Top Indian Edtech Startups to watch out for in 2021
In 2021, the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult for many startups and small companies to sustain growth and earn recurring revenue. But the pandemic created opportunities for many Edtech companies to grow user base, revenue, valuation, and funding consistently. With educational institutions switching to online learning, both large and small Edutech startups got an opportunity to launch innovative eLearning solutions.
According to Business Insider,
“2020 might have been a tough year for startups across India, but it was the year of being at the right place at the right time for India’s edtech companies. With the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent lockdown that saw schools and colleges close their doors, online learning emerged as the next big thing to watch out for.”
Several market research reports forecast that the Edtech business in India will continue to grow exponentially in the near future.
According to Business World,
“From an estimated size of $700 million today, the Edtech market (that includes higher education, professional skilling courses and of course the primary education) is headed for 8x to 10x growth in next 60 months (5-years).”
But the small players and new entrants will challenge the top Indian Edtech startups in 2021 by launching innovative eLearning products, solutions, and services. Many startups will help educational institutions to curtail upfront and ongoing infrastructural costs by offering cloud-based learning management systems (LMS), eLearning solutions, and virtual classroom software.
At the same time, many startups will transform the eLearning experience by leveraging disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR). That is why; the list of top Indian Edtech startups will change frequently throughout 2021. I have tried to identify the Indian Edutech startups who are trying to question the status quo and bring real changes and also have the potential to grow by leveraging the steady growth of the Edutech business in India.
Identifying the top Indian Edtech Startups who are bringing actual difference to the way people learn in 2021
Mintbook
Mintbook is one of the most innovative eLearning startups in this list. The Bangalore based company provides eLearning solutions to individuals, Educational Institutions, Public Libraries, Gram Panchayats, Large Enterprises, Small Businesses and Government bodies. The most noteworthy offering is the IoT powered offline digital library MBOX — a patent applied device to facilitate learning to the less privileged and under connected segments. MBOX is a solution to provide education in areas that have low / no internet connectivity. Team Mintbook is working with villages and Gram Panchayats across the country to provide high quality educational content for exam preparation with a focus on vocational and employability even if formal education is not there. Mintbook also provides other eLearning solutions like next-generation learning management systems (LMS), digital libraries, virtual classroom solutions, and online examination software hosted in the cloud. Their eLearning platform is really robust and scalable with more than 5 million users using their systems.
Awign Enterprises
The Bangalore-based edtech startup helps enterprises ensure work completion in India by working with gig workers by enhancing their skills and providing them with the right tools. Awign Enterprises describes itself as a digital platform that fulfills the on-the-ground work of businesses through a gig workforce. Awign trains and upskills gig workers to make them perform a variety of business activities without any errors or defects. The Edutech company further sends invoices or bills to a client only after delivering the predefined outcomes. The growth potential of Awign Enterprises can be determined from its presence in over 450 cities and a workforce consisting of over 650k gig workers.
Classplus
The Noida-based edtech company helps teachers and tutors to earn additional monthly income by teaching millions of students across India. At present, over 50000 teachers use Classplus as a unified app to digitize and manage a wide range of academic activities. Classplus automates many academic activities by providing useful features like smart attendance, fee records, online tests, parent communication module, insightful student reports, and class management. At the same time, it focuses extensively on data security and privacy control. Classplus generates revenue by charging subscription fees to teachers and tutors.
Doubtnut
Doubtnut enables students to understand concepts and clear doubts by watching video solutions or interacting with many subject matter experts. The students from various Indian cities can use Doubtnut app to prepare for various examinations — X Board, XII Board, JEE Mains, JEE Advanced, and NEET. Also, they have the option to acquire knowledge and prepare for exams by accessing books, PDFs, crash courses, and study materials through the app. They can further clear doubts by finding the most relevant content simply by typing the question in a search box. The growth potential of Doubtnut can be forecasted from these impressive statistics — over 2 cores app downloads and over 50 lakhs video solutions watched per day.
Kutuki
Kutuki is one of the top Indian Edutech startups that target preschool kids. The preschool kids app launched by the Edutech startup provides users with access to hundreds of videos, games, rhymes, and activities. At the same time, the parents can use the app to make their kids acquire fundamental skills like speaking, reading, and writing by attending live classes. Kutuki celebrates and honours India’s cultural diversity by launching picture books on the new years of India and breakfasts of India. The performance and potential of the Edutech platform can be determined from the fact that Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi mentioned Kutuki in the radio program hosted by him — Mann Ki Baat.
iChamp
The Edutech startup was founded by a group of educationists to transform the way young students learn mathematics. The free practice app — iChamp — aims to teach math, English, and Hindi to students studying classes one to eight. The popularity and growth potential of this Edutech company can be determined from its over 50000 happy user base. iChamp gamifies the learning process by adopting innovative approaches like online tournaments, live challenges, practice zone, rewards zone, leaderboard, avatars, and certificates. Also, the students can access iChamp anytime and anywhere using an Android or iOS device.
Quizizz
Quizizz makes it easier for teachers, instructors, and trainers to save the time and effort required for assessing learner progress using millions of teacher-created quizzes. The impact of Quizizz on the Indian Edutech startup scenario can be determined from its user base consisting of over 20 million learners across schools, homes, and offices. The Edutech platform helps teachers to boost learning experience and learner engagement by supporting gamification and featuring learning analytics. At present, Quizizz allows teachers to use quizzes related to a wide range of subjects — mathematics, English, science, social studies, world language, creative arts, and computer science and skills.
Practically
The Hyderabad-based Edutech startup was launched in 2020 with the aim to help students from class 6 to class 12 learn digitally and remotely. Practically offers new-age NCERT solutions by leveraging cutting-edge technologies like AI, AR, VR, and 3D videos. In a short span of time, Practically started generating revenue through a slew of subscription plans — hero, superhero, and legend. The parents can avail themselves of Practically live classes to prepare children for weekly and monthly tests through mentorship. Practically further helps parents to teach their children how to code by offering online coding classes.
Skillmatics
The Mumbai-based Edutech startup aims to help kids learn important concepts and acquire core skills using innovative educational products and games. Skillmatics earns revenue by selling activity mats, educational games, STEM toys, and gifts for kids belonging to various age groups. The parents have the option to buy educational games and toys for children belonging to the age group of 3–6 years, 6–99 years, and 8–99 years. The growth potential of Skillmatics can be determined from the fact that the Edutech startup has already sold over 3 million toys and games to customers across geographies in a short amount of time.
The Edutech market in India is expected to grow exponentially in 2021. The Edtech companies operating in various parts of Indian will get many opportunities to grow users, revenue, valuation, and funding. Also, the number of Edtech startups across India will grow steadily. Hence, the top Indian Edtech startups have to stand out from the crowd by launching innovative solutions that leverage new-generation technologies and implements emerging eLearning trends.
