List of Top 20 Edtech Companies in India

Education startups in India are beginning to change the educational landscape of the nation, thanks to their experienced faculty and innovative measures to facilitate students' journeys. But why are edtech startups required in India? A survey by an online talent assessment entity has shown that India lacks skilled youth. Only 45% of the total number of graduate students have the skills needed in the job market. In such a case, the only force that can resolve the skill gap is an edtech company. We have curated all the top performing 20 edtech companies in India, scroll below to read.

What is Edtech Company?

Meaning of an edtech company

EdTech is an abbreviated form of education technology. An Edtech company refers to an institute that seamlessly integrates technology and education. The primary reason such an institute integrates technology is to develop a more creative and student-engaging environment.

Main benefits provided by edtech institutes

Classrooms of today have evolved from classic whiteboards and sticky notes to tech-savvy classes. Top edtech companies in India utilize such infrastructure where students can listen to recorded lectures, have automated note-taking apps and more. There are automated bots that can answer a student’s query and personalised apps where a student signs up and tracks their progress. These edtech startups India have gamified lessons and are bridging the gap between cracking school or college examinations and finding employment.
Interaction between teachers and students has evolved and changed since the inception of edtech institutes. These edtech startups have brought a vast transformation in terms of creating an employable workforce, using artificial intelligence and machine learning. For instance, using machine learning, edtech institutes are analysing the performance of students and assessing their behavioural intelligence.

Top Edtech Startup Companies

These are some most popular edtech startups India has witnessed, here are their details.

1. Unacademy

More than 50 million students use Unacademy in India as per the publications of the company itself. Unacademy is popular among school students and mostly students preparing for MBA examinations and UPSC exams, making it a highly famed institution all across India. The firm ranks in the top 10 edtech companies in India, after raising $150 million from funding giants such as Nexus Venture Partners, Facebook and Softbank.

Founded in: 2015

Founders: Gaurav Munjal, Roman Saini, Hemesh Singh

Courses taught: IIT-JEE, UPSC CSE, Banking exams, MBA entrance exams

Active users: Above 50 million students

2. Physics Wallah

Being one of the top edtech companies in India, Physics Wallah is utilising artificial intelligence to its fullest to deliver top-notch education. Physics Wallah started small, with only a YouTube channel and has reached a Unicorn, securing $100 million in funding. The company is an impressive addition to the most innovative startups list because it creates AI chatbots such as Doubt Engine, AI Guru, and Alakh AI. These AI tools tailor the resources and offer a personalised learning experience for students, including real-time doubt-solving systems and supporting students with voice notes and study plans. Physics Wallah is more focused on students who are preparing for UPSC examinations and NCERT school exams.

Founded in: 2016

Founders: Alakh Pandey

Courses taught: Classes 6 - 12, preparation for exams for students attempting in NEET, JEE

Active users: 3.5 million users

3. upGrad

upGrad stands different from most other edtech companies in terms of integrating education with a data-driven approach. The company even attained being a Unicorn in 2021 with over $1.2 billion valuation and is currently seeking to have 5 million members.

Founded in: 2015

Founders: Mayank Kumar, Ronnie Screwala, Phalgun Kompali

Courses taught: Data Science, Course on MBA, online digital marketing, online Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence

Active users: More than 2 million

4. Toppr

Toppr has been recognised as a prestigious education startup in India, receiving the IAMAI India Digital Awards, EdTechX Global Awards and a few more. Toppr uses machine learning models to personalise students' experiences and train them, which allows the company to understand particular learning challenges and construct individual feedback. Due to such innovation, Toppr raised a composite of $35 million in Series C funding and has since then expanded more.

Founded in: 2013

Founders: Zishaan Hayath and Hemanth Goten

Courses taught: JEE, NEET, Class 1 - Class 12

Active users: 50 million users monthly

5. Leverage Edu

This edtech company was started in 2017, and since its inception, it has started to prepare students for IELTS, GMAT, and TOEFL tests globally. Being more focused on counselling students to let them select their dream jobs, Leverage Edu has partnered with more than 850 Universities.

Founded in: 2017

Founders: Akshay Chaturvedi

Courses taught: Ranges from Engineering to Journalism

Active users: More than 45,000 students

6. EduGorilla

EduGorilla is a native among the top edtech companies in India, this platform started in Uttar Pradesh, in 2019. EduGorilla is mainly focused on helping teachers and educators by providing them with a virtual platform for reaching out to maximum students. This platform, named Gibbon, serves as an online coaching institute where teachers can teach and earn a consistent living.

Founded in: 2019

Founders: Rohit Manglik

Courses taught: JEE Main Advanced, NEET UG

Active users: More than 4 crore students

7. Infinity Learn

Infinity Learn is another innovation in the industry of edtech companies, providing a learning space for students based in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. This platform as one of the esteemed education startups in India has earned more than 200 crores as revenue in 2023-24, launching.

Founded in: 2021

Founders: Sushma Boppana, Seema Boppana and Sridhar Yalamanchili

Courses taught: Usually teaches from class 6 - 12

Active users: 7 million users

8. Vedantu

The list is incomplete without adding Vedantu, a Bangalore-based unicorn company that offers education programs for students from lower kindergarten to Class 12. This firm raised a total funding of $2.3 million from Stride Ventures in 2024 and is moving towards acquiring a stake in Pedagogy, another edtech platform. Recently Vedantu has come up with the innovative idea of WAVE, a virtual platform that addresses millions of students' doubts in seconds and hosts interactive quizzes.

Active users: 2.2 million users

Founded in: 2014

Founders: Vamsi Krishna, Anand Prakash, Pulkit Jain, Saurabh Saxena

Courses taught: NEET, IIT JEE, Spoken English, Olympiad, school tuition

9. Aakash Institute

Founded in 1988, Aakash Institute hosts more than 5000 expert teachers in mentoring students for exams such as NEET, JEE, and AIIMS. Being one of the oldest education startups in India, Aakash Institute has been known for training skilled minds for NEET, Engineering exams and more. The coaching institute also offers a Distance Learning Program for students who cannot access quality education from a longer distance. The impressive statistics of Aakash Institute stands at having more than 5000 tutors with more than 300 centres spread across India.

Founded in: 1988

Founders: JC Chaudhry

Courses taught: JEE Main and Advanced, NEET, Medical exams entrance preparation

10. BYJU’S

BYJU’S is a top lister among flagship edtech companies in Bangalore, which has created an innovative way for students to learn through games, various animated videos and even quizzes. BYJU’S even earned several awards which distinguishes it from major edtech startups, such as Mom’s Choice Awards, EdTech Breakthrough Award and Academic’s Choice Award.

Founded in: 2011

Founders: Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath

Courses taught: LKG to competitive exams such as CAT, GMAT, IIT-JEE

Active users: 115 million as of 2022

11. Extramarks

Another edtech company that is highly focussed on K-12 and preparing students for various tests, Extramarks have been creating a premium education experience for students in different sectors. From preparing for competitive exams in engineering to conducting smart classes, this company is enchanting education for all major boards in India. They also have an app-based education with special courses designed for CBSE students primarily.

Founded in: 2007

Founders: Atul Kulshrestha

Courses taught: Competitive exams, Board exam preparation

Active users: 26 lakh students

12. iQuanta

iQuanta is another popular edtech platform mainly focused on preparing students for the CAT exam. The company uses AI for creating mock tests, identifying test patterns and developing personalised goal trackers. Along with these advanced features, iQuanta Laos has peer-to-peer learning as well as a video-based learning system.

Founded in: 2015

Founders: Indrajeet Singh

Courses taught: CAT exam preparation

Active users: 3 lakh students

13. Next Education

Next Education is a pioneer in the edtech industry, given its initiative in offering a complete digital experience in education. Being a SaaS-based company, Next Education primarily focuses on making the learning journey adopt a new outlook. K-12 students are its students, where this edtech platform offers customised education for 23 different education boards in India.

Founded in: 2007

Courses taught: K-12 students

Active users: More than 1 crore students

14. Trainer Central

Although Trainer Central doesn’t offer direct courses, it still is one of the most famous Indian edtech companies. The institute is a part of Zoho Corporation and offers a seamless learning experience for its students across the globe. Trainer Central allows teachers to reach millions of students, with the integration of customized content as well as collaborative learning.

Founded in: 2021

Founders: ZOHO

Courses taught: Doesn’t teach courses, mostly engages in building a platform for all educators to reach out to students

15. Ask iiTians

This ed-tech platform has been a premier one-stop solution for all the students who seek expert guidance for IIT JEE exams. The ed-tech company has integrated live-classroom features as well as video recording-based learning right in one single platform, with real-life IITians on the help.

Founders: Aditya Singhal, Nishant Sinha

Courses taught: Preparatory courses for IIT JEE entrance exams, Olympiad exam and SAT exam preparation

Active users: 10 lakh students

16. Classplus

A unique edtech platform Classplus can set apart from most educators in India as the platform educates one to become more than a qualified professional in their respective teaching careers. Meant mainly for teachers, the edtech platform also offers space to solopreneurs, teachers who want to build their careers as well as major educators.

Founders: Mulul Rustagi

Courses taught: Tutoring for entrepreneurship

17. Imarticus Learning

Imarticus Learning provides job-oriented career training, based on finance or data science careers. The edtech platform has partnered with major career institutes such as IIMA, NDSC, and IIM Calcutta to deliver a highly commendable education journey. The institute offers personalised course training in diverse fields too, which ranges from Investment Banking to Digital Marketing.

Founded in: 2012

Founders: Nikhil Brshikhar

Courses taught: Course in cybersecurity, digital marketing, data analytics, and leadership

Active users: More than 10 lakh students

18. Geekster

Geekster is a highly tech-driven edtech platform for those who wish to build a career in data science and full-stack development. The company specialises in creating virtual interviews, and live masterclasses as well as has a hyper-personalized course building system.

Founded in: 2020

Founders: Sahil Miglani

Courses taught: Full-stack development and Data Science with Generative AI

Active users: More than 1000 students

19. Lead School

Lead School is a future-tech app-based learning program meant for schools to use. The edtech platform uses AI for personalising the entire learning process, where both students and teachers are benefited equally. Lead School has also built their customised AI bot to help teachers paper assessments and use it to assess every student in real-time.

Founded in: 2012

Founders: Sumeet Mehta and Smita Deorah

Courses taught: Customised learning modules for schools to integrate and teach

Active users: More than 35 lakh students

20. Planetspark

Planetspark was founded with the major aim of cheating confident public speakers. It is India’s one of the most esteemed ed-tech platforms that uses AI to create public speakers and has expanded to almost 13 nations.

Founded in: 2016

Founders: Kunal Malik and Maneesh Dhooper

Courses taught: Active listening, story writing, voice fluency, creative performance

Top Edtech Startups in India

A few ed-tech startups that have high leverage in the education industry of India are worth adding to the list. Here are some honourable mentions:

• Embibe

This edtech startup turns the reading experience into a highly personalised live experience. The use of AI makes the startup an ideal choice for every student to have an immersive experience. The startup covers major courses of CBSE and diversifies to entrance examination courses.

• Edurev

A promising ed-tech startup, Edurev cleverly uses AI to enrich students’ experience through features such as smart notes, structured course built-up and creating book summaries. Edurev has a gigantic list covering almost every exam, from UPSC to IIT-JAM.

• Bhanzu

Bhanzu was started as an AI-driven startup that will bring the learning joy of maths to students from various spheres. The company has scaled up to be a strong player in the edtech industry and has already impacted more than 30,000 learners.

• Board Infinity

This is an edtech zone where learners meet industry experts. Board Infinity takes in AI to plan out careers and connects each student to top tutors to deliver a highly hands-on experience. The startup also offers placement and personas certificates after course completion.

Emerging Trends in Edtech Industry

The edtech industry is changing towards a better future, creating a more sustainable education for everyone. By 2030, the edtech industry is believed to undergo a rapid change that will unlock a new horizon for education. Artificial intelligence has already brought about a major transformation, and more such is believed to be happening in the future. The edtech industry is also experiencing the use of new technologies such as immersive VR learning, which is believed to create a better learning environment for all students. Let’s ponder over some of these trends that are changing India's edtech industry forever.

Improvement In Learning Experience by AI

Almost 60% of Indian educators have already adopted the use of AI en masse. Popular news media reports that 66.77% of educators have agreed to use AI for skill enhancement, showing the deep impact of AI in the education industry. The rise of AI has happened ever since the pandemic started. Educators all around India have been using AI for classroom training, scheduling meetings, and more. The Hindu reports that AI has made the learning experience better in rural regions of India where there is a serious lack of resources. Students can cover their learning modules more efficiently with AI, as AI is even changing learning styles with audio-visual systems. Even the Government of India has brought a new AI system model - BharatGen for bridging the socio-economic gap and improving the nation’s education system.

Immersive Learning Emerging

Immersive learning is essentially learning with visuals but in a highly detailed realistic environment. For example, VR technology creates a highly realistic environment where you can talk and interact just as you would in real life. The edtech sector has adopted VR technology too, which gives the Indian edtech industry one step ahead of its neighboring nations. Edtech startups in India are adopting VR too, apart from schools and universities. Various universities have begun smart lab systems equipped with VR technology, which has elevated the edtech industry.

Programming In Early Education

The Indian Government has brought immense change in the education industry since 2020. Edtech sectors are changing as the National Education Policy has mandated the learning of coding language among all types of students. Apart from all forms of education, digital literacy and coding are given priority by the government to build a job-ready workforce for all future Indian students. Most edtech startups are using AI to cultivate an easier way of coding and introducing programming to students at an early age.

Homeschooling Trends by Adaptive Learning

Each student has a learning graph. Before the advent of AI, it was not possible to customize learning for every student based on their learning speed. In the age of immersive learning and Generative AI, schools are more fixated on developing a more personalized learning experience for their students. Adaptive learning brings in this possibility by making a customized learning path for every student based on their pace and learning affinity. Adaptive learning can easily detect the proficiency level and weakness of students, making them more inclined towards a system of inclusive learning environments.

Main Challenges in the Edtech Industry

Although the edtech industry is reinventing itself through the onset of AI and blockchain, it is still in the developing phase. As more changes are slowly taking shape, the edtech industry of India is facing a series of challenges. Here are some of them:

Lower Conversions

The rate of conversion is quite low among Indian edtech platforms given many users just download and install the app for testing purposes. Many users do not pay for the subscription and simply try out the trial features. This slows down the revenue stream and creates a major roadblock for the edtech companies to operate. Even after onboarding a larger number of users, edtech companies in India do not have a successful conversion ratio.

Poor Teacher Collaboration

Most of the Indian edtech startups design their platform to directly replace teachers. This creates a problem and lowers audience engagement as the replacement of teachers with AI-driven solutions is not a sustainable system. Many apps are designed to not facilitate a better sync between AI learning and educators, which has created low transparency. University teachers may not use these apps seeing them as replacements, which lowers the user base for these edtech companies.

Insufficient Market Research

Many edtech entrepreneurs instead of solving real-life educational problems try to bring on a new feature-rich app for better student engagement. This occurs mostly due to insufficient market research. Many edtech startups bring in innovative platforms that fail to solve a persistent problem of the education sector, due to poor customer research. Deeper market research will reveal the actual customer problems, highlighting the demand for students and tutoring needs.

Conclusion

With the trends in the AI industry, catching up with the world and affording quality education has been easier for students. Students can now prepare from anywhere in the world at a few clicks, technology has uplifted itself to such an extent. These edtech companies harness the power of AI as well as machine learning to solve doubts, create personalised learning plans and develop learning goals. It is because of these companies that students who face challenges in commuting to attend classes in cities, are now fully equipped with the essential learning components.