INDUSTRY OVERVIEW

INDIA TO BECOME THE EDTECH CAPITAL OF THE WORLD

Overview - Indian EdTech Industry

The Indian EdTech industry was valued at US$ 750 million in 2020 and is expected to reach US$
4 billion by 2025 at a CAGR of 39.77%. This growth is driven by rising demand for non-academic
courses from tier II & III cities and the need for personalisation in the EdTech space. Out of the
projected market value of US$ 4 billion, US$ 1.5 billion will focus on K–12 (Kindergarten to Class
12), after school foundational and pre-preparational courses

EdTech funding focused on start-ups

Indian EdTech start-ups raised more than US$ 1.43 billion across 100 deals in 2020. The COVID-
19 pandemic disruptions and subsequent lockdowns compelled both parents and educational
institutions to implement tech-enabled learning solutions, making EdTech the most funded
sector in the country. Of the total funding raised, Byju’s leads with 57%, followed by Unacademy
(10.5%) and Vedantu (9.5%).
Since 2020, India has seen four EdTech start-ups turn into unicorns (Unacademy, UpGrad, and
Eruditus and Vedantu) and one into a decacorn (Byju’s). A unicorn is a company valued over US$
1 billion and decacorn is valued >US$ 10 billion.
Gamification and rise of edutainment
Gamification has gained popularity among EdTech start-ups. Companies such as Toppr,
PlayAblo, Cuemath and Byju’s have introduced learning through games and puzzles that make it
easier and fun for students to understand concepts. Similarly, companies such as Kiddopia,
Kutuki Kids Learning, TinyTapps, Enguru and Lido Learning have taken steps to make education
more interesting with interactive videos and music. For instance, according to a study, over 70%
students stated that gamified courses are more motivating than traditional ones.
A hybrid EdTech industry
According to experts, players in the EdTech segment are expected to adopt a hybrid channel
approach in the future. Online players are trying to establish offline touchpoints for students.
For instance, EdTech decacorn Byju’s has piloted Byju’s Learning Centre, a new hybrid model,
allowing students to visit offline education centres for classes.

Key Drivers
Exponential growth of internet penetration in India
According to the IAMAI-Kantar ICUBE 2020 report, India had 622 million active internet users in
2020. This number is expected to increase by 45% to reach 900 million by 2025, due to higher
adoption rates in rural India. Small towns in India account for two out of five active internet
users in the country. Urban population comprises 67% of active internet users.
According to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2020, smartphone ownership among
government school student families increased from 30% in 2018 to 56% in 2020, whereas
smartphone ownership  among private school student families rose from 50% to 74%.

Government initiatives driving the Indian EdTech industry

The Indian EdTech industry is expected to be more policy friendly in the upcoming years due to
rising government interest. The National Education Policy 2020 emphasised the importance of
leveraging technology in education solutions and supported creation of leaning content in
regional languages, calling it a high priority.
K–12 category has potential to grow in the future
The EdTech industry in India is growing at a significant rate, with high interest in the K–12
segment as COVID-19 lockdowns have disrupted the activities of educational institutions.
According to Tracxn, a data analytics company, Indian EdTech firms have raised US$ 5.77 billion
in funding in 2021 so far. Of the total amount raised, US$ 99 million was raised by K–12
education specialists. Since 2018, more than 4,800 K–12 EdTech start-ups have been launched
globally, with 1,782 start-ups in India alone. They offer courses in the form of subscription
packages for a set of subjects to each class
Adoption of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), AR
and VR will not replace teachers in the classroom, but will empower teachers with valuable tools
and platforms to ensure effective in-class learning.
Recent activities
Company
Activity

Jan – Teachmint, a start-up that helps teachers and institutions create their own
Teachmin
October virtual classrooms, raised US$ 78 million in a Series B funding. The new round
t
2021 of funding values the company at US$ 500 million.

Byju’s acquired three major companies:

August  Epic, an online library for kids aged under 12, for US$ 500 million.
Byju’s
2021  Singapore-based Great Learning, an online professional and higher
education company, for US$ 600 million.
 Toppr, an after-school learning platform, for US$ 150 million.

EdTech start-up Classplus raised US$ 65 million in a Series C round led by Tiger
June 2021 Classplus
Global Management.

UpGrad is an online higher education company. It offers over 100 courses in

April 2021 UpGrad
collaboration with global universities. It raised US$ 120 million from Temasek.

Doubtnut, a K–12 EdTech platform, has raised approximately US$ 30 million

from SIG Global and Lupa Systems. Existing investors Sequoia Capital India,
April 2021 Doubtnut
Omidyar Network India and Waterbridge Ventures also participated in the
Series B round
Key players in the Indian Edtech industry

The Road Ahead… Investors are interested in EdTech start-ups as they quickly adapt to advanced technologies
and provide a high return on investment. The demand for EdTech firms among students and parents is
increasing as the post-pandemic situation continues to boost the need for remote learning. The Government of
India (GOI) has announced various plans and systematic changes to improve the EdTech industry and enhance
the remote learning experience for students. For instance, in May 2020, the GOI announced PM e-VIDYA,
allowing the top 100 universities in the country to start online courses. Thus, the National Education Policy
2020, accessibility to education and teachers, demand for upskilling and remote learning will accelerate growth
of the Indian EdTech industry.

COMPANY OVERVIEW :
BYJU'S is an Indian multinational educational technology company, headquartered in Bangalore.
It was founded in 2011 by Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath. as of December 2021,
BYJU'S is valued at US$21 billion[4] and has over 115 million registered students

HISTORY

BYJU'S' app was developed by Think and Learn Pvt. Ltd, a company which was established by Byju
Raveendran, Divya Gokulnath and a group of students in 2011.[6][1][7] Byju, an engineer by profession was
coaching students in mathematics since 2006.[6] In initial days The company focused on offering online video-
based learning programs for the K-12 segment and for competitive exams.[8][9] In 2012, the firm entered Deloitte
Technology Fast 50 India and Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific ratings and has been present there ever
since.[1][10]

In August 2015, the firm launched BYJU'S: The Learning App.[11][8] In 2017, they launched BYJU'S Math App
for kids and BYJU'S Parent Connect app.[12][13] By 2018, it had 15 million users out of which 900,000 were paid
users at that time.[14][15] In the same year, BYJU'S became India’s first edtech unicorn.[16] By 2019, 60% of
BYJU’S students were from non-metros and rural cities.[17] In July 2019, BYJU'S won the sponsorship rights for
the Indian cricket team jersey

Products and services

BYJU'S is an education tutoring app that runs on a freemium model,[19] with free access to content limited for 15
days after the registration.[19][20] It was launched in August 2015,[21] offering educational content for students
from classes 4 to 12 and in 2019 an early learning program has started for classes 1 to 3.[14] It also trains students
for examinations in India such as IIT-JEE, NEET, CAT, IAS, and international examinations such
as GRE and GMAT.[22]
Academic subjects and concepts are explained with 12-20 minute digital animation videos.[23][24][25] BYJU'S
reports to have 4 crore (40 million) users overall, 30 lakh (3 million) annual paid subscribers and an annual
retention rate of about 85%.[26][27] In 2019, the company announced that it would launch its app in
regional Indian languages.[28][14] It also planned to launch an international version of the app for English-
speaking students in other countries.[29][30] Recently, Byju's launched new programs in its Early Learn App for
students of kindergarten as well.[31] In April 2021, the company also announced the launch of "BYJU'S Future
School" to be led by WhiteHat Jr Founder Karan Bajaj.[32] The Future School aims to cross the bridge from
passive to active learning with an interactive learning platform blended with coding and other subjects like
Math, Science, English, Music and Fine arts through storytelling. BYJU'S will launch the Future School in the
United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico in May.

Acquisitions

In July 2017, Think and Learn acquired TutorVista (including Edurite) from Pearson.[34][35][36] In January 2019,
BYJU'S acquired American-based Osmo, a maker of educational games for children aged 3–8 years for US$120
million.[37] BYJU'S also acquired Indian startup WhiteHat Jr for US$300 million.[38] In September 2020, BYJU'S
acquires virtual labs simulation startup LabInApp.[39][40][41] In February 2021, BYJU'S acquires Mumbai-based
doubt clearing platform Scholr.[42]

In April 2021, BYJU'S acquired test prep firm Aakash Educational Services Ltd. in an estimated US$950
million cash and stock deal. Aakash's founders and Blackstone Group will receive minority stakes in BYJU'S as
part of the deal.[43][44] In July 2021, BYJU'S acquired American-based kids learning platform Epic! in a US$500-
million cash-and-stock deal. The Epic acquisition was part of BYJU'S foray into the overseas market, from
where it expects annual revenue of US$300 million per financial year.[45] In July 2021, BYJU'S
acquired Singapore based higher education platform Great Learning at a cost of US$600 million and after-
school learning app Toppr.[46] In September 2021, BYJU'S acquired two startups including online test
preparation platform Gradeup for an undisclosed price and rebranded it to BYJU’S Exam Prep [47][48] and
American based coding platform Tynker for US$200 million.[49][50] In December 2021, Byju’s
acquired GeoGebra in a US$100-million cash-and-stock deal.[51]

Funding and financials

BYJU'S received seed funding from Aarin Capital in 2013.[52] As of 2019, BYJU'S had secured nearly $785
million in funding from investors, including Sequoia Capital India, Chan Zuckerberg
Initiative (CZI), Tencent, Sofina, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Brussels-based family office Verlinvest,
development finance institution IFC, Napsters Ventures, CPPIB and General Atlantic.[15][53][54] BYJU'S was the
first company in Asia to receive an investment from Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative (co-funded
by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan).[55][56][57] As per the company filings with the Ministry
of Corporate Affairs, BYJU'S became a unicorn and was valued at ₹6,505 crore ($1 billion) as of March 2018.
[58][53]
 In June 2020, BYJU'S attained the decacorn status with an investment by Mary Meeker's Bond Capital.[59]

In September 2020, BYJU'S replaced Oppo as the title sponsor of the India national cricket team.[60] BYJU'S
operates roughly on a premium business model where a paid subscription is required for most of the content.
[23]
 In 2017, BYJU'S generated revenues of about ₹260 crore (US$40 million or €33 million) and doubled it in
2018 financial year, earning ₹520 crore.[61][62][63] In June 2020, with the investment of Bond, a global technology
investment firm, BYJU'S became decacorn at US$10.5 billion valuations.[64] In November 2020, BYJU'S
became the title sponsor of the Indian Super League club Kerala Blasters FC replacing Muthoot Group.[65] In
November 2020, BYJU'S raised US$200 million in a fresh funding round led by BlackRock and T. Rowe
Price at a valuation of $12 billion.[66] In March 2021, BYJU'S secured $460m in a series F funding round.[67] In
April 2021, B Capital, Baron Funds, and XN invested $1 billion in BYJU'S.[68] In June 2021, BYJU'S raised $50
million in a Series F round from IIFL's private equity fund and Maitri Edtech. [69] In October 2021, BYJU'S
raised $296 million as a part of its Series F round from Oxshott Venture Fund, Edelweiss Group, Verition Fund,
XN Exponent Holdings, and MarketX Ventures.
BYJU'S

Official logo since 2016.

Type Private
Industry  Edtech

Founded 2011; 11 years ago[1]

Founders  Byju Raveendran
 Divya Gokulnath

Headquarters Bengaluru, Karnataka[1]

India
Area served Worldwide
Key people  Byju Raveendran
(CEO)
 Divya Gokulnath
(Director)[2]

Products BYJU’S - The Learning App

Revenue  ₹2,800 crore (US$370 million) (FY 2020)[3]

Subsidiaries  Osmo
 TutorVista (Rebranded as iRobot
Tutor TV STEM)
 HashLearn
 WhiteHat Jr
 LabInApp
 Scholr
 Aakash Institute
 Toppr
 Whodat
 tynker
 Epic!
 Great Learning
 Gradeup (Rebranded as BYJU'S
Exam Prep)
 GeoGebra

Website www.byjus.com