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#Edtech firms offer free access to colleges that is impacted by #Coronavirus – SPONSOR: BetterU Education Corp. $BTRU.ca $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 5:12 PM on Thursday, March 12th, 2020
SPONSOR:  BetterU Education Corp. aims to provide access to quality education from around the world. The company plans to bridge the prevailing gap in the education and job industry and enhance the lives of its prospective learners by developing an integrated ecosystem. Click here for more information.

Edtech firms offer free access to colleges that is impacted by Coronavirus

Beginning Thursday, online learning giant Coursera said it is going to provide every impacted university in the world free access to its course catalogue through ‘Coursera for Campus’ until July 31

  • Beginning Thursday, online learning giant Coursera said it is going to provide every impacted university in the world free access to its course catalogue through ‘Coursera for Campus’ until July 31.

By: Neha Alawadhi & Samreen Ahmad

Online education companies in India and globally are offering their paid programmmes to students — whether in school or pursuing higher education — free of cost because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Beginning Thursday, online learning giant Coursera said it is going to provide every impacted university in the world free access to its course catalogue through ‘Coursera for Campus’ until July 31.

“We’re going to make ‘Coursera for Campus’ offering freely available to any college or university in the world that is impacted by coronavirus, in the hope that they can rapidly allow students to start learning and ensure we have minimal impact from coronavirus on the student community,” said Leah Belsky, chief enterprise officer and senior vice-president, Coursera.

Coursera, founded by Stanford Professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller, has 48 million registered learners worldwide and offers courses, specialisations, degrees, and certificate programmes online.

The ‘Coursera for Campus’ offers job-relevant online education to students, alumni, faculty, and employees of firms like Mindtree, Tata Communications, Axis Bank, Infosys, Airtel, and Manipal Group.

Indian universities can continue teaching their students online without creating new infrastructure. Coursera’s existing ‘Coursera for Campus’ partners include Manipal Academy of Higher Education, UPES, Shiv Nadar University, KL University, NMIMS, and Pearl Academy.

In India, it has 5 million registered learners, and is adding over 100,000 learners per month.

Universities can sign up to provide their enrolled students with access to more than 3,800 courses and 400 specialisations from Coursera’s top university and industry partners.

Similarly, Indian education technology firms are also offering free classes and course material for students impacted by the novel coronavirus. On Wednesday, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.

Edtech firm Byju’s also said it will provide free access to its complete app to school students till the end of April.

Some Indian states like Kerala, Karnataka and New Delhi have already announced the closure of schools.

A UNESCO report states that the education of over 290 million students across 13 countries will be interrupted because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Another edtech platform Unacademy said it will conduct close to 20,000 free live classes on its platform, across exam categories like UPSC, banking, railways and so on.

Unacademy claims it has 10,000 educators, 13 million learners, and subscriptions for over 30 exam categories.

Educational Initiatives, a 20-year old edtech company based out of Bengaluru is also offering 60 days free access of Mindspark to all students, so that the school closure due to COVID-19 does not impact their learning.

Mindspark is an artificial intelligence-powered specialised mathematics programme developed for children’s learning.

Similarly, edtech firm Toppr is going to provide free live classes to students in classes 5 to 12.

While it is yet to be seen how effective these measures will be, Coursera’s Belsky said the US education system invested in digitising after events like Hurricane Katrina, which forced school and college students to miss studies for months.

According to some estimates, in New Orleans alone, 110 of the 126 public schools were completely destroyed and students had to be moved to neighbouring states to complete their education.

Source: https://www.business-standard.com/article/education/edtech-firms-offer-free-access-to-colleges-that-is-impacted-by-coronavirus-120031201574_1.html

For #Edtech startups, it’s raining money – SPONSOR: BetterU Education Corp. $BTRU.ca $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 11:52 AM on Monday, March 9th, 2020
SPONSOR:  BetterU Education Corp. aims to provide access to quality education from around the world. The company plans to bridge the prevailing gap in the education and job industry and enhance the lives of its prospective learners by developing an integrated ecosystem. Click here for more information.

For edtech startups, it’s raining money

Tracxn data reveals that Bengaluru-based companies attracted the lion’s share (about $944 million) of investments in the edtech space in the last one year, the highest across cities in India.

By Debojyoti Ghosh

  • Education-technology or edtech companies have mastered the art of wooing investors.
  • The numbers are telling.
  • In less than three months into the new year, edtech ventures have garnered a whopping $686.32 million in 21 funding rounds, a steep surge from $450 million in 87 rounds in the entire 2019, according to data from analytics firm Tracxn.

The data reveals that Bengaluru-based companies attracted the lion’s share (approximately $944 million) of investments in the edtech space in the last one year, the highest across cities in India.

According to data Fortune India has collected, Mumbai-based startups were next in line: raising $109.3 million during the same period. Startups based in Gurugram raised a total of $33.19 million, coming in third. The data includes funding rounds between January 1, 2019, and February 29, 2020.

This year alone, Bengaluru-headquartered Byju’s raised about $500 million, says Tracxn, at an estimated valuation of close to $8 billion. Last month, smaller crosstown rival Unacademy raised $110 million in a funding round led by Facebook and General Atlantic. At the same time, Bengaluru-based interactive online tutoring platform Vedantu raised $24 million, led by global venture capital firm GGV Capital.

Can this buoyancy be sustained?

In the last few years, edtech companies have ramped up their interactive online tutoring content, targeting school students and candidates preparing for competitive examinations and government jobs across metros and tier 2 cities.

RedSeer Consulting, a research and advisory firm focussed on the consumer internet market, noted in its last year’s report that the first wave of edtech companies saw players focussing on high-quality content and live streaming, most often catering to metro/tier 1 users and in English as the major medium of instruction.

“However, our research on learners across market segments (K12, test prep, professional learning) clearly shows a strong need for vernacular education—something which most offline and online platforms fail to provide adequately as of now. Thus, there is a strong underlying need for digital education in vernacular languages,” the RedSeer report said.

Players such as Gurugram-based Doubtnut target students in smaller cities providing learning content in vernacular languages. In January, Doubtnut raised $15 million in a Series A funding round, led by Chinese investor Tencent. Existing investors Omidyar Network India, AET, Japan, Cure.fit co-founder Ankit Nagori, and Sequoia Capital India also participated in the funding round.

Online learning platform Adda247—which provides live video classes, on-demand video courses, mock tests and test prep focussing on examinations for government jobs—also caters to the vernacular segments, particularly the Hindi-speaking belt.

“Across the K12 and professional learning space, players with video lectures have been tailoring to blend English and Hindi in their delivery to drive customer engagement,” RedSeer said.

Other funding announcements this year for edtech startups include Testbook, which in January raised about $8.3 million in a Series B round led by venture capital fund Iron Pillar. The Mumbai-based online preparatory platform provides learning content and test prep for competitive government examinations. Noida-based edtech startup Classplus raised $2.5 million in a pre-Series A funding round from Blume Ventures, Sequoia Capital and others.

With funding available across the various stages of growth, only time will tell if edtech companies can maintain the momentum for the rest of the year.

Source: https://www.fortuneindia.com/bengaluru-buzz/for-edtech-startups-its-raining-money/104233

Tech Reskilling in India a Necessity #Edtech – SPONSOR: BetterU Education Corp. $BTRU.ca $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 11:54 AM on Thursday, March 5th, 2020
SPONSOR:  BetterU Education Corp. aims to provide access to quality education from around the world. The company plans to bridge the prevailing gap in the education and job industry and enhance the lives of its prospective learners by developing an integrated ecosystem. Click here for more information.

Tech Reskilling in India a Necessity

  • Behind the AI and data analytics boom, lies the story of a massive talent gap as workforce struggles to remain employable
  • The skills’ shelf life has shortened, with technology changing exponentially over the last decade, skills that were relevant at the beginning of the career have become obsolete

By Kasmin Fernandes

While skill development gets a major chunk of CSR funding, reskilling in India isn’t a priority. Even with the third-largest developer base and a substantial tech-savvy talent pool, India lags behind its peers on major AI indicators. This is despite a thriving startup ecosystem, high-growth companies which have made a substantial investment in setting up CoEs (centres of excellence) and the Government investing in building a robust tech infrastructure.

Behind the AI and data analytics boom, lies the story of a massive talent gap as workforce struggles to remain employable. The skills’ shelf life has shortened, with technology changing exponentially over the last decade, skills that were relevant at the beginning of the career have become obsolete. In order to remain employable, the workforce needs reskilling in India.

Reskilling in India can fill gaps

The rise of edtech companies in India is not surprising, given the huge clamour for continuous learning that has taken root in the professional sphere. This is backed by the rise of emerging technologies — Artificial Intelligence, its subset Machine Learning and Data Science which has spawned a booming job market revolving around new technologies that has substantially transformed India’s IT labour market.

The changing job economy has resulted in new opportunities for the Indian workforce. As estimated by a consulting major,

AI has the potential to add 15% of India’s current gross value in 2035. The booming economy, fuelled by AI and advanced analytics requires more Indians to enter the workforce with a different skill-set. As per estimates, close to 97,000 AI positions lie vacant in India.

However, the challenges are also increasing multifold — on the one hand Indian companies are struggling with disruptions like automation that are redefining jobs and secondly, it is grappling with finding the right talent with the right skillset for AI/ machine learning and data science teams. Meanwhile, the upcoming generation that will enter the workforce soon is fed on an outdated curriculum that hasn’t kept up with the industry’s demands.

What can key players do?

In order to capitalise on these opportunities, IT companies, educators and policymakers need to develop a deeper understanding of the existing workforce, the skill-set required in the future, and the gaps that will need to be addressed. This implies that these three key players need to align the broader economic developer agenda with the shifting job market and work towards building a strong talent that has the baseline and digital skills required for current landscape.

The government’s involvement in reskilling in India is a must. A joint report by industry body NASSCOM and FICCI level says that the IT workforce will become obsolete without government involvement. Policy makers will have to assess secondary and postsecondary education and align it with the skills that are required for tomorrow. Many leading Indian IT majors have undertaken employer-training initiatives, pre-employment training and have also provided their own courseware.

Collectively, the key stakeholders can foster a workforce development ecosystem and provide domain specific training

with a job-first approach. Given this scenario — educational stakeholders have made a very strong business case for reskilling in India and have actively partnered with renowned educational institutions to launch technical certifications and degree programmes tailored to fill the skill gap.

Source: https://thecsrjournal.in/tech-reskilling-india/

Education Is the New Healthcare, and Other Trends Shaping #Edtech Investing – SPONSOR: BetterU Education Corp. $BTRU.ca $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 12:45 PM on Wednesday, March 4th, 2020
SPONSOR:  BetterU Education Corp. aims to provide access to quality education from around the world. The company plans to bridge the prevailing gap in the education and job industry and enhance the lives of its prospective learners by developing an integrated ecosystem. Click here for more information.

Education Is the New Healthcare, and Other Trends Shaping Edtech Investing

By John Rogers

  • Private equity and venture funds have invested record sums into the global education sector—$30 billion in the past five years across K-12 and workplace learning
  • Since 2017, investment has accelerated with $14 billion allocated, according to research firm HolonIQ.

Despite the influx of capital, employers, schools and policymakers are only just beginning to harness the sector’s advancements in the delivery, accessibility and effectiveness of education technology. As adoption of these products and services increases around the world, so too does the opportunity for investors and entrepreneurs to generate positive social and economic impact alongside financial returns.

Here are five key trends to consider as education enters a new decade:

1. In the workplace, education is the new healthcare.

In the 1940’s and ‘50s, employers seeking to attract the best workers offered healthcare benefits. In the early 2000’s, employers offered free snacks and installed foosball tables.

Those perks have lost their luster, and with help from the Affordable Care Act, even healthcare is becoming less of a differentiator. Today, leading corporations hope to drive employee engagement, retention and advancement through providing education.

In 2014, Starbucks and Arizona State University pioneered a new kind of partnership. By offering high-quality, affordable online courses and programs, coupled with tuition assistance, ASU and Starbucks enabled thousands to become degree holders—debt free. In a recent interview with CNBC, Starbuck’s CEO Kevin Johnson pointed to the College Achievement Plan as a driver for sales growth, because employee engagement yields customer engagement.

To broaden this workplace education initiative, The Rise Fund partnered with ASU and other leading online universities to launch InStride, providing valuable educational credentials to the employees of forward-thinking corporations. In bringing affordable education to the workplace, companies like InStride, Guild, Degreed and EdAssist are addressing the biggest issues in higher education: career relevance and student debt.

2. Our schools are facing a mental health crisis.

Today, 95 percent of teenagers have access to a smartphone, and the average teen is now spending more than 7 hours per day on their screens, including over 1.5 hours on social media. But the proliferation of technology does not come without concerns. These tools can amplify feelings of loneliness and serve as a platform for cyberbullying.

Mental health problems, especially among teens, increased significantly in the last decade. Seventy percent of teenagers identify mental health as a major issue, worse than drug addiction, and gangs. Suicide is now the second-leading cause of death among 10- to 24-year-olds, and the rate has tripled over the last 10 years. In a Harvard Medical School study of 67,000 college students across more than 100 institutions, 1 out of 5 students surveyed said that they had thought about suicide.

“Teachers and administrators are hungry for effective ways to teach social and emotional learning,” says former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

Who will pay for these needed services? Most are paid by schools or districts, but other funding approaches are emerging. One of our portfolio investments, EverFi, finds corporate partners to fund their bullying prevention programs in schools. Other companies, like Presence Learning, are experimenting with models that may be reimbursed by health insurance, while Aperture Education helps schools to find grant funding for their services.

3. Schools spent a decade buying technology. Now they want it to work.

Education technology reached a tipping point in the last decade. Broadband penetration in K-12 schools reached over 98 percent, while low-cost computing devices like Chromebooks have proliferated in classrooms.

This has laid the infrastructure to support new instructional tools, many built by new companies that have emerged to compete with traditional print publishers. HolonIQ estimates that global spending on digital education tools surpassed $150 billion last year, and will double by 2025.

But purchasing is not proof that something works. Even more concerning: many tools may simply be gathering (digital) dust. A recent study by the University of Pennsylvania, only 30 percent of edtech licenses are actually used.

In any future economic downturn, expect technology providers who fail to show evidence of improvement—let alone usage—to get axed. Those seeking to avoid this fate would do well to invest in proving that their products work. DreamBox, (another portfolio company) invests in efficacy research led by independent third-parties including Harvard and SRI International. Lexia Learning, a subsidiary of Rosetta Stone, employs a team of PhDs who send their research out for peer review.

Recently updated federal guidelines have also raised the bar for efficacy evidence that educational services should demonstrate before public funds can be used to purchase them.

4. There is growing international demand for English-language learning.

Duolingo made headlines in December when it raised $30 million at a $1.5 billion valuation, reaching the “unicorn” milestone just seven years after the company launched. While it offers courses in several languages, a big growth driver internationally is English language learning, where it competes with online providers Babbel, Busuu and Rosetta Stone.

As businesses have expanded globally through tech and business process outsourcing, English language proficiency has become an important path to economic opportunity. According to studies by the World Bank, in India, those fluent in English earn 34 percent more on average than those who are non-fluent, while in Nigeria, the English-language wage premium is 40 percent.

In emerging markets, English language proficiency is a core component of what many parents look for as they seek high-quality schools for their children. That demand has fueled the growth of multi-billion dollar, dual-language K-12 platforms like Cognita, GEMS and Nord Anglia in markets around the world.

5. Will edtech be caught up in a backlash against ‘big tech’ over data privacy?

Rising edtech expenditures and privacy concerns have caught the eye of regulators. A group of U.S. Senators recently requested 50 technology companies—including education technology providers—to provide written responses to questions about student privacy safeguards. These inquiries come at a time when many believe the enforcement of federal education regulation is increasingly lax.

Edtech providers are as vulnerable as their peers in other industries. At a major cybersecurity conference last fall, an 18-year-old student detailed vulnerabilities he found in Blackboard, one of the most widely-used learning management systems in the country.

As U.S. edtech companies expand globally, they will also find themselves subject to stricter European data privacy laws, like GDPR. They may also find themselves at the mercy of sudden changes in national policies, such as the restrictions recently imposed in China on foreign investment in K-12 programs.

2020 and Beyond

The Rise Fund has made investments across these themes, and as we enter the next decade, the correlation between educational attainment and economic opportunity will continue to drive the demand for tools and services that bridge these two goals. For investors and entrepreneurs who choose wisely, opportunities abound for attractive returns and impact through the power of education.

Source: https://www.edsurge.com/news/2020-02-28-education-is-the-new-healthcare-and-other-trends-shaping-edtech-investing

As exit scene evolves, Indian #Edtech startups find local buyers – SPONSOR: BetterU Education Corp. $BTRU.ca $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 4:21 PM on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020
SPONSOR:  BetterU Education Corp. aims to provide access to quality education from around the world. The company plans to bridge the prevailing gap in the education and job industry and enhance the lives of its prospective learners by developing an integrated ecosystem. Click here for more information.

As exit scene evolves, Indian tech startups find local buyers

  • Exits often happen at an early stage for small, undisclosed sums
  • Exits are important for the startup ecosystem because investors get returns and VC money can flow back to support new entrepreneurs

By: Malavika Velayanikal

BENGALURU : Funding, product-market fit, growth hacks, being agile, scaling—entrepreneurs obsess about all these and more when they start up. Exits are far from their thoughts, till they suddenly find themselves in a situation where they’re scrambling to get their books in order for an acquisition. It’s best to have an open mind, even if one can’t predict how a startup will fare.

Big deals like Walmart’s $16 billion acquisition of Flipkart in 2018 are as rare as the Comet Halley. Last year’s biggest acquisition was of Yatra by Ebix for $338 million. Most deals are much smaller. Data tracker Tracxn puts the median value of startup acquisitions last year at $20 million, taking into account only the ones where the acquisition price was disclosed.

Exits often happen at an early stage for small, undisclosed sums. CB Insights research shows nearly half of all exits last year were of startups that hadn’t gone beyond seed or series A funding.

Reasons to exit vary. For some, it’s an opportunity to take the money on the table for founders, employees and investors, while placing the innovation in an environment where it can go mainstream and grow bigger. For others, it may just be a better outcome than the startup shutting down or becoming a zombie. Some are acqui-hires, where a startup is acquired for its tech talent rather than a product or service.

“If you’re not able to build a business as a standalone profitable organization or attract the kind of capital needed for a venture funded business, there’s no shame in exploring opportunities in mergers and acquisitions,” says Rohan Malhotra, partner at Good Capital. “Often a missing piece that a small company provides is just what a large company has been looking for and is often beneficial for all the shareholders across the transaction.”

MAKING MONEY FLOW

Exits are important for the startup ecosystem because investors get returns and VC money can flow back to support new entrepreneurs. The Flipkart deal did a lot in that respect, but mid-sized deals are just as vital as outliers.

Many of these represent strategic business acquisition or consolidation. For example, last month Bengaluru-based digital payments startup Instamojo acquired Gurugram’s SaaS startup GetMeAShop, which helps kirana stores get online. One of the significant inbound deals last year was Cisco’s acquisition of Bengaluru-based customer analytics startup CloudCherry, which had raised $16 million in seed and series A funding.

Reliance Industries has taken the lead in corporate acquisitions of startups. Fashion etailer Fynd, website creator Nowfloats, hyperlocal restaurant delivery service Grab, fluid dynamics software maker Sankhyasutra Labs and drone maker Asteria were among its acquisitions last year. Also, an edtech startup it had acquired earlier, Embibe, merged with personalized digital learning app Funtoot. Reliance Jio also acquired Haptik for its AI virtual assistants.

Apart from mergers and acquisitions, early stage investors also get exits from follow-on funding rounds when larger VCs come in. “Investors need liquidity which often comes from secondary transactions,” says Neha Singh, co-founder of Tracxn.

SoftBank’s mega investments in India, starting in 2014, moved the needle the most, preceded by US’ Tiger Global. But the WeWork implosion has put SoftBank on the back foot as it had to write off $4.6 billion from its investment in the office space company. This has put a spanner in the works of late stage deals in recent times, although Indian startups raised a record $14.5 billion last year, according to Tracxn. That’s more than three times the $4.3 billion invested in the slowdown year of 2016, which followed the exuberance of the previous two years.

THE LOCAL CYCLE

“Like investments, exits have also improved along with the quality of entrepreneurs,” says Manish Singhal, founding partner at Pi Ventures. He cites last week’s example of customer engagement platform Freshworks acquiring AnswerIQ, which offers AI-assisted self-service. “The most interesting piece that has moved in the last couple of years is that Indian startups are buying Indian startups,” he says.

The local cycle of investment and exit would reduce dependence on external factors going forward. “What excites me is that people in India are starting to appreciate technology developed in India. That’s why local acquisitions are happening,” he says.

Singhal doesn’t worry about a large number of acquisitions being small pops rather than high value deals. “As an angel investor, if I get a small exit, I will put the money in some more companies. Anything that circulates money in a rather constipated investment scene in India is good for the ecosystem.” Source: https://www.livemint.com/companies/start-ups/as-exit-scene-evolves-indian-tech-startups-find-local-buyers-11583076229165.html

Indian VC industry sees record $10 billion investment in 2019 #Edtech SPONSOR: BetterU Education Corp. $BTRU.ca $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 2:43 PM on Monday, March 2nd, 2020
SPONSOR:  BetterU Education Corp. aims to provide access to quality education from around the world. The company plans to bridge the prevailing gap in the education and job industry and enhance the lives of its prospective learners by developing an integrated ecosystem. Click here for more information.

Indian VC industry sees record $10 billion investment in 2019: Report

The amount was 55 per cent higher than the money invested by the industry in 2018, the report by Bain & Company’s India Venture Capital Report 2020 said. At the current exchange rate, USD 10 billion translates to over Rs 72,000 crore.

  • VC exit momentum in 2019 was in line with 2018, with secondary sales leading the mode of exits in India with an average exit value of around USD 39 million

The Indian venture capital industry invested record USD 10 billion in 2019, driven by increased deal volume and larger average deal sizes, according to a report. The amount was 55 per cent higher than the money invested by the industry in 2018, the report by Bain & Company’s India Venture Capital Report 2020 said. At the current exchange rate, USD 10 billion translates to over Rs 72,000 crore.

The report, in partnership with Indian Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (IVCA), said there has been 30 per cent increase in deal volume and 20 per cent rise in average deal size in 2019 over the previous year. “Despite substantial capital deployment, dry powder availability for VC investing in India was at an all-time high of USD 7 billion at the end of 2019, indicating likely continued investment activity in 2020,” it added.

The term ‘dry powder’ refers to cash reserves kept on hand by a company, venture capital firm or individual to cover future obligations. The VC exit momentum in 2019 was in line with 2018, with secondary sales leading the mode of exits in India with an average exit value of around USD 39 million. “Despite the global economic climate, India’s startup and VC ecosystems continue to thrive as investors take a long- term view based on the country’s growth potential. We go into 2020 with record-high levels of dry powder, counter-balanced with caution and an underlying optimism in the long-term potential for the ecosystem,” Arpan Sheth, Partner at Bain & Company, said.

About 80 per cent of the VC investments in 2019 was concentrated in four sectors — consumer tech, software/ SaaS, fintech and B2B commerce and tech. Consumer tech continued to be the largest sector, accounting for approximately 35 per cent of the total investments with several scale deals exceeding USD 150 million, the report said. Within consumer tech, verticalised e-commerce companies continued to be the largest sub-segment. In addition, there were increased investments in healthtech, foodtech and edtech as well.

“The Indian VC industry had a landmark year in 2019. However, India-focused VC investments raised less funds this year, the fundraising outlook for 2020 remains positive among both LPs and GPs (Limited Partners and General Partners),” Sriwatsan Krishnan, Partner at Bain & Company and co-author of the report, said. Following the brief moderation between 2015 and 2017, the VC industry in India has been in a renewed growth phase and that is expected to continue, Krishnan added.

The Indian startup ecosystem, one of the top five globally, continued to remain robust and grow rapidly. Between 2012 and 2019, the number of startups in India increased 17 per cent each year, while funded startups increased faster at 19 per cent CAGR in the same period, the report said. Currently, of almost 80,000 startups in India, only about 8 per cent are funded, indicating room for investments, it added. The report said India-focused VC funds raised about USD 2.1 billion in 2019, slightly lower than that in 2018.

The dip was the result of marquee funds that had already raised large sums and hence did not go to the market in 2019, it added. “There is a massive pipeline of soon to be unicorns; few of the Indian Unicorns will become decacorns by 2025. All this could not have happened without the support of the current government and the exits driven by first-generation entrepreneurs in the last couple of years,” IVCA President Rajat Tandon said.

Source: https://www.financialexpress.com/market/indian-vc-industry-sees-record-10-billion-investment-in-2019-report/1886543/

4 Reasons Why The EdTech Industry Is Set To Take Off – SPONSOR: BetterU Education Corp. $BTRU.ca $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 4:56 PM on Tuesday, February 25th, 2020
SPONSOR:  BetterU Education Corp. aims to provide access to quality education from around the world. The company plans to bridge the prevailing gap in the education and job industry and enhance the lives of its prospective learners by developing an integrated ecosystem. Click here for more information.

4 Reasons Why The EdTech Industry Is Set To Take Off

  • Education Sector is Ripe for Disruption
  • Increasing User Base of Mobile Phones and Internet
  • The Young Are Leading the Way
  • Personalization of Education  

By: Neetin Agrawal Founder, Dronstudy

With the influx of smart devices, Internet and advanced software, the scope of education is expanding to every nook and corner of India. The impact of edtech on not just the education sector but broadly on the society is applaud-worthy, which is why the edtech sector is also highly popular among aspiring start-ups.

Online learning and courses are growing at a rapid pace as professionals realize the lack of skill-based courses and poor infrastructure in the Indian education system is now affecting their careers. 

In the last few years, an increasing number of entrepreneurs have also realized the potential of edtech. The uptrend will continue, thanks to the Digital India campaign, the cultural importance of education in Indian society, and low mobile data prices.

Private equity and venture capitalfirms are also keenly investing in this sector and not just in K–12 (kindergarten to 12th grade) but also in online courses. Supplemental courses, test preparation, online certification and gamification have vast potential that is yet to be explored. 

Education Sector is Ripe for Disruption

The Indian education system has been following the same traditional approach for decades. Even though the Indian culture has always laid high emphasis on education, yet it has seen a minimal transformation. To reform the country into a digitally empowered nation, the Indian government has also launched the initiative Digital India. 

The education sector is ripe for disruption—ranging from government initiatives to steps taken by educational institutions. The country is seeing a massive wave of revolution in the edtech sector. Schools and universities are embracing digital educational tools, and even offices are encouraging their employees to take up online courses to be more efficient and productive. 

Increasing User Base of Mobile Phones and Internet

The penetration of smartphones and cheap data rates has been a game-changer for the edtechs. Today, there are over 350 million mobile phone users in India, which is expected to double by 2022. With these numbers, there is no doubt that mobile phones and digital devices are the classrooms of the future. 

Online courses, virtual classrooms, digital teaching tools in classes, and through the increasing use of cutting-edge technologies such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence and augmented reality, the delivery and methodology of learning is changing. Not just the learners and educators, but entrepreneurs are becoming increasingly aware of the potential of technology in education.

The Young Are Leading the Way 

The workplaces have changed drastically, and the education system must change along. The edtech sector is helping fill the gaps between the education system and the professional world—it is aiding individuals to develop practical skills in addition to the theory taught in classrooms. 

Edtech entrepreneurs, or edupreneurs, are mostly young minds who are passionate about technology and aspirational. They are revolutionizing the education sector by launching unique initiatives and balancing technology with learning, helping it reach students, teachers and parents across metros, and tier II and III cities.

Personalization of Education 

With technology, the educators (teachers, professors, and educational institutions) will be able to strategize and customize the syllabi as per each student. The various educational programmes today are addressing the distinct interests, learning requirements and aspirations of a learner structure. 

Online courses are offering the masses a flexible and affordable way to acquire new skills. The advancements in education are helping people access education easily, rise above traditional bookish knowledge, and gain a better understanding of a subject through videos, online study material and educational apps with a variety of learning tools. 

Education in India is yet to go a long way, but the edtech sector is overcoming the hurdles one at a time.

Source: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/346750

India’s #Edtech industry is the second biggest in the world – SPONSOR: BetterU Education Corp. $BTRU.ca $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 2:45 PM on Friday, February 14th, 2020
SPONSOR:  BetterU Education Corp. aims to provide access to quality education from around the world. The company plans to bridge the prevailing gap in the education and job industry and enhance the lives of its prospective learners by developing an integrated ecosystem. Click here for more information.

India’s EdTech industry is the second biggest in the world

  • India is home to the second-highest number of EdTech companies (327), followed by Brazil (275), the United Kingdom (245) and China (101).
  • Indian EdTech startup company BYJU’S is leading the way with the highest amount of venture capital raised.
  • EdTech acquisitions are on the rise with almost 200 acquisitions in the EdTech space since 2003.

RS Components has released a new report that analyses Crunchbase data, alongside a survey targeting teachers, to reveal the state of educational technology (EdTech). The report reveals the countries that are investing in EdTech the most and the EdTech companies that are leading the way.

  • The US has the highest number of EdTech enterprises, with 43% (1,385) of all EdTech company headquarters being based in the US.
  • India is home to the second-highest number of EdTech companies (327), followed by Brazil (275), the United Kingdom (245) and China (101).
  • Sweden’s EdTech companies see the highest success rate in securing venture capital, with 57% of companies backed by VC funding.
  • Indian EdTech startup company BYJU’S is leading the way with the highest amount of venture capital raised.
  • EdTech acquisitions are on the rise with almost 200 acquisitions in the EdTech space since 2003.

RS Components has analysed Crunchbase data on EdTech companies to reveal who is investing in EdTech the most. The report looks at the countries that are home to the most EdTech companies, as well as those that have raised the highest capital, are receiving the most funding and have made the most acquisitions. The full ‘State of EdTech’ report can be found here.

Which countries are leading the way in EdTech enterprises?

With a predicted market value set to reach $252 billion in 2020, EdTech startups are on the rise all over the world. At the heart of this surge is the US, with an overwhelming majority of 43% of the world’s EdTech enterprises having their headquarters located in the United States. The country’s population size, large economy, and tech and innovation hubs, such as Silicon Valley, are likely to contribute to its success. 

India has the second-highest number of EdTech startups, with 10% being located in the country. Brazil (9%), the UK (8%), and China (3%) all make it into the top 5 countries leading the way in EdTech. 

The countries home to the highest number of EdTech company headquarters: 

Which countries are top for venture capital (VC) funding in EdTech?

When it comes to the success rates of the world’s EdTech companies in securing funding, it’s countries like Sweden, China and Italy that come to the fore, with over half of their EdTech startups successfully securing funding.

Sweden leads the way, with 57% of its EdTech startups being successfully funded, and with organisations like Swedish EdTech Industry claiming that: “Sweden will become the leading country in the world in exploiting the opportunities and effects of digitalisation in the education system”  it’s clear that there is significant confidence in the industry.

Sweden is also home to key initiatives in the EdTech field, such as EdTech Sweden – an annual event, hosted in Stockholm, that is a combination of a conference, exhibition and a networking event where experts in the field share and discuss best practices and new digital solutions that promote learning.

The countries where the highest proportion of EdTech companies are securing funding:

Where are EdTech companies receiving the most funding? 

Just under one third (31%) of EdTech companies have successfully attracted VC funding, with 1,019 enterprises in the industry attracting a total of $14 billion. When it comes to the average amount of funding each EdTech company attracts, China is where companies come out on top, with an average of $43.9 million being invested into individual EdTech companies.

Luxembourg is a close second, with EdTech companies here attracting an average investment of $35.4 million each. Compare this with the US, home to the most EdTech companies where each attracts an average of $16.6 million, and it’s clear that countries like China and Luxembourg are putting a much higher value on EdTech.

Which EdTech companies are leading the way?

India is home to the EdTech startup, BYJU’s, which has raised the highest amount of capital, at $969 million. Following shortly behind are China’s Yuanfudao at $544m and Zhangmen at $499m.

Seven of the highest funded companies are based in the US, with the likes of Coursera, Laureate Education and 2U Inc. attracting a total of $313.1 million, $400 million and $426.8 million, respectively.

Have EdTech acquisitions increased?

According to Crunchbase, there have been almost 200 acquisitions in the EdTech space since 2003. While few were made between 2003 and 2009, acquisitions have been on a steady rise since the early 2010s, with 37 acquisitions in 2018, 36 in 2017 and 33 in 2016.

The most notable acquisition in the space was LinkedIn’s $1.5 billion purchase of Lynda in 2015. The company, now known as LinkedIn Learning, is a provider of online video courses taught by industry experts in software, creative, and business skills.

A spokesperson from RS Components comments:

“EdTech is clearly seeing a huge boom at the moment, with acquisitions on the rise and its market value set to hit $252 billion this year, so it’s great to see tech entrepreneurs all over the world bringing their talents to the industry.

“With more than 40% of EdTech companies setting up their headquarters in the US, it looks like the country is becoming a hub for EdTech startups. However, with companies in China and Luxembourg receiving the highest proportion of funding and the likes of Sweden, Italy and Austria being home to the most companies that are successfully securing funding, it’s clear that there are opportunities for EdTech startups all over the world.”

Source: https://indiaeducationdiary.in/indias-edtech-industry-is-the-second-biggest-in-the-world/

India’s #Vedantu scores $24M more for its online tutoring service #Edtech – SPONSOR: BetterU Education Corp. $BTRU.ca $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 10:34 AM on Thursday, February 13th, 2020
SPONSOR:  BetterU Education Corp. aims to provide access to quality education from around the world. The company plans to bridge the prevailing gap in the education and job industry and enhance the lives of its prospective learners by developing an integrated ecosystem. Click here for more information.

India’s Vedantu scores $24M more for its online tutoring service

  • The fresh infusion to Series C, which Vedantu first unveiled in August last year, was led by global VC firm GGV Capital.
  • Some existing investors also participated in the round. The $24 million extension broadens the five-year-old startup’s Series C round to $66 million, and its total raise to date to $82 million.

By: Manish Singh

Vedantu, a Bangalore-based startup that operates a learning app aimed at students aged between 12 to 18, has secured an additional $24 million as part of its Series C financing round as it looks to serve more students and make its brand a household name.

The fresh infusion to Series C, which Vedantu first unveiled in August last year, was led by global VC firm GGV Capital. Some existing investors also participated in the round. The $24 million extension broadens the five-year-old startup’s Series C round to $66 million, and its total raise to date to $82 million.

Vedantu serves students in grade 6 to 12 and offers live and interactive courses. Students who have enrolled for the interactive sessions are required to answer questions every few minutes by tapping on their smartphone screen or on the desktop. They also can raise their doubts at the end of the session.

Some of these sessions are free for students, but a selection of it requires a subscription, Vamsi Krishna, co-founder and CEO of the startup, told TechCrunch in an interview.

The app has amassed over 75,000 paying subscribers, a figure that Krishna expects to surpass 100,000 this year, he said. The cost of these subscriptions can vary from Rs 100 ($1.4) for students looking for sessions around a particular topic, to Rs 50,000 ($700) for long-term courses that focus on training students for undergraduate-level courses. More than 25 million users, in total, come to Vedantu app or website each month to consume free lessons.

India has the largest school-age population in the world and households in the nation are willing to invest in their children’s education to advance their lives. About a million students look to pursue under graduate courses each year, for instance.

But the quality of education and its affordability are two major challenges that millions of students, especially those living in smaller cities and towns, have to confront. An offline coaching centre can have as many as 100 students sitting in the room, with most not getting a chance to engage with the teacher. But for some, it also means there aren’t many teachers left to teach them.

From right to left: Vamsi Krishna, CEO and co-founder; Anand Prakash, co-founder; and Pulkit Jain, co-founder and head of product

In recent years, a wave of tech startups including Byju’s, which was valued at $8 billion in its most recent fund raise last week, have emerged to tackle these challenges as low-cost Android handsets flood the Indian market and mobile data prices become incredibly affordable.

Vedantu allows students to interact with their teachers through the microphone and camera on their smartphone or desktop and also through a chat box on the app. These teachers also have assistants who work with students on their doubts.

Since it’s a virtual class, Vedantu is also able to accommodate more students in a session. A paid session may have as many as 600 students while the free lessons could have 2,000, said Krishna, who is a teacher himself, and ran Lakshya Institute that helped students prepare for undergraduate-level courses until early 2014 before selling a majority stake to Mumbai-based K-12 tutoring and test preparation firm MT Educare.

Running a tech platform has also enabled Vedantu to offer its subscription service at a more affordable price than a typical offline coaching equivalent that can cost users anything between a few hundred dollars to a few thousand.

To ensure that students are paying attention and identify their weaknesses, Vedantu says it has built a patented system called WAVE that evaluates about 70 parameters including whether the student is looking at the screen. More than 90% of its students engage with the session (raise and answer questions, for one), said Krishna.

Hans Tung, Managing Partner at GGV Capital, who is joining the board of Vedantu as part of the investment, said he thinks Vedantu has reached the inflection point with its WAVE product. WAVE enables teachers to deliver “superior results as it can offer personalized education to many students at once,” he said. “We are excited to partner with Vamsi and the Vedantu team and share GGV’s global expertise and network to help them scale and shape learning outcomes for millions of students in India and beyond.”

Krishna said the startup has grown phenomenally in recent years so it is beginning to spend some money to better market its brand. In December, the startup ran some commercials on TV channels. In addition to that, Vedantu has also started to add courses to serve even younger students. The new courses are in pilot stage and would be broadly launched in a few months, he said.

Source: https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/indias-vedantu-scores-24m-more-103453756.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMXOkOqEb0PPmTQ5AXZ9ds53Eyl4lc40TefWUy_IU_8p7idep45E8kdorerUVQwNTif3ONR83s31zGGdDOkHVCs8ZcEvIDl3m78BgbSjf2tjBJyID8xFTFE3k-EW1a6vEDCOuyYxChw_vwoVoSAQpwViZBO3rsMAPEgZd78hldFZ

Coding Ninjas Bags $5.2 Mn From Info Edge To Expand Operations #Edtech SPONSOR: BetterU Education Corp. $BTRU.ca $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 12:15 PM on Wednesday, February 12th, 2020
SPONSOR:  BetterU Education Corp. aims to provide access to quality education from around the world. The company plans to bridge the prevailing gap in the education and job industry and enhance the lives of its prospective learners by developing an integrated ecosystem. Click here for more information.

Coding Ninjas Bags $5.2 Mn From Info Edge To Expand Operations

  • Info Edge has invested INR 37.10 Cr in Series A round of Coding Ninjas
  • The funding will also be used in expanding business in newer geographies
  • Coding Ninjas was founded by Ankush Singla, Kannu Mittal and Dhawal Parate

New Delhi-based edtech startup Coding Ninjas, on Wednesday (February 12), announced that it has raised INR 37.10 Cr ($5.2 Mn) in a Series A funding from Info Edge, the parent company of online job listing platform Naukri.

With the recently raised funds, the startup plans to scale operations and hire new professionals in tech and content teams. The funding will also be used in expanding business in newer geographies. “As Naukri is one of the major recruitment platforms, the partnership will boost the placement side of our business,” said Ankush Singla, cofounder of Coding Ninjas.

Founded in 2016 by Singla, Kannu Mittal and Dhawal Parate, Coding Ninjas offers online computer language courses that are used to design applications, software, etc. It also offers educational courses related to new-age technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), etc.

Moreover, Coding Ninjas is also planning to invest funds in its new offering Career Camp. Launched in 2019, Career Camp is a six-month-long online training programme that offers an option for students to pay for their fees from their salaries upon receiving a job offer. Coding Ninjas also offers a unique teaching assistant model which helps in addressing doubts of students in real-time. Ex-students of Coding Ninjas can also help current students in their doubt-clearing sessions.

Besides Coding Ninjas, there are various other edtech players in the space, which are offering similar courses. However, Coding Ninjas has differentiated itself from others by offering these courses in Hindi as well. The startup claims to have provided education classes to over 20K students. It also claims to have more than 2000 professors registered on the platform.

Info Edge’s CEO Hitesh Oberoi said that there are long term synergies between skill-based education and recruitment and this partnership allows the company to enter this segment.

According to DataLabs by Inc42’s latest report “The Future Of India’s $2 Bn Edtech Opportunity Report 2020”, a total of $1.802 Bn was raised by edtech startups across 303 deals between 2014 and 2019.

Among the edtech startups which have driven this growth in India are belong to K-12 and test prep segment, with certification products and services following.

In the edtech space in India, Coding Ninjas competes against Acadview which helps fresh graduates to enhance their employability by upskilling them with in-demand technologies through online live courses and industry projects. Acadview was acquired by Mumbai-based edtech startup UpGrad in October 2018. Other players in the space include Konfinity, Harappa Education, GreyAtom, among others.

Source: https://inc42.com/buzz/coding-ninjas-bags-5-2-mn-from-info-edge-to-expand-operations/