COVID-19 impacted the global economy in more ways than we can count, not to mention the businesses. However, few businesses are thriving as much as they might before the globe was flipped upside down and burnt.
Pharmaceutical companies and EdTech companies showed real promise for success. Especially, EdTech companies were the sole way through which aspirants could prepare for their desirable exams. Plus, for people who wanted to learn new skills while being packed up in their homes.
Many of us have seen Unacademy, Byjus, Collegedunia, and Gradeup advertisements. There is one element that all of these advertisements have in common. And it is the concept of fusing education and technology and making it accessible to a wide number of people via online platforms.
So, today, I’m going to talk about the top five Ed-tech companies that are still going strong during the Pandemic:
- Byju’s: Byju’s has become a household brand for high-quality online education. Byju’s began as a simple coaching class service and has since grown to become one of the world’s top EdTech firms and one of the most successful. Byju Raveendran and his wife Divya Gokulnath created this company, which had its headquarters in Bangalore, India.
General Atlantic, Owl Ventures, Qatar Investment Authority, Bond, Tiger Global Management, and others realised the potential of start-ups and invested in them. They’ve even teamed up with Disney to make learning more engaging and interactive.
WhiteHatJr. and SPAN Thoughtworks Private Limited are two of Byju’s renowned subsidiaries. The Brand Ambassador of Byju’s is Shahrukh khan.
- Toppr: Toppr, a Mumbai-based EdTech firm, was founded in 2013 to make after-school learning more personalised. They cater to students in grades 5 through 12 and offer the most comprehensive K12 syllabus coverage, with over one million course options. Furthermore, they aid pupils in passing a variety of school, board, and competitive examinations.
Foundation Holdings and Kaizen Private Equity, both located in Dubai, have invested in the Ed-Tech startup. Toppr’s Revenue doubled in FY20 to Rs 2,800 crore and could be close to the billion-dollar mark (Rs 7,000 crore) for FY21.
- Unacademy: Founded by Heemash Singh, Gaurav Munjal, and Sachin Gupta in 2010, Unacademy has become an important e-learning portal. Youtube was the start of its foray into the ed-tech industry. Unacademy was India’s largest online learning portal in 2017. They bought Kreatryx, PrepLadder, and Codechef in 2020 to expand their learning options.
The Ed-Tech firm has received funding from Facebook and General Atlantic, as well as Sequoia India, Nexus Venture Partners, Steadview Capital, and Blume Ventures. Unacademy’s yearly revenue for FY21 was about $140 million.
- CollegeDunia: This online community, founded in 2014 by Sahil Chalana, offers a search engine that assists students in finding the proper institution and course for them by tailoring results to their qualifications. It provides students in India and abroad with information on higher education.
When you search for a course using their search engines, you will be given a collected online brochure of schools to which you may apply, the method to follow, and other necessary information. Gray Matters Capital and M Chandrasekaran were among the investors that contributed to their fundraising. Collegedunia revenue for FY20 was $ 730 million.
- Gradeup: Gradeup is also one of India’s most well-known EdTech companies, specialising in material curation for competitive examinations such as JEE and NEET. Shobhit Bhatnagar, Vibhu Bhushan, and Sanjeev Kumar launched the firm in 2015 under the parent company GradeStack Learning Pvt Ltd.
They are committed to a fun and dynamic exchange of questions and answers between aspirants and professionals. The firm focuses on leveraging data analytics to organically grow its audience. Gradeup recorded net revenue of Rs 24 crore in FY20.