Growth | Technology

Case Study: Ed Tech Revenue Growth Success Stories

By Ashutosh Kumar

Do you wish to grow your EdTech brand? Learn how top EdTech brands in India target revenue growth with effective strategies.

EdTech in India had a total revenue of $4.3 billion in 2022, with a projected revenue growth of 10.4 billion by 2025. Experts expect the K-12 segment to remain the most valuable section, followed by test prep and online degrees.

This blog examines the EdTech industry and showcases five leading Indian companies that thrived. We outline EdTech innovators' strategies in acquisition, product development, and more. This provides a blueprint for success in the competitive sector.

Learn how to succeed in the EdTech industry in India from BYJU’s, Unacademy, Vedantu, upGrad, and Physics Wallah.

Case Studies of 5 EdTech Companies

Here, we have analysed five EdTech companies' growth strategies to remain in this competitive sector:

1. BYJU’s

BYJU’s is an Indian EdTech company founded in 2011 that offers a popular K–12 learning app. As of September 2023, around 150 million students worldwide have registered with BYJU’s.

Their main product is a learning app that adapts to you. It has videos, games, and personalised tutoring. BYJU’s uses an innovative free model, offering free access to some content while charging for premium services.

Strategies and Success

BYJU’s has leveraged a few key strategies to get so many students listed in their app, such as:

Free Model: BYJU’s made their core learning content accessible to attract many users. They then convinced some users to pay for premium services like 1-on-1 tutoring.
Product Localisation: They increased relevance by creating more tailored content specifically for individuals.
Acquisitions: BYJU’s acquired EdTech companies such as WhiteHat Jr, Epic, and Akaash to broaden their offerings. They stepped into coding and test prep for students who wanted to level up their game at competitive exams.
Celebrity Branding: They hired celebrities like Shah Rukh Khan to promote their brand and attract more customers.

Due to these strategies, BYJU’s has become the number one company in the EdTech industry in India. Their net revenue growth has surged from 4.9 billion in 2018 to 22.8 billion in 2021.

2. Unacademy

Unacademy, an Indian EdTech startup, was founded in 2015. It provides exam preparation courses for competitive exams like NEET and UPSC. The platform has 1000 registered educators and over 50 million active learners. Unacademy has a free YouTube channel and a paid subscription model for its platform.

Its YouTube channel is a mega-hit, with 1.42M subscribers and 750,000 paid subscribers. Further, it has three separate applications for students, educators, and parents.

Strategies and Success

Strategies that boosted Unacademy success are:

Marketed Educators: Unacademy made a place where skilled teachers can share good content and earn money.
Courses in Vernacular Languages: To make education more accessible, courses were offered in everyday languages to break down language barriers. They offer classes in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and many more.
Gamified Learning: To make learning more fun, Unacademy added points, streaks, and leaderboards to its platform.
Strategic Acquisitions and Launches: They acquired Kreatryx, PrepLadder, and Codechef to expand their learning options. They also released an app called Graphy. This app helps with their gamified content by offering interactive stories and books.

These strategies fueled Unacademy's expansion. Its annual revenue soared from ₹398 crore in 2021 to ₹719 crore during the financial year of 2022. In May 2022, the EdTech startup opened training centres. This was because fewer people were interested in online education after COVID-19. By opening physical stores, they implemented their strategy and saw a 655% increase in profit. Using their revenue growth formula, their revenue rose from ₹53 crore in CY22 to ₹400 crore in CY23.

3. Vedantu

Vedantu is an Indian online tutoring platform founded in 2011 by Vamsi Krishna, Anand Prakash and Pulkit Jain. It offers personalised live classes across K-12 and test prep segments. Vamsi Krishna and his IITian friends launched it in 2006 under Lakshya.

Students interact with tutors and other students using an interactive online whiteboard. They can get their doubts cleared and participate in quizzes and activities. It has mentored over 40,000 students globally. It had a valuation of 169 crore in FY22.

To attract users, Vedantu offers free content on YouTube and other platforms. They also provide paid subscriptions for access to live and complete courses.

Strategies and Success

Interactive Platform: Vedantu is an interactive platform that offers live online classes and peer learning. They use innovative technology like online whiteboards. This increased engagement over passive video content.
Hybrid Model: The hybrid model attracted users with freemium marketing. Revenue growth came from upsells and subscriptions.
Vertical Integration: Vedantu expanded beyond K12 by launching new services and acquiring other companies. In 2022, they acquired Deeksha College. Before that, they earned Pedagogy and Instasolve.

Before 2020, Vedantu was experiencing steady annual revenue growth between 2.3x and 3x yearly. In 2020, Vedantu's business momentum accelerated. Revenue grew 5 times compared to 2019. They increased their student base from 80,000 to 1.2 million in 2020. Vedantu has 35 million free users, and its YouTube channel gets 65 million views.

4. Physics Wallah

Alakh Pandey, a humble tuition teacher, founded Physics Wallah in 2016 with a mission and vision. Physics Wallah became the 101st unicorn in the EdTech industry in India.

It began as a YouTube channel providing free JEE and NEET exam preparation videos. Today, Physics Wallah offers courses across K-12, competitive exams, and UPSC. It has a popular mobile app with video lessons, mock tests, and more.

Physics Wallah makes money through paid video courses, coaching affiliates, and selling merchandise. Almost 90% of their content is free. He has multiple sub-channels: JEE Wallah, Military Wallah, Competition Wallah, and NCERT Wallah. These sub-channels are part of his main channel, Physics Wallah.

Strategies and Success

Marketing tactics that made Physics Wallah the only unicorn not to incur any losses in FY22 are:

Grassroot YouTube Content: High-quality free videos solved student problems, generating organic traction. In 4 years, 1.6 million YouTube subscribers and 600 million views were achieved.
Focused on Vernacular Languages: The company focuses on local languages. We have increased the use of Hindi and other languages in smaller Indian cities and towns.
Acquisitions: To get ready for exams, Physics Wallah bought four companies: iNeuron.ai, PrepOnline, Altis Vortex, and FreeCo. With these acquisitions, they hope to reach a student base of 250 million by 2025.

Physics Wallah, a bootstrapped company, received funding from Westbridge Capital and GSV Ventures. Recently, it joined the unicorn club after securing series A funding. Physics Wallah was the only profitable company in the EdTech industry in FY22. Its net profit was ₹97.8 crore. It was a 14X higher profit than FY21.

5. UpGrad

UpGrad is an Indian EdTech focused on higher education founded in 2015 by Ronnie Screwvala, Mayank Kumar and Ravijot Chugh. UpGrad offers over 100 courses in digital marketing, data science, management, and other subjects. These courses are created in partnership with universities. Courses run for 3-12 months with live classes and mentorship support.

Strategies and Success

Some strategies leveraged by UpGrad to crack the EdTech market are:

Industry Partnerships: UpGrad co-created courses with established universities to build credibility. This included IIT, IIITB and MICA Ahmedabad.
Income Share Agreements: Learners pay a % of income after securing jobs rather than hefty upfront fees.
Enterprise Training: UpGrad provides training and hiring programs for companies to improve their employees' skills.
Targeting Working Professionals: upGrad targets both students studying abroad and in the country and working professionals.

UpGrad’s revenue growth jumped to 2X from ₹327 crore in FY21 to ₹679 Crore in FY22. The current valuation of the EdTech giant has reached $2.25 billion after fresh funding after diluting 10% equity.

Conclusion

These five case studies prove how Indian EdTech leaders capitalised. The opportunity remains expansive, with only 11% EdTech penetration in K12 today. We envision accelerated growth as spending triples by 2025. India’s EdTech gold rush has begun, and establishing gameplans early is vital to stake claims in this promising digital frontier. Contact us if you’re looking for revenue growth and establishing your brand presence. Growth Jockey can help you navigate today’s market landscape with effective strategies.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is upGrad a unicorn?

UpGrad graced the unicorn stage in 2021, right after the pandemic when more and more students opted for online learning.

2. What is BYJU’s’ monthly fee?

The monthly fee of BYJU’s is ₹2000, which gives access to 16 classes comprising 08 classes of Math and 08 classes of Science.

3. Why do people opt for online coaching?

People choose online coaching because it's convenient, personalised and cost-effective. It also has expert faculty, is flexible, and uses interactive technology.