2021 India & South Asia EdTech 100

D2C business model dominates.

The vast majority of startups in both this and last year’s cohort operate in a direct-to-consumer model, indicative of the overall market in the region. Individual consumers (both parents and adult learners) have a high willingness to pay for education outside the formal sector in order to achieve their goals, whether university entrance, high marks at school or professional recognition. Direct to Consumer models operate across all sectors and segments, from peer learning app for professional development, Mentza, to doubt clearing app for school aged kids, Doubtnut  or CollegeDekho, providing support to find the best university.

Growth in workforce & skills but overall a balanced cohort.

The 2021 cohort sees a balance of start-ups servicing the K12 (41%), Higher Education (28%) and Workforce (28%) sectors, with an increase in the number of teams delivering learning and solutions directly in the workforce and skills area. Startups such as peer to peer skill sharing platform, Upskill, are meeting demand accelerated by COVID as are healthcare vocational training provider, Virohan. Reducing the inefficiency of hiring, especially remotely is a problem to be solved globally, and is the focus of Wheebox, an online employability skill assessment platform.

Young and fast growing ecosystem

EdTech in India and South Asia is a relatively young and fast growing ecosystem, with around one third of this year’s cohort being founded 3 or less years ago. 10% of the cohort were founded in the midst of COVID-19 including teams such as Teachmint tutoring platform, early learning focused Creative Galileo and kids coding platform CuriousJr and Frontrow, a learning platform for creative arts.

Track the 2021 Cohort

HolonIQ customers can track the 100 most promising EdTech startups from India South Asia on the intelligence platform. Look for the 2021 India & South Asia EdTech 100 list in the Lists tab of the Organizations page. Request a Demo if you are not a customer and would like to learn more.

Track the 2021 Cohort‍

Criteria & Methodology

The India & South Asia EdTech 100 is focused on identifying young, fast growing and innovative learning and up-skilling start-ups working in the region. To be eligible, startups must be less than 10 years old, are either headquartered in the region, or predominately focused on this market (e.g. > 80% revenue/customers, and are pre exit (not acquired or listed) or not a subsidiary of a larger company or controlled by an investor group (e.g. via private equity buyout or controlling investment). Learn more about eligibility for the India & South Asia EdTech 100.

The India & South Asia EdTech 100 is focused on identifying young, fast growing and innovative learning and up-skilling start-ups working in the region. To be eligible, startups are generally less than 10 years old (though there are some exceptions), are either headquartered in the region, or predominately focused on this market (e.g. > 80% revenue/customers, are pre exit (not acquired or listed) and not a subsidiary of a larger company or controlled by an investor group (e.g. via private equity buyout or controlling investment).