the large sums of global capital that were earlier flowing into Chinese edtech.
Going forward, as pandemic-effect wears off, and edtech moves to hybrid models, the report expects the second generation of edtech unicorns to go beyond conventional core education space. These instead fall in the supplemental learning space or are catalysts.
The next big opportunities would be for small children, new-age skills, upskilling and financing.
The report highlighted the opportunity in learning and personal development space for children under eight. This involves hybrid daycare and pre-school and companies working on foundational learning, behavioral and personal development, and social skills.
“We believe that a huge opportunity lies in hybrid models, micro preschools, and physical centres that offer learning avenues that help students get ahead of their peers,” Blume said.
While the market for co-curricular products like coding and public speaking and extracurricular products like music and dance is getting saturated, the market for 21st century skills that help with holistic personality and social development is still nascent, according to the report. Such skills include students developing and joining communities, immersing in entrepreneurial skills among others.
There are an increasing number of college and non-college graduates, who are looking for ways to upskill themselves.
“We’re seeing upskilling become one the largest opportunity areas in edtech today - especially catering to white collar professionals looking at certifications, higher salaries, newer industries or better roles,” Blume said. There is also a market for these to be done as a part of communities, learning cohorts, and organized networks.
