Vedantu — A real Comeback Star!!
In the nineties, Chennai was the ‘Mecca for Chartered/Cost Accountants.’ Students from the South Indian States aspiring to be CA/CWA/CS used to take classes in the renowned Coaching Centers based in Chennai. While the Coaching Center’s fee was not prohibitive, relocating to Chennai would make it less affordable for most students from low and middle-class families. Apart from the economic reasons, there were social reasons, because of which aspiring students couldn’t move to Chennai to pursue the course.
I was among the less fortunate who had to go through the same dilemma and contend with the limited resources available at my place. I always hoped that there should be a solution to this asymmetry.
Twenty years fast-forward, it’s overwhelming to see new age EdTech Companies trying to address this problem. Services of the best teachers are made available to the students in every nook and corner of the Country. It’s heartening to observe that the Indian Government is also actively promoting MOOC Platforms (SWAYAM launched as an initiative from MHRD, wherein academicians from prestigious Institutes viz., IIT, IIM, NIT, etc. offers free courses to the students along with the Certification).
Vedantu is one such new-age live online tutoring Company enabling students to learn from the best of the teachers in the Country.
Vedantu was founded by ex-IIT & second-time entrepreneurs viz., Vamsi Krishna, Pulkit Jain, and Anand Prakash. Lakshya Forum, an IIT/Engineering/Medical test preparation institute, was their first venture. It had offline centers in Patiala, Bathinda, Chandigarh, and Panchkula, with about 2,500+ students. In 2012, Lakshya Forum was acquired by MT Educare Limited, a listed company specialized in education support and coaching services providers.
Vedantu was set-up to replicate the synchronous learning model ‘online’.
Synchronous learning refers to a learning event where participants are engaged in learning at the same time. Vedantu aims to provide a superior learning experience & improved outcome by enabling the holy trinity of best-in-class teachers, engaging content, and superior technology.
Vedantu started operations as a one-to-one teaching platform, but the high price point hindered the growth. As a result it faced headwinds in raising next round of funding, leading to resource rationalization. This was a only a temporary setback.
Bang towards the end of 2017 came the comeback, when Vedantu enabled group live learning, which brought the prices down. It has resulted in rapid growth, higher recovery, and better margins. Since then, there was no turning back and Vedantu has been ticking all the right boxes of operational, engagement and conversion metrices.
It’s more than apt that Vedantu is the co-sponsor of the 12th Season of Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), with a theme of “Setback ka jawaab, comeback se do” !!
With the overall up mood in EdTech sector and great execution over last 2 years enabled Vedantu in raising ~ Rs 1,000 Crs in the current year at 4 times the valuation of last year.
In all it raised ~ Rs 1,400 Crs in last 5 years and as per Entrackr it is in talks to raise another $ 100 million, which might take Vedantu’s valuation in touching distance of Billion Dollars. Another unicorn from the HSR Layout, Bengaluru!!
Currently Vedantu is providing courses for students of Class 6 to Class 12 of CBSE, ICSE & few State Boards and also provides online classes for JEE & NEET entrance exams.
With competition heating up, not only from the likes of EdTech companies viz., Byju’s, Unacademy, Toppr, Testbook etc., but also with the traditional training institutes like FIITJEE, Aakash & TIME launching hybrid models (both offline & online), it needs to be seen whether online will replace offline or just supplement the traditional offline mode.
According to Redseer Analysis, the online higher education market is poised to grow to ~ $ 5–6 Billion by FY 2025 and fullstack models like that of Vedantu are best positioned to capture the growth. Vedantu seems to be on a strong footing to make an impact on the EdTech space in India & abroad.
Wishing Team Vedantu all the very best!!
NGO
eVidyaloka is a NGO that focuses on transforming the educational landscape of rural India. It creates digital classrooms for children in remote villages, with the support of local communities and Volunteer Teachers from across the globe. It has delivered 2M+ child learning hours benefiting 19K+ students from rural areas.
If you are interested, please reach out to:
For Volunteering: https://www.evidyaloka.org/volunteer/
For Donation: https://www.evidyaloka.org/sponsor/
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