In 2023, EdTech in India must rise again and shine.
2022 has been a tough year for much of Educational Technology (EdTech) in India. The ‘Tracxn Geo Annual Report: India Tech 2022’ reports a 39% decline in funding in the period January to November compared to 2021. To overcome this, many companies, including industry-leading players like BYJU’S, Unacademy and Vedantu, have had to resort to job cuts. There are a number of steps we can adopt to recover from hardship and rise again as a victorious industry.
Improve learning outcomes with hybrid learning
increasingly popular, Hybrid learning is a combination of online and face-to-face learning. His CEO and founder of BrightCHAMPS, Ravi Bhushan, sees BrightCHAMPS as the future of educational technology and believes many companies will soon adopt it. His company has developed a hybrid model of the course and by early 2023 he plans to open two offline centers in Vietnam.
Similarly, BYJU’S was already off to a head start in 2019 at BYJU’S Tuition Centers (BTC), offering hybrid classes. BTC has seen tremendous growth since the company launched its first BTC in 2022. BYJU’S currently plans to open at least 250+ BTC and 250 Aakash BYJU’S centers in 2023, which will offer courses for medical and engineering entrance exams in India.
Combining the benefits of online classes with the human connection of traditional instruction, hybrid learning can provide flexibility and a personalized learning experience. Teachers can also use technology to improve teaching and interact with students in many ways. Due to its multiple advantages, hybrid learning is rapidly gaining momentum around the world.
Shift from high valuation to profitability
A value-based business model is crucial for Indian EdTech businesses such as BYJU’S and Unacademy. In 2022, it became clear that high value alone would not sustain long-term growth. For example, BUJU’S, the world’s most valuable EdTech business, is under attack due to financial concerns, alleged mistactics, and massive job cuts. Nonetheless, founder Byju Raveendran believes 2023 will be a brighter year as important strategic changes are made.
It is not realistic for any company to lose money indefinitely. As such, profitability must be prioritized over valuation to make his EdTech companies in India financially resilient and capable of steady growth over the long term.
Integrate the right technology
Technology is the backbone of any EdTech startup, especially in India where the education sector continues to develop. Like Metaversity, incorporating multiple technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), and gamification without planning or direction can be tempting and doomed to failure.
This EdTech startup has garnered a lot of attention when it debuted in 2021. However, the company announced its closure in May 2022 after failing to master his Web3 tech. Manish Maheshwari (Former Twitter India Chief) and his Tanay Pratap (Former Microsoft Senior Engineer) co-founded a venture aimed at merging EdTech and web3. According to Maheshwari, technical issues ultimately led to a failure before the product was launched.
Therefore, when choosing technologies to incorporate into your EdTech product, it is important to consider compatibility with your existing infrastructure and ease of integration into your current product. If you are unsure whether a particular technology works well with your app, please consult an expert.
focus on affordability
Many students in India come from low-income families and cannot afford expensive courses and tutoring. By offering affordable products and services, EdTech makes education accessible to a wider audience.
There are many EdTech companies in India already doing this. For example, ConveGenius offers homeschooling individual assessments and remedial classes via existing apps such as WhatsApp that can be accessed over low 2G/3G connection speeds. Similarly, Eduuraa offers its services through an app, website or Zee5 (India’s subscription video on demand and over-the-top streaming service), offering affordable subscription packages. Making quality education affordable not only benefits students but also contributes to the economic development of India as a whole.
With these priorities firmly in place, India can make significant strides towards becoming the global EdTech market leader in 2023.
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