Due to the pandemic education tech companies have shown impressive growth and have emerged as some of the best sector firms to invest in. Numerous lockdowns have compelled most of the schools and other educators to implement online learning lessons. Modern ed-tech startups utilise digital media and cutting-edge technologies to deliver the learners well-structured lessons and training.
According to H1 2020, education tech startups have contributed around 20 percent of total venture capital investments. Asia-Pacific is considered a hub of many leading tech companies in the world. As a result, large sums of capital are pouring into ed-tech startups in the Asia Pacific, the fastest-growing regional market. According to Crunchbase numbers, APAC ed-tech companies raised a total of $2.2 billion in reported funding by October 2020.
Here are the leading companies that have emerged triumphant from 2020 as ed-tech leaders in the Asia Pacific.
Byju Raveendran founded this educational technology company in 2011 and has raised US$1.6 billion in the capital till August 2020. BYJU is the world’s most valuable ed-tech company based in Bangalore, India. The programs provided by the company are extremely adaptive and engaging, stimulating effective learning for K-12 also helping them prepare for highly challenging exams like JEE, NEET, and IAS. It also offers students various interesting video lessons via an app or website.
The company has become an authentic source of learning by constantly innovating and being easily accessible for everyone. There are over 64 million registered students and 4.2 million of them are annual paid subscriptions. Its great outreach and creative learning have made it become one of the leading ed-tech companies in the Asia Pacific.
Eruditus, an education startup founded by Ashwin Damera and Chaitanya Kalipatnapu, focuses on professional education programs and online certifications. The company based in Mumbai, India, delivers high-quality education programs to participants around the world. The company provides versatile programs created using a broad spectrum of learning methods and modules. They have put together creative and adaptive forms of learning around one’s busy schedules and work commitments.
Eruditus’s programs are planned to enable students to learn through actual classroom interactions, online sessions, case studies, and practical exercises. It pushes everyone to explore through a broader horizon to deal with challenges. The company’s Series D round reportedly valued the company at $700 million by the year 2020.
It’s a Chinese firm providing online education services for children aged 3 to 12. The company offers online math and science courses in Chinese and English language. Huohua Siwei has received investments from several big-name investors such as Sequoia Capital China, IDG Capital, GGV Capital, Carlyle Group, and Tencent. This Beijing-based company was established in 2017.
The company’s main focus is on three core areas: spatial thinking and graphics, computing power and logical reasoning. According to its CEO and Founder Luo Jian, the company rakes in $29 million monthly revenues with over 250,000 paying students. Earlier in the year 2020, Huohua Siwei had raised $30 million from Chinese video-based social media app Kuaishou as part of an ongoing Series D round.
Wanxue Education:
Wanxue Education, a Beijing-based education company established in 2006, raised funds from ADV Partners, a Hong Kong-based private equity firm, and Index Capita, a Beijing-based private equity firm.
The company caters for students at or above the university level, offering postgraduate training, entrance exam tutorship and admission consulting services. It is an online platform designed to provide professional and academic training services for college students and enables college students to get online training on various examinations. The company has raised $100 million in the year 2020.
The 2012 founded Chinese company is an online education and tutoring platform whose offerings focus on K-12 education. Yuanfudao facilitates live online tutoring from teachers across China and even checks the students’ homework by taking pictures of it. The startup has over a million paying users on its platform. Overall, the company is known to have over 400 million users and 11 teaching and curriculum development centers across China. By January and mid-March 2020, it ranked first in-app purchases in China’s education category.
Ruangguru: The information technology company was founded in 2014 primly focusing on providing an online self-learning platform. The Jakarta-based company offers products such as “Ruang Belajar”, “Ruanglesonline” and “Ruangles” which provide educational videos and exercises, online consultation with tutors, and private learning respectively. The company runs as a committed partner for local governments in Indonesia to provide a quality education through the Learning Management System (LMS).
HarukaEdu: Also known as PT Haruka Edukasi Utama is a Jakarta-based company founded in 2013 that provides a turn-key solution to universities. It allows universities to offer quality online education with minimum investments and risk. The company has raised a total funding of $4 million by May 2021. It offers courseware, study materials, IT infrastructure. The company also enables users to create their courses and manage students’ data.
Ed-tech companies have set vital trends which have redefined the industry bringing paradigm shifts breaking a pedagogical method of learning and creating a modern and advanced learning environment.