Vedantu to expand in smaller cities, launches live online teaching platform

Online education company Vedantu Wednesday said it expects to clock strong growth this year as it expands its presence into smaller cities in the Indian market, offering live tutoring on its platform. The company, which has raised about USD 16 million in funding from investors like China's TAL Education, Omidyar Network and Accel Partners among others, has about 10 million school students accessing Vedantu (app and YouTube channel) monthly from over 1,000 cities. "Unlike some other online education platforms, we offer live classes. This was more one-to-one, but now we want to offer the same solution to a larger audience," Vedantu co-founder and CEO Vamsi Krishna told PTI.

He added that this will provide more students with access to quality teachers and also bring down costs for students. An hour of tutoring on Vedantu will cost about Rs 70-80 per hour, depending on the course and grade of student - which is a fraction of what some offline tutoring centres charge, Vedantu co-founder and Product Head Pulkit Jain said. He added that the new 'Wave' platform will allow hundreds of students to attend these online tutoring sessions. It will enable teachers to run live quizzes, clarify doubts and provide parents with insights about how their child is doing in the classes.

"This year, we expect to grow by 3X on all core metrics," he added without disclosing revenue details. Founded in 2011, Vedantu has over 400 teachers on its platform. About 55 per cent of its users are from tier II and III cities. The founders had previously founded Lakshya in 2006, which was acquired by BSE-listed MT Educare in 2012.