Larsen & Toubro Forays Into Edtech; Appoints Sabyasachi Das As CEO

Industrial conglomerate Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has entered into India’s booming edtech space. The company has launched L&T EduTech — a platform that will offer courses in the engineering and technology verticals.

The company has appointed Sabyasachi Das as the CEO of its new business. Before joining L&T, Das was senior vice president & member of the executive leadership team (ELT) at Cognizant.

In a regulatory filing, the conglomerate said that L&T EduTech would offer three verticals, i.e. College Connect, Professional & Vocational Skilling, underpinned by assessment and certification processes. 

“While College Connect will empower students with practical & application-based learning, Professional Skilling will enable aspiring professionals to fast-track careers in their domains. Vocational Skilling involves skill certification programmes designed by industry experts for improved employability,” it said.

Through the edtech platform, L&T aims to upskill engineers and support its businesses. 

According to the company, the faculty would be drawn from industry, academia and L&T to impart their knowledge and experience through hybrid learning and skilling platforms.

“The L&T EduTech platform has been in the making for the last 18 months and with a rich repository of curated, rich, application-oriented content, we are now ready to take our offering to the market. Our new business offers both students and professionals the opportunity to learn from the masters,” the newly appointed CEO, Sabyasachi Das said.

With a market capitalisation of over INR 2.51 Lakh Cr, Larsen & Toubro is engaged in engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) projects, hi-tech manufacturing and services with operations in over 50 countries worldwide. 

As the edtech space in India is witnessing robust growth, established corporates have invested in the segment in a bid to keep pace with the changing business landscape.

In 2018, oil-to-telecom giant Reliance Industries (RIL) announced to acquire a majority stake in Bengaluru-based edtech startup Embibe. In April this year, Hero Group joined the edtech bandwagon with Hero Vired. 

The edtech sector in the country has grown tremendously in the past 18 months, and now India has five unicorns. This year alone, we have seen the entry of three edtech startups into the unicorn club i.e. Vedantu, upGrad and Eruditus. 

According to Inc42 Plus analysis, in the first three quarters of 2021, Indian edtech startups have raised closed to $3.2 Bn in investments. 

Given the uncertainty around schools, colleges and other educational institutions reopening, edtech startups are expected to witness growth in user base and venture capital funding.

Further, Inc42 Plus analysis shows that the market size of edtech in India is estimated to grow 3.7x in the next five years, from $2.8 Bn (2020) to $10.4 Bn (2025). Amid the $10 Bn market size, K12 learning solutions are expected to account for 41% of the total edtech market.