<ul><li>India’s education sector is poised to grow from the current $117 billion to $225 billion by FY25. </li><li>And to have a piece of the pie, the biggest players are scrambling for customers, acquisitions and moolah. </li><li>Here’s how just one day in India’s <keyword id="1464841" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Edtech">edtech</keyword> sector panned out.</li></ul>India is home to the world’s most valued edtech startup and has a burgeoning list of unicorns from the sector. Even Indian venture capitalists <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/2021-will-be-a-watershed-moment-for-india-tech-ecosystem-here-are-the-startup-sectors-that-vcs-are-betting-on/articleshow/80208631.cms">believe that it’s a sector to watch out for</a> in 2021. And if that were not enough, the world’s richest man Jeff Bezos is eyeing the edtech segment in India, apart from his already bullish e-commerce giant Amazon. According to a report by PGA Labs and IVCA, India’s education sector is poised to grow from the current $117 billion to $225 billion by FY25. And to have a piece of the pie, the biggest players are scrambling for customers, acquisitions and moolah. Here’s how just one day (January 13) in India’s edtech sector panned out <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Amazon enters the test preparation market with Amazon Academy" comment="subhead" text="Amazon enters the test preparation market with Amazon Academy">Amazon enters the test preparation market with <keyword id="10228746" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon-Academy">Amazon Academy</keyword></cmsannotation> The global e-commerce giant has made an entry into the edtech segment with the test preparation market. It launched Amazon Academy to help students prepare for the JEE (Joint Entrance Examination) to gain admission to engineering colleges. Amazon will offer learning material, live lessons as well as comprehensive assessments. “Amazon Academy aims to bring high quality, affordable education to all, starting with those preparing for engineering entrance examinations. Our mission is to help students achieve their outcomes while also empowering educators and content partners reach millions of students. Our primary focus has been on content quality, deep learning analytics and student experience. This launch will help engineering aspirants prepare better and achieve the winning edge in JEE,” said Amol Gurwara, Director, Education at Amazon India. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="BYJU’S billion dollar acquisition" comment="subhead" text="BYJU’S billion dollar acquisition">BYJU’S billion dollar acquisition</cmsannotation> The $12 billion BYJU’S is set <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/heres-why-byjus-may-want-to-spend-a-billion-dollars-on-acquiring-aakash-educational-services/articleshow/80243456.cms">to acquire the brick and mortar preparatory services</a> institute Aakash Educational Services for a whopping $1 billion. If the deal goes through, it will become one of the biggest edtech deals in the world. While BYJU'S declined to comment on the matter, Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL) confirmed that it is in talks with Byju's for building a strong partnership. "Putting these speculations to rest, we would like to state that AESL is on a mission to build India's largest digitally-enabled, omni-channel education company. We will accelerate our digital transformation and deliver phenomenal value to our students. We will rapidly expand our omni channel &amp; digital offerings, as we embark on the next trajectory of quality education &amp; growth," said the company. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Unacademy gets another $50 million" comment="subhead" text="Unacademy gets another $50 million"><keyword id="6630114" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="unacademy">Unacademy</keyword> gets another $50 million</cmsannotation> Another Indian edtech unicorn Unacademy has closed a secondary transaction worth $50 million. The deal saw Tiger Global, Dragoneer Investment Group, Steadview Capital, and General Atlantic increase their stake in the company by acquiring additional shares worth $50 million from previous investors. The startup had raised an undisclosed amount of funding in November, which valued the company at over $2 billion. In September, the five-year old startup had entered the unicorn club with a $150 million cheque from SoftBank. Unacademy had also raised funding from Facebook in February, the social media giant’s second direct investment in India. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/heres-why-byjus-may-want-to-spend-a-billion-dollars-on-acquiring-aakash-educational-services/articleshow/80243456.cms">Here's why BYJU’S may want to spend a billion dollars on physical coaching centres</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/wipro-has-reported-an-increase-of-20-8-in-its-profits-while-the-revenue-increased-by-3-4/articleshow/80250240.cms">Wipro has clocked in its widest margin in over five years</a>

Amazon enters the test preparation market, BYJU'S is in talks for a billion dollar acquisition, and Facebook-backed Unacademy raises more funds – a big day in India's edtech

<ul><li>Gradeup would be rebranded as Byju’s Exam Prep and will cater to students preparing for over 150 exams.</li><li>The acquisition would enable the company to accelerate its growth and expand its reach across the country, Gradeup CEO said.</li><li>Byju’s claims to have over 6.5 million paid subscribers and over 100 million users in general.</li></ul>Edtech giant Byju’s on Tuesday, September 7, announced the acquisition of online exam preparation startup Gradeup. Post this acquisition, Gradeup would be rebranded as Byju’s Exam Prep and will cater to students preparing for over 150 exams across 25 exam categories. This includes government job exams as well as post graduate entrance exams like Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Common Admission Test (CAT), Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) and more. Byju Raveendran, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Byju’s, in a press note said, “Our focus has always been on ensuring that every learner has access to the highest quality of teachers and content to help them learn better. With Gradeup on board, we will be able to further scale and expand our test-prep offerings in postgraduate level exams.” The acquisition will help Byju’s harness Gradeup’s offering and student reach. Shobhit Bhatnagar, CEO of Gradeup, noted that the acquisition would enable the company to accelerate its growth and expand its reach across the country. “Further, we will leverage their strengths in content to deepen our current product offering and broaden our coverage of exams,” he added. Founded in 2015 by Shobhit Bhatnagar, Sanjeev Kumar, and Vibhu Bhushan, GradeUp offers test preparation courses across sectors. The company claims to have more than 250,000 paid subscribers and over 20 million registrants. Meanwhile, Byju’s claims to have over 6.5 million paid subscribers and over 100 million users in general. The company has acquired five businesses in 2021 in order to further expand its business both nationally and internationally. The biggest acquisition of the company has been Aakash Educational Services, which Byju’s bought for $1 billion earlier this year. Apart from this, the company has acquired rival Toppr, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/byjus-acquires-us-based-epic-plans-to-invest-1-billion-in-the-north-american-market/articleshow/84612303.cms">US-based reading platform Epic</a>, Singapore-based upskilling platform Great Learning, and augmented reality company Whodat. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/zoho-corp-invests-5-million-in-medical-devices-startup-voxelgrids/articleshow/86000656.cms">Zoho Corp invests $5 million in medical devices startup Voxelgrids</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/logistics-company-delhivery-raises-76-million-ahead-of-its-ipo/articleshow/85997440.cms">Former Tiger Global exec Lee Fixel picks Delhivery as his second bet in India, after Inshorts</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/el-salvador-just-bought-400-bitcoin-and-plans-to-buy-a-lot-more-a-day-before-making-it-an-official-currency/articleshow/85995497.cms">El Salvador just bought 400 bitcoin and plans to buy 'a lot more,' a day before making it an official currency</a>

Byju's' shopping spree continues — this time, it is Gradeup

<ul><li>As pandemic craze settles down, several startups in the consumer tech space like <keyword id="2900267" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="byju" source="Orion">Byju</keyword>’s, <keyword id="6630114" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="unacademy" source="Orion">Unacademy</keyword>, <keyword id="2016957" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="vedantu" source="Orion">Vedantu</keyword>, <keyword id="864887" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="pepperfry" source="Orion">Pepperfry</keyword>, <keyword id="255703" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bluestone" source="Orion">BlueStone</keyword> and CaratLane are rushing to open offline.</li><li>Brand creation, expansion and a huge offline market are some of the reasons behind growing offline models.</li><li>Also, the fact that India online is still 10-12% of the total commerce and 85-90% is still offline, which is a much larger pie for grabs.</li></ul>India has been registering almost 80 <keyword id="138263" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="startup" source="Orion">startup</keyword>s every day and the count has grown in the last couple of years. Pandemic saw every other startup investing and marketing their strong online presence thinking it will last forever. Now that the pandemic boom has faded, edtech startups like Byju’s, Unacademy, Vedantu or furniture retailers like Pepperfry, Wakefit are working to expand their offline presence – into brick and mortar stores, or in some cases, launching their own stores. Experts believe that brand creation, expansion and a huge offline market is why consumer startups should open offline stores as well. “According to multiple industry reports, the Indian online market is still just around 10% of the total retail market of which about 90% is still offline, which is a much larger pie. Online businesses are therefore coming offline for multiple reasons -- brand creation, expansion. The market is much larger offline so they would want to have a share of the pie,” Amit Nawka, partner – deals and India startup leader at PwC India told Business Insider India. The emerging hybrid model After the pandemic consumers are looking for a personal touch and visiting stores, which is proving a challenge for such consumer startups. Most cash rich online companies are acquiring companies to help them build an offline presence, quickly. It’s already visible in the edtech space as students have developed screen fatigue during two years of the pandemic. Experts say that Byju’s Akash acquisition was to make its mark offline. And Unacademy and others would have to follow suit. In an emerging digital era, even offline stores are still a priority for many, online and offline models are supposed to work seamlessly with one another -- store for people to walk in and experience the brand and then also purchase online. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Startups opening experience centres to expand offline </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Byju’s acquired tutoring chain Aakash Educational Services to expand physical branches </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Vedantu experimenting a hybrid model, opens offline centres that will like a learning centre </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Unacademy will have 15 offline centres in nine cities by mid-July </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">IPO bound Pepperfry has opened studios in Odisha, Bangalore </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Wakefit announced launch of 10 retail stories across India this year </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table> Offline play is now being called an ‘omni-channel approach’. FirstCry and Ratan Tata-backed retail jewelry companies like BlueStone and CaratLane which were predominantly online players have started going offline. The costs, cannibalization - the Nykaa case study Nykaa, which is more of an e-commerce company for beauty, wellness and fashion products, has been opening stores to let consumers recognize their brand in person. Since 2014, Nykaa has turned omnichannel and opened physical retail stores to get closer to customers. Its retail store count has come up to 95 across 47 cities in the country and has declared plans to triple the store count to 300 across 100 cities. “On the surface, this seems like a distraction from the digital-first, tech enabled positioning that the company continues to portray. However, it is important to understand the strategic reasons for the company to aggressively pursue store expansion,” said a report by JM Financial. While it could be a long-term strategy, in the medium term however brokerages feel that going offline could be a stress on the balance sheets of companies – especially those which are on their path to profitability. “Besides providing some brands (and within that only some SKUs) the route to market in the physical world in addition to the online realm, we do not see any rationale in entering this business. There will be significant overlap with other providers such as Jio and Udaan, not to mention its own distribution in some cases,” said an IIFL report on Nykaa. The report also says that physical stores might result in cannibalization of business for beauty and personal care products in Nykaa. It gets a lot of business from small towns which do not have retail presence and this business can be eaten away from its own physical business, according to IIFL. Will buy online but want to ‘see’ offline J M Financial however believes otherwise. In urban and rural areas both, a majority of the population still feels comfortable transacting on digital platforms when they can connect it to a physical presence as well. “The retail footprint provides peace of mind to the customers and, hence, becomes a strong brand building factor as well,” said the J M Financial report. Tech innovations such as virtual try-ons work to some extent for certain products but having the opportunity to access a store can be a game-changer. Purple too went for the Faces Canada acquisition, which was predominantly offline. Quick commerce adding warehouses or dark store Retail businesses are in need of brick and mortar presence, the most. Quick delivery platforms -- Zomato, Dunzo, Bigbasket -- are also expanding their warehouses as they promise to deliver groceries in 10-15 minutes. A dark store is generally a large warehouse that can either be used to facilitate a ‘click-and-collect’ service, where a customer collects an item they have ordered online, or as an order fulfillment platform for online sales. These quick commerce platforms rely on these dark stores for quick deliveries. During the pandemic, online businesses have expanded and thrived but as they tried to ‘take over’ from physical businesses, they saw something they never probably saw earlier – how close they can get to their customers and how many more they can reach physically. This is the starting point of the trend reversal in startups and new-age digital businesses. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Dunzo operates 120 dark stores across the eight cities and is looking to expand </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Zomato’s new acquisition Blinkit has about 400 such stores and may expand further </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Bigbasket aims to expand its dark store network to 300 stores </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table> SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/politics/india/news/uddhav-thackeray-the-accidental-chief-minister/articleshow/92559485.cms">Uddhav Thackeray: The accidental chief minister</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/indian-credit-card-users-spend-40x-more-than-debit-card-users-online/articleshow/92543305.cms">Indian credit card users spend 40x more than debit card users online</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/credit-card-spends-hit-a-record-high-and-most-of-it-is-online-and-not-at-stores/articleshow/92535200.cms">Credit card spends hit a record high and most of it is online and not at stores</a>

Startups go physical from digital as pandemic boom ends

<ul><li>The round was led by Asmaan Ventures, with participation from Mirae Asset and ARK Ncore.</li><li>Asmaan Ventures got to invest in <keyword id="2900267" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="byju" source="Orion">Byju</keyword>’s at a discounted valuation of $14.5 billion, whereas the others have valued the company at $16.87 billion.</li><li>The round appears to be a first tranche of a larger billion dollar round that Byju’s has been reportedly in talks for.</li></ul>After raising close to $1.3 billion over the last eighteen months, Byju’s is ready to raise funds again. The company has passed a special resolution to raise ₹1,094 crore or about $150 million led by Asmaan Ventures. According to Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) filings, Byju’s has allotted 6,045 Series F preference shares to Mirae Asset and ARK Ncore. Each of these shares cost ₹285,072. Meanwhile, the company has allotted 38,705 Series F preference shares to Asmaan Ventures. These shares were given at a discount rate of ₹238,125 per share. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Firm </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Investment </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Asmaan Ventures </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹921.7 crore </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Mirae Asset </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹138 crore </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">ARK Ncore </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹34.5 crore </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table> The development was first<a href="https://entrackr.com/2021/09/exclusive-byjus-raises-around-150-mn-led-by-asmaan-ventures/"> reported</a> by Entrackr, which also revealed that Byju’s has raised this tranche at a post-money valuation of $16.87 billion. However, Asmaan Ventures’ has picked up shares at a discounted valuation of $14.5 billion. Mirae and Ark have made their investments, reportedly, at a $16.87 billion valuation. Business Insider has reached out to Byju’s seeking more information about this round. According to media reports published last month, Byju’s has been in talks to raise $1.5 billion at a valuation of over $21 billion valuation. The latest investment is expected to be the first tranche of the larger billion dollar round. The development comes only a few hours after Byju’s announced the acquisition of online exam preparation startup Gradeup. Post this acquisition, Gradeup would be rebranded as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/byjus-shopping-spree-continues-this-time-it-is-gradeup/articleshow/86010989.cms">Byju’s Exam Prep </a>and will cater to students preparing for over 150 exams across 25 exam categories. Meanwhile, Byju’s claims to have over 6.5 million paid subscribers and over 100 million users in general. The company has acquired five businesses in 2021 in order to further expand its business both nationally and internationally. The biggest acquisition of the company has been Aakash Educational Services, which Byju’s bought for $1 billion earlier this year. It acquired rival Toppr, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/byjus-acquires-us-based-epic-plans-to-invest-1-billion-in-the-north-american-market/articleshow/84612303.cms">US-based reading platform Epic</a>, Singapore-based upskilling platform Great Learning, and augmented reality company Whodat. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/zoho-corp-invests-5-million-in-medical-devices-startup-voxelgrids/articleshow/86000656.cms">Zoho Corp invests $5 million in medical devices startup Voxelgrids</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/logistics-company-delhivery-raises-76-million-ahead-of-its-ipo/articleshow/85997440.cms">Former Tiger Global exec Lee Fixel picks Delhivery as his second bet in India, after Inshorts</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/el-salvador-just-bought-400-bitcoin-and-plans-to-buy-a-lot-more-a-day-before-making-it-an-official-currency/articleshow/85995497.cms">El Salvador just bought 400 bitcoin and plans to buy 'a lot more,' a day before making it an official currency</a>

Byju’s bags another $150 million to fund its acquisition spree

Telecom major Bharti <keyword id="15491" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Airtel">Airtel</keyword> on Monday launched a new platform called Airtel IQ, marking the company's entry into an estimated $1 billion Indian cloud communications market. Airtel IQ, a cloud-based omni-channel communications platform, is designed to enable brands to deepen engagement with customers through timely and secure communication. Many of India's biggest companies such as Swiggy, Justdial, Urban Company, Havells, Dr. Lal Path Labs and Rapido have signed up as customers for Airtel IQ during the beta phase itself, the company said. "Businesses are increasingly looking to cloud-based digital platforms to engage with consumers and Airtel IQ is built to raise the bar when it comes to brands delighting consumers," Adarsh Nair, Chief Product Officer, Bharti Airtel, meanwhile, had this to say "So, the next time you enjoy shopping online, ordering food from your favourite restaurant or hailing a ride, remember there's a bit of Airtel IQ in there making it happen seamlessly and safely." Airtel IQ eliminates the need for multiple communication platforms for different channels. With just a slice of code, businesses can embed communication services such as voice, SMS, interactive voice response (IVR) in their applications and digital properties across desktop and mobile, all through a unified platform. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/airtel-partners-with-aakash-institute-to-bring-medical-and-engineering-education-content-to-its-dth-platform/articleshow/78640408.cms">Airtel partners with Aakash Institute to bring medical and engineering education content to its DTH platform</a>

Airtel forays into cloud communications market in India

<ul><li>Edtech firm <keyword id="2016957" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="vedantu" source="Orion">Vedantu</keyword> has raised $100 million in a round led by Temasek-backed impact investing fund ABC World Asia.</li><li>Vedantu is one of the biggest edtech startups in India, which directly competes with <keyword id="3123019" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="byjus" source="Orion">Byju’s</keyword>.</li><li>Both Byju’s and Vendatu have set their eyes on overseas markets to expand their business further.</li></ul>Edtech firm Vedantu, which offers online courses for school kids, is the latest Indian startup to be valued over a billion dollars. The company reached this valuation after raising $100 million in a round led by Temasek-backed impact investing fund ABC World Asia. The company plans to use this capital to double down on its core business, teach in vernacular languages and add tutoring solutions for grade 1-5. The company is also planning to enter overseas markets. Vedantu is one of the biggest edtech startups in India, which directly competes with Byju’s. Even Toppr was a prominent player in this domain, before it was acquired by Byju’s earlier this year. There is a player trying to enter Byju’s block Byju’s, which is valued at a whopping over $16.8 billion, is also planning to go big in both India and international markets over the next year. The company spent 2020 creating a billion dollar war chest for itself and is using that money to make big acquisitions this year. Several media reports published in August had <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/after-toppr-byjus-is-in-talks-to-acquire-another-online-tutoring-startup-vedantu/articleshow/85094388.cms">highlighted </a>that Byju’s was also in talks eot acquire Vedantu. However, Vendatu chief executive and co-founder Vamsi Krishna came on record to deny these rumours. But given the aggressive acquisition strategies, Byju’s is<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/the-worlds-most-valued-edtech-startup-the-16-5-billion-byjus-has-been-buying-one-startup-after-another-/slidelist/85096681.cms"> jokingly referred to as Buyju’s</a>, by many on social media. Vedantu has proved to be a worthy player in the edtech market over the last one year, but given the amount of cash Byju’s has to dispose off, the competition in the edtech market may tighten. Currently, Byju’s has<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/byjus-last-two-acquisitions-and-a-deal-with-disney-reveal-its-american-dream/articleshow/84783749.cms"> several edtech companies</a> under its banner — including Toppr, WhiteHat Jr, Singapore-based Great Learnings, US-based OSMO, EPIC and Whodat. The company also acquired Aakash Educational Services, which has over 250 coaching centers for engineering and medical exams. Vedantu, on the other hand, has added artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled personalised learning platform Pedagogy and doubt-solving platform<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/vedantu-acquires-instasolv-a-doubt-solving-app-the-latest-in-buzzing-edtech-acquisitions-in-india/articleshow/81151506.cms"> Instasolv</a> to its bucket. The company has raised close to $300 million to date from marquee investors like Tiger Global Management, GGV Capital Coatue and others. Byju’s has raised over $3 billion to date from Mirae Asset Global Investment, Blackstone and others. Vedantu has more than 35 million students attend classes on its platform every month, of which one million attend live classes. The company has marked its presence in across 10,000 cities and over 50 countries. Byju’s, on the other hand, has 100 million users in total. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/sbi-bank-of-baroda-canara-bank-shares-jump-as-piramal-pays-dhfl-npa-amount/articleshow/86611244.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">India’s 20 state owned banks get about $5 billion back from a loan written off and they are thrilled</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/airtel-supplier-tejas-networks-up-six-fold-before-pli-approval/articleshow/86607753.cms">This telecom equipment maker is up six fold in one year while waiting for production linked incentives</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/aditya-birla-sun-life-amcs-ceo-says-mutual-fund-industry-to-see-many-mergers-in-next-couple-of-years/articleshow/86606968.cms">Mutual fund industry to see many mergers in next couple of years, says Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC’s CEO</a>

Vedantu, the biggest rival of Byju’s, has finally entered the unicorn club

<ul><li>Airtel beat analyst expectations, reporting a revenue growth of 7% in the September quarter when compared to June. </li><li>Airtel’s revenue stood at ₹25,785 crore, while its losses came down to ₹763 crore from ₹15,933 crore in the previous quarter. </li><li>It also expanded its EBITDA margins to 46%, up by 366 basis points year-on-year. </li><li>Airtel also posted a major increase in its average revenue per user (ARPU), which now stands at ₹162. </li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/google-pay-has-a-solid-lead-over-phonepe-paytm-and-amazon-pay-in-india-but-its-biggest-challenge-is-yet-to-come/articleshow/76542701.cms">Check out the latest news and updates on Business Insider.</a> </li></ul>Telecom major Airtel announced a revenue growth of 7% in the quarter ended September 2020, beating analyst expectations. The growth in revenue was led by an increase in the revenue generated from Airtel’s mobile services in both the Indian as well as African markets. According to analysts, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/airtel-second-quarter-earnings-preview-q2-2020/articleshow/78871621.cms">Airtel was expected</a> to report a growth of up to 4.6% in revenue. However, the telco reported revenue of ₹25,785 crore in the September quarter, as opposed to ₹23,939 crore in the June quarter. In the same period last year, Airtel reported ₹21,131 crore revenue, recording a healthy growth of 18% this year. Airtel’s ARPU gets a major boost Airtel’s average revenue per user (ARPU) increased to ₹162, which is an increase of 21% over ARPU of ₹128 in the same period last year. The telco also posted a healthy data usage per subscriber of 16GB per month. Its 4G data customers stood at 152.7 million, up by 14.4 million in this quarter. Ballooning losses now under control In addition to improving its revenue and operating profit growth, Airtel also brought its ballooning losses under control. For the September quarter, Airtel posted a net loss of ₹763 crore, which is a significant reduction from the ₹15,933 crore it posted in the previous quarter. In the same period last year, Airtel reported a net loss of ₹23,045 crore. Airtel’s operating margins soar Airtel’s EBITDA performance was also markedly better than analyst expectations. While analysts estimated a jump of up to 5.8%, Airtel reported an increase of 8% when compared to the June quarter. On a year-on-year basis, Airtel’s EBITDA jumped by 22%. EBITDA stands for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization. It is a measure of a company’s short-term operating profitability. Airtel’s EBITDA margins stood at 46%, up by 366 basis points (bps) year-on-year. One hundred bps make up 1%. Mobile services continue to be Airtel’s revenue drivers Despite its efforts to expand its range of offerings, Airtel remains a mobile service provider at its core. This is reflected in its earnings, driven primarily by mobile services. Out of the ₹25,785 crore revenue, mobile services contributed ₹21,000 crore, which is over 80% of the total earnings. Of this, the Indian market contributed 66%, with the rest coming from the African market. Overall, the mobile services business grew by 8% compared to the June quarter, while the tower business grew by 7%. The Digital TV services business recorded a meagre growth of 1%. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/airtel-forays-into-cloud-communications-market-in-india/articleshow/78870836.cms">Airtel forays into cloud communications market in India</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/airtel-africa-q2-net-profit-slumps-9-amid-coronavirus-woes/articleshow/78827146.cms">Airtel Africa Q2 net profit slumps 9% amid coronavirus woes</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/airtel-partners-with-aakash-institute-to-bring-medical-and-engineering-education-content-to-its-dth-platform/articleshow/78640408.cms">Airtel partners with Aakash Institute to bring medical and engineering education content to its DTH platform</a>

Bharti Airtel loss narrows, revenue beats analyst estimates – ARPU rises to ₹162

Being over hyped for its IIT JEE culture and too much of stress-related suicides happening, the small town of Kota has already gained too much ill repute. And now Hyderabad is outshining the Rajasthan’s small town in terms of success. 
 
While the number of coaching institutes catering to the IIT aspirant crowd are mushrooming every season in Hyderabad, this year at least 1.5 lakhs of students have joined the race. 
 
"The fascination among students in Telangana and AP for JEE has only increased over the years. It is only in the last one decade that there has been a sudden rise in the number of takers. The coaching industry has only catered to the increasing demand," Dheeraj Kumar Misra, regional director, operations, south zone at Aakash Educational Services Pvt Ltd told The Times of India. 
 
In the 90s, the number of aspirants was barely 3000, which has now pumped up to 1.5 lakh. Hyderabad has dominated the merit list with almost 50 percent of the top 10 rankers for the past several years. If the results for JEE (advanced) 2016 are anything to go by, then six out of top 10 rankers were from Hyderabad.

Hyderabad is the new Kota as it
tops the chart with IIT JEE success stories

It seems that the <keyword id="530930" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="new-IITs">new IITs</keyword> have a long way to go in attracting candidates as they are often compared with the old ones. 
 Among the 10 new IITs, including <keyword id="222212" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="IIT-Ropar">IIT Ropar</keyword>, IIT Mandi, IIT Gandhinagar, <keyword id="922152" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="IIT-Hyderabad">IIT Hyderabad</keyword> is popular but only 20 students were roped in out of top 1,000 rank holders. 
 
Some heads have the opinion that the new ones will be compared to the old IITs and it would at least take then four to five years to be able to compete with old ones. 
 
"The new IITs need more time for anyone to judge them. Institutes take decades and even centuries to become globally established," IIT Ropar director Sarit K Das told Economic Times. 
 
Meanwhile, after Hyderabad, IIT Indore was preferred by students as 15 students enrolled out of top 2,000 rank holders. 
 
IIT Ropar got 11 and Mandi and Gandhinagar and the Indian School of Mines Dhanbad got one each. 
 
“Our students prefer the old IITs and then the established NITs (National Institutes of Technology) to the new IITs," Aakash Chaudhry, director of Aakash Education Services, a coaching institute that trains students for the JEE and other engineering entrance exams, told ET. 
 
While the JEE (Advanced) is taken by candidates seeking admission to the IITs, JEE (Main) is for entry into the NITs and other technical institutions funded by the central and state governments.

New IITs have few takers, IIT Hyderabad gets only 20 candidates out of top 1000 rank holders

In the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/enterprise/India-Must-Look-Beyond-Microsoft-Heres-Our-First-Set-OfArguments/articleshow/30992782.cms">first part</a>, we have looked at the extent of <keyword id="10387" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Microsoft">Microsoft</keyword>’s reach in Indian homes, offices and schools. We have also examined the waning usage of its products, thanks to the rise of innovative and free alternatives, compounded by people’s inclination to use a single device for work, pleasure and learning. Now let us look at the implications of technology usage in India and how the IT services industry can safeguard itself from falling into a rut by asking itself <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_do_you_want_to_go_today%3F">the same question</a> Microsoft has asked the world for years! 
 
Microsoft is firing blindly Right now, Microsoft is like a headless monster whose pie is being eaten by two equally huge beasts – <keyword id="6354427" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Apple">Apple</keyword> and <keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword>. Of course, Ballmer &amp; Co. waged many wars in the recent past. They launched the Surface tablet to take on the <keyword id="101239" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="iPad">iPad</keyword>, pitted Windows Phone against <keyword id="75489" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="IOS">iOS</keyword> and set up Bing against Google. They fought on TV, they fought on <keyword id="10879" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="YouTube">YouTube</keyword> and they fought in courtrooms. But all they’ve won so far is a horde of indifferent consumers. As a result, staff and investor morale has taken a beating – many insiders are complaining about the dearth of flexibility and death of innovation at Microsoft. 
 Microsoft finds itself grappling with a new world where the personal computer, on which it built its empire, has no place. The chaos is apparent even in their flagship business – Windows. Windows 8.1, Windows Phone 8 and <keyword id="1016196" type="POSITION" weightage="40" keywordseo="Windows-RT">Windows RT</keyword> are indistinguishable from each other and need to be merged into one cohesive Windows. 
 
But it has (nearly) endless ammo 
However, it’s too early to write off Microsoft. Big companies don’t die easily. Apple has languished at the bottom of the industry for a decade and a half before it rose from the dead to become the world’s most valuable company. 
 Microsoft is still far above the rest with a market cap of $300 billion and cash piles of around $80 billion. Forbes contributor <keyword id="2076402" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Mark-Fidelman">Mark Fidelman</keyword> has gone as far as to suggest that the company will be bigger than Apple in three years’ time, spurred on by the One Microsoft initiative, which will give users and developers an integrated experience across the phone, tablet, PC, console and the TV. 
 
The road ahead 
There is a distinct possibility that Apple-quality smartphones and tablets will become commoditised. In such a scenario, software may once again dictate a user’s choice of hardware. However, Microsoft, or any other software company for that matter, will not be able to take advantage of such a shift. 
 Thanks to Apple and the <keyword id="6355645" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="android">Android</keyword>, there are only two ways in which software proliferation may happen. One, it can be bundled together with the hardware to form an integrated system, which you can sell for a great profit, should it capture the public fancy. Two, it can be given away and opened up to the development community, which might well transform it into something bigger than you ever imagined. You can then try and figure out a way to churn out profit from it. 
 
Companies can no longer do a Windows and make profit by selling unified software for other companies’ hardware because code is now a commodity. Indian tech firms have risen to prominence on the strength of their coding skills, unlike the Far East’s hardware manufacturing titans. So this is a slow but definite turn of events of which they need to take very serious note. 
 
Trickle-up instead of trickle-down Whatever Microsoft’s future might be, Indian homes and workplaces will have to extricate themselves from their dependency on Microsoft software and technology. So that when the world moves on to Android’s next delicacy, <keyword id="300053" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Google-Docs">Google Docs</keyword>, and whatever lies beyond that, we don’t find ourselves stuck in 1995. So that when kids in the US build their own apps and hacking code to change the rules of their favourite games, we, too, can pursue a national pastime other than Solitaire. 
 
Change has to start from schools, colleges, institutes and offices. The process has begun, but not as a result of conscious effort; therefore, only a few are aware of it. On the education front, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aakash_2">Aakash 2</a>, the much-publicised and subsidised tablet for students, operates on Android 4.0. In the industry, small firms which used to be known as software companies, have leveraged the transformation of the Internet and rebranded themselves as Web &amp; app development firms. PHP and other open source languages are becoming the mainstay of programming and coding in India, reducing the use of Microsoft’s .NET (which includes the once all-powerful Visual Basic) to just an option. 
 
How change will impact us 
The Indian IT industry should be able to comprehend these changes and must adapt quickly. Organisations and individuals in the US and Europe, places from where India gets the bulk of its back-office processing work, have moved on to more nimble platforms, devices, operating systems and productivity tools. But Indian firms, with their service-focused mindset, are always late adopters of technology (that has been tried and tested in the West) and that puts them at the risk of getting pushed to the bottom in terms of innovation and growth. 
 The local bigwigs – TCS, <keyword id="6354512" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Infosys">Infosys</keyword>, <keyword id="10862" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Wipro">Wipro</keyword> and others – should be deeply concerned about the continued lack of innovation in their offerings. Being a profit-making, back-office mammoth that deals with technology any grandfather in the US and the UK can understand is not exactly a creative way to avoid the Fat, Dumb and Happy syndrome in the business. 
 To achieve great success, businesses need to embrace great failures and take on immense capital risk. Subroto Bagchi, co-founder of <keyword id="6357902" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="MindTree">Mindtree</keyword>, cited the development of a new drug or auto model as examples of initiatives that require billions of dollars in R&amp;D just for the remote hope of hitting the mass market. That kind of <keyword id="6357455" type="EVENT" weightage="40" keywordseo="Funding">funding</keyword> doesn’t exist in India, especially in the early stages of product development. 
 TCS and Infosys have the capability to <keyword id="47916" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="40" keywordseo="invest">invest</keyword> this kind of money, and have the potential to grow and retain intellectual property, as part of an innovation-through-experimentation process. But they choose to stick to the cheap-and-cheerful, well-trodden paths. The truth is that Indian companies mostly reflect the overwhelming public mindset – that of risk aversion. 
 Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, CMD of <keyword id="6358361" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Biocon">Biocon</keyword>, hit the nail right on the head in an attempt to answer if the next Apple or Google could be born in India: 
 
Investors in India prefer predictable, imitative business models and me-too products, where they have the visibility of assured returns. Thus, Flipkart – which is modelled on <keyword id="6391410" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Amazon-com">Amazon.com</keyword> – has received a lot of investor interest in India. On the other hand, business models that are truly innovative and untested find no takers among the investor community here. 
 
Innovation, investment and marketing are the three legs on which businesses are built. Remove one and the tripod comes crumbling down. Bereft of innovation, Microsoft risks turning into just any other company. Closer home, Infosys is making similar mistakes. 
 
It’s time we stop ‘looking up’ to people, companies, governments or technology and start ‘looking beyond’ them.

You Searched For "aakash educational services" and got 10 results

Amazon enters the test preparation market, BYJU'S is in talks for a billion dollar acquisition, and Facebook-backed Unacademy raises more funds – a big day in India's edtech

Sanchita Dash

Byju's' shopping spree continues — this time, it is Gradeup

Kritti Bhalla

Startups go physical from digital as pandemic boom ends

Bhakti Makwana

Byju’s bags another $150 million to fund its acquisition spree

Kritti Bhalla

Airtel forays into cloud communications market in India

IANS

Vedantu, the biggest rival of Byju’s, has finally entered the unicorn club

Kritti Bhalla

Bharti Airtel loss narrows, revenue beats analyst estimates – ARPU rises to ₹162

Rounak Jain

Hyderabad is the new Kota as it tops the chart with IIT JEE success stories

BI India Bureau

New IITs have few takers, IIT Hyderabad gets only 20 candidates out of top 1000 rank holders

BI India Bureau

Looking Beyond Microsoft: Where Do You Want To Go Today?

Rohan Ayyar