After blooming in Covid peak during 2020-21, many applications introduced by Ed-tech companies are now struggling for sustainability due to relaxation in Covid restrictions and re-opening of schools and colleges.
With developments in education industry, multiple modes of education like mobile applications, smart classes etc were introduced by unicorn startups in India like Byjus, Unacademy, Vedantu, UpGrad etc. These applications performed exceptionally well during lockdown, as educational institutions like schools and colleges were operating on offline mode.
But soon after the Covid restrictions were lifted and life was back to normal, the usage of these applications deteriorated. As per a report by Apptopia, these online education apps are unable to sustain the user adoption peaks seen during the lockdown.
According to the report, the engagements and downloads of these online applications in September quarter have recorded its lowest in the last four years. The trend is almost similar in the case of active users, where monthly active users reported in the September quarter were at four year low.
Moreover, most of the Ed-tech companies are now facing layoffs, funding crunch and economic uncertainty. Byju’s have reportedly laid off over 12,000 employees in the month of November. Unacademy on the other hand, gave pink slips to 10% of its employees.
Although diminishing online engagement seems worrying, Sanchit Vir Gogia, Chief Analyst, Founder and CEO of Greyhound Research explained –“While demand-side pressures are there, consumption patterns for Ed-tech have changed dramatically, shifting the focus towards offline delivery of education even by Ed-tech companies. Which means that data on monthly active users and application downloads might not necessarily represent the future of an Ed-tech company”.
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