Going Offline is the New Going Online

In Sector 7, HSR Layout, there is an iconic building accommodating Mcdonald's on the ground floor and Dindigul Thalappakatti restaurant on the second. But on the top floor, you can see a prominent digital signage saying 'BYJU'S Tuition Center.' The commuters often wonder what the world's largest edtech platform is doing above these two restaurants. Well, not only BYJU'S, but almost all other edutech platforms are now building brick-and-mortar tutoring centers wherever they can.

After two years of explosive growth, sparked by school shutdowns in the aftermath of the pandemic, India now hosts six edtech unicorns. Remember, there was only a single edtech unicorn before March 2020 nationwide lockdown. They joined Byju's, which got there in 2017 and is now the world's most valuable edtech startup.

But the situation has changed. The revival of in-person teaching with schools and universities once again opening their doors and the monetary authorities making their move to curb inflation, causing easily accessible capital to dry up, have forced yet another change in the edtech segment. Byju's, along with other leading Indian edtech companies, are not only cutting jobs and marketing costs but are also desperately looking for new growth avenues, resulting in them investing in brick-and-mortar tutoring centers. The message for edupreneurs & edtechpreneurs is lucid you need to crack the physical story to grow in the Indian edtech ecosystem.