Omidyar, Accel Place $11 Mn Bet On Edtech Startup Vedantu

Bengaluru-based online tutoring startup Vedantu has raised $11 Mn in a Series B funding round led by philanthropic investment firm Omidyar Network, with participation from existing investor venture capital firm Accel Partners.

Vedantu plans to use the funding for further technology development to create a more personalised LIVE learning experience for students and to develop its Student App.

Founded in 2014 by Vamsi Krishna, Anand Prakash, and Pulkit Jain, Vedantu is an interactive online tutoring platform where teachers provide tuitions to school students over the internet, using a real-time virtual learning environment named WAVE, a technology built in-house.

Talking to Inc42, Vamsi Krishna, CEO and cofounder, Vedantu, said that to address parents’ concerns for their kid’s performance, the company takes regular quizzes/test, keeps them updated on the child’s performance, holds parent-teacher meetings every quarter, and also has a student counsellor to guide the student.

Vedantu claims to have more than 500 teachers who have taught more than 1 Mn hours to over 40K students spread across more than 1000 cities from over 36 countries.

An hour’s group session costs INR 50-150 and a private session costs INR 300-600. On Vedantu a teacher is able to give personalised teaching using two-way audio, video and whiteboarding tools where both teacher and student are able to see, hear, write and interact in real-time.

“As one of the early starters, Vedantu is a category-defining company in online LIVE tutoring. Their constantly evolving tech platform combines the best of teaching & learning experience making education accessible, affordable and impactful. We are committed to Vedantu’s vision & excited to be a catalyst in this journey,” said Anand Daniel, Partner at Accel Partners.

At present, the company is operational in 80 cities in India as it tutors students from 6th to 12th grade, the company plans to enter into exams categories like GMAT and GRE.

Siddharth Nautiyal, investment partner, Omidyar Network said, “The lowering data costs and availability of high-speed internet is making the online teaching model a reality. Vedantu’s one-to-many live classes are disrupting the market while providing students a meaningful learning experience through ‘star’ teachers and an AI-powered platform to students in over 400 cities.”

Of late, edtech startups have received significant interest from investors, which is not a surprise. According to a May 2017 Google-KMPG report, the Indian online education sector may witness up to 8X growth in the next five years.

Here’s a quick look at the major players in the edtech segment in India:

• Gaja Capital invested $25 Mn in Ahmedabad-headquartered edtech company Educational Initiatives and acquired a significant minority stake in sports education and training company KOOH Sports for $10.17 Mn
• California-and Bengaluru-based e-learning platform Quizizz raised $3 Mn in a funding round led by Nexus Venture Partners
• Bengaluru-based AI-focussed edtech startup Verzeo secured Series A funding of $5 Mn

With growth stage funding from major investors of the Indian startup ecosystem, Vedantu has a lot of potential to access the untapped secondary markets.