India’s edtech sector to become a US$ 30 billion industry in the next 10 years on the backing of growing demand and strengthening business models, according to RBSA Advisor, a transaction advisory firm specialising in valuation, investment banking and transaction services.
Vigorous growth will drive the growth in the K-12 edtech opportunity in user base, with edtech users growing proportionately faster than the overall student base. Online education offerings for Classes 1st to 12th are projected to increase 6.3X by 2022 from the base of 2019, creating a US$ 1.7 billion market, while the post-K12 market will grow 3.7X to touch US$ 1.8 billion.
The New Education Policy 2020 offers multiple exit options and certification within the undergraduate education period and an academic bank of credit will be established for digitally storing academic credits earned from different institutes so that these can be transferred and counted towards the final degree earned.
India has emerged to be among the top three countries in the world after China and the USA to get venture capital funding in the edtech sector. Global edtech started the last decade with US$ 500 million of venture capital invested in 2010 and finished 32x higher at US$ 16.1billion in 2020, nearly 2x the previous investment record in 2018.
The US and China continue to grow, along with the spectacular rise of India as an edtech powerhouse. India’s edutech sector has attracted private equity investments of around US$ 4 billion in the last five years which has led to the emergence of global edtech leaders like Byju’s commanding a valuation of US$ 15 billion.
“Lockdown because of the pandemic has resulted in a massive increase in the private equity investments in the edtech sector because of increasing inclination of students and parents to opt for getting an education from home through various learning platforms,” Rajeev R. Shah, Managing Director and CEO, RBSA Advisors.
