Companies including Physics Wallah, Unacademy, BrightChamps, Vedantu, UpGrad and Simplilearn are either increasing or building their offline presence as students now want the best of both worlds – online and offline.
The edtech sector scaled record highs during the pandemic as education moved online, but has since been among the worst affected in terms of funding and layoffs, particularly in the tuition, K12 and test-prep segments.
Edtech companies say the return to pre-Covid normalcy has spurred renewed interest in offline learning, driven by the desire for social interaction and direct teacher-student engagement. However, the digital shift catalysed by the pandemic is here to stay, as learners continue to seek the flexibility and accessibility offered by online education.
Edtech unicorn Physics Wallah says it has embarked on a strategic expansion to establish technology-enabled offline centres. It currently has 63 centres in 34 cities across India.
“These centres accounted for 40% of our revenue this year. In 2023-24, we anticipate substantial growth in our offline operations as we expand to more centres by next year…,” Physics Wallah Offline chief executive Ankit Gupta told ET. “We firmly believe that the future of education lies in a blended approach.”
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Live-learning edtech platform BrightChamps’ offline offering is currently concentrated in the form of next-gen labs that are set up in schools through a vertical it launched in April this year. In terms of standalone offline centres, it has one BrightChamps Next-Gen Hub in Vietnam and is looking to open several more across key geographies this financial year.“Setting up offline infrastructure takes time. But now that we’ve figured out the product-market fits for our unified approach – online-offline learning, as well as blended learning across all our four verticals – we’re very bullish,” said CEO Ravi Bhushan.
BrightChamps is looking to hire about 1,000 employees in the next six months, across both online and offline segments.
Vedantu has 10-25 offline centres in process/already running, and hybrid will be one of its key growth levers, said CEO Vamsi Krishna. Unacademy, which has undertaken multiple rounds of layoffs and shuttered several businesses, intends to scale up its offline centres to 58 from about 10, ET had reported in April.
Even edtech players focused more on adult learning are leveraging the offline mode.
“Our online business is showing steady growth. With regard to offline centres, we have launched an experience centre in Noida this year. Based on the traction, we will plan more such centres in key markets by year-end,” said Kashyap Dalal, co-founder at digital skills training provider Simplilearn.
Higher education and upskilling focused UpGrad is also using offline to augment its online presence. It is currently present pan-India including tier 2/3/4 cities through more than 50 experience centres which aim to connect with existing/potential learners and key stakeholders directly.
“We have qualified mentors based out of these strategic pockets to counsel learners and guide them to make informed career choices, while also enhancing the credibility quotient attached to online education. This targeted penetration will further allow us to democratise quality higher education and make skilling programs more accessible,” UpGrad cofounder Mayank Kumar said.