Vedantu

{{Short description|Indian Multinational Educational technology company}}

{{Infobox company

| name = Vedantu

| logo = Vedantulogo orange.png

| logo_class = skin-invert-image

| type = Private

| founded = {{Start date and age|2014||}}

| area_served = India

| revenue = {{Unbulleted list|{{Increase}} INR ₹169 Crores(2022)}}

| industry = EduTech

| founders = {{Unbulleted_list|Vamsi Krishna
{{small|(CEO & Co-Founder)}}|Pulkit Jain
{{small|(Products Head & Co-Founder)}}|Anand Prakash
{{small|(Academics Head & Co-Founder)}}|Saurabh Saxena
{{small|(Co-Founder)}}}}

| location_city = Bengaluru, Karnataka

| location_country = India

| homepage = {{URL|https://www.vedantu.com/|vedantu.com}}

}}

Vedantu is an Indian multinational online tutoring platform launched in 2014 based in Bengaluru, India. It primarily provides services to students in grades 4 to 12.

History

The company was launched in 2014.{{Cite web |title=Forbes India - Knowledge, Wisdom And Vedantu: How Live Online Tutoring Classes Propelled The Edtech Company Into The $1-billion Club |url=https://www.forbesindia.com/article/take-one-big-story-of-the-day/knowledge-wisdom-and-vedantu-how-live-online-tutoring-classes-propelled-the-edtech-company-into-the-1billion-club/70843/1 |access-date=2022-05-18 |website=Forbes India |language=en}} Its name, Vedantu, is derived from the Sanskrit words Veda (knowledge) and Tantu (network).{{Cite web |last=Xaif |title=Extensive SWOT Analysis of Vedantu - 2023 {{!}} IIDE |url=https://iide.co/case-studies/swot-analysis-of-vedantu/ |access-date=2023-09-12 |language=en-US}} The organization is run by IIT alumni Vamsi Krishna (co-founder and CEO), Pulkit Jain (co-founder and head of product), Saurabh Saxena (co-founder) and Anand Prakash (co-founder and head of academics).{{Cite news|url=http://www.livemint.com/Companies/Jv6YWtrqrqAEVhlx8tKqNJ/An-online-platform-that-makes-education-more-personalized.html|title=An online platform that makes education more personalized|last=Poovanna|first=Sharan|date=2015-10-14|work=livemint.com/|access-date=2017-10-05}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/vedantu-raises-5-mn-from-accel-partners-tiger-global-115050700718_1.html|title=Vedantu raises $5 mn from Accel Partners, Tiger Global|last=Babu|first=Anita|date=2015-05-07|work=Business Standard India|access-date=2017-10-05}}{{cite web|url=https://www.techinasia.com/india-vedantu-raises-fresh-funding/|title=Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem|website=www.techinasia.com|access-date=5 October 2017}} Earlier, the team founded Lakshya, which was acquired by MT Educare (a subsidiary of Zee Learn) in 2012.

It primarily provides services to students from grades 4 to 12 of the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) and Central Board of Secondary Education. The company's primary business is live online tutoring in STEM, Hindi, English, Sanskrit, German, French, environmental science, and social science.{{Cite web|url=https://www.vedantu.com/tutors|title=List of tutors for different subjects at Vedantu}} It uses a White Board Audio Video Environment (WAVE) method for their 1-1 student-teacher live sessions. It provides test preparation courses for the Indian Institute of Technology Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Foundation, National Talent Search Examination (NTSE), National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and Problem Solving Assessment (PSA).{{cite web|url=http://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/startups/vedantu-5-million-funding/47187315|title=Vedantu raises $5 million funding from Accel Partners & Tiger Global - ETtech|last=www.ETtech.com|website=ETtech.com|access-date=5 October 2017}} Other courses include coding, mathematics, reading and public speaking.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}

In 2019, Vedantu suffered a data breach exposing the data of about 687,000 users, including email addresses, IP addresses, names, phone numbers, genders and passwords.{{Cite web |title=Have I Been Pwned: Pwned websites |url=https://haveibeenpwned.com/PwnedWebsites |access-date=2023-06-27 |website=haveibeenpwned.com}}

In January 2022, the company joined Byju's, Simplilearn, Unacademy, PrepInsta Prime and upGrad and became one of the founding members of IAMAI's India EdTech Consortium.{{Cite news|agency=PTI|date=2022-01-12|title=IAMAI sets up India EdTech Consortium to uphold code of conduct by edtech platforms|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/education/iamai-sets-up-india-edtech-consortium-to-uphold-code-of-conduct-by-edtech-platforms/article38248144.ece|access-date=2022-02-10|issn=0971-751X}} In March 2022, it launched W.A.V.E 2.0, an interactive platform that aims to support Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning.{{Cite web |last=Soni |first=Yatti |title=Vedantu launches interactive learning platform W.A.V.E 2.0 |url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/education/vedantu-launches-interactive-learning-platform-wave-20/article65277946.ece |access-date=2022-04-25 |website=www.thehindubusinessline.com |language=en}}

Vedantu reported a net loss of ₹696 crore in financial year 2022.{{Cite web |last=Bureau |first=BL Bengaluru |date=2023-01-31 |title=Vedantu records net loss of ₹696 crore in FY22 |url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/vedantu-records-net-loss-of-696-crore-in-fy22/article66454790.ece |access-date=2023-12-10 |website=BusinessLine |language=en}}

In February 2024, Vedantu collaborated with TagHive to introduce new learning solutions.{{Cite web |date=2024-02-26 |title=TagHive and Vedantu partner for innovative learning solutions |url=https://www.financialexpress.com/jobs-career/education-taghive-and-vedantu-partner-for-innovative-learning-solutions-3405466/ |access-date= |website=Financial Express |language=en}}

Funding

The firm raised its first round of funding after six months of the current operational format. In its series A funding, the firm has raised {{currency|5|USD}} million from Accel Partners and Tiger Global Management.{{Cite news|url=https://techcrunch.com/2015/05/07/vedantu/|title=Indian Online Tutoring Platform Vedantu Nabs $5M From Accel And Tiger Global|last=Shu|first=Catherine|work=TechCrunch|access-date=2017-10-05|language=en}}{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-business/micromax-to-invest-400-m-to-pick-up-stake-in-20-startups/article7182468.ece|title=Micromax to invest $400 m to pick up stake in 20 start-ups|date=8 May 2015|access-date=5 October 2017|via=www.thehindu.com|newspaper=The Hindu}} It plans to utilize the funding to develop technology solutions for tablets and mobile with scalability, which can run hundreds of live learning sessions concurrently.{{cite web|url=http://www.livemint.com/Companies/Bd95CKooByYVTbNlLreRII/Tiger-Global-enters-invests-in-Vedantu.html|title=Tiger Global enters invests in Vedantu|first=Ashna|last=Ambre|date=7 May 2015|website=livemint.com|access-date=5 October 2017}} Vedantu raised {{currency|11|USD}} million in a series B funding round led by Silicon Valley impact investment firm Omidyar Network and also contributed by its existing investor Accel Partners.{{cite web|url=https://www.livemint.com/Companies/XBZY03bhHwhkRCXI1qkLJM/Omidyar-leads-11-million-funding-in-live-tutoring-platform.html|title=Omidyar leads $11 million funding in live tutoring platform Vedantu

|website=livemint.com|access-date=28 December 2018}}

On 29 August 2019, Vedantu announced that it had raised {{currency|42|USD}} million in a series C financing round for expansion in India.{{Cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2019/08/29/indias-vedantu-raises-42m-to-expand-its-live-and-interactive-online-tutoring-platform/|title=India’s Vedantu raises $42M to expand its live and interactive online tutoring platform|website=TechCrunch|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-29}}

In July 2020, Vedantu raised {{currency|100|USD}} million in funding led by US-based Coatue. With the latest funding, Vedantu's total fund tally is over {{currency|200|USD}} million.{{Cite web|date=2020-07-17|title=Vedantu raises $100 million, claims now 2nd most-valued ed-tech company|url=https://www.financialexpress.com/education-2/vedantu-raises-100-million-claims-now-2nd-most-valued-ed-tech-company/2026673/|access-date=2020-07-17|website=The Financial Express|language=en-US}} According to Fintrackr calculations, in September 2021, Vedantu raised {{currency|100|USD}} million at a post-money valuation of over {{currency|500|USD}} million.{{cite web |title=Exclusive: Vedantu seeks $1 Bn valuation in a new round |url=https://entrackr.com/2021/06/exclusive-vedantu-seeks-1-bn-valuation-in-a-new-round/ |website=ENTRACKER |publisher=Harsh Upadhyay}}

In September 2021, The platform achieved unicorn status by raising $100 million in a Series E round led by ABC World Asia, valuing the company at $1 billion, making it the fifth edtech company in India to achieve unicorn status, following Byju's, Unacademy, Eruditus, and upGrad.

Due to reduced funding for Indian startups, Vedantu laid off one hundred employees in July 2022, making 720 redundancies for 2022.{{Cite web |last=Sil |first=Debarghya |date=2022-08-02 |title=Exclusive: After Firing 620 Employees, Vedantu Lays Off 100+ Employees As Part Of Restructuring |url=https://inc42.com/buzz/exclusive-edtech-unicorn-vedantu-lays-off-another-100-employees/ |access-date=2022-08-16 |website=Inc42 Media |language=en}} It further laid off 350 more people from its team in December 2022.{{Cite web |last=Tarush |first=Bhalla |date=30 Sep 2021 |title=Vedantu Joins Unicorn Club with $100 Million Fundraise |url=https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/vedantu-becomes-fifth-edtech-to-achieve-unicorn-status-with-fresh-fundraise-11632915419161.html |access-date=30 Sep 2021 |website=Livemint |language=en}}

Acquisitions

In February 2021, Vedantu made its first acquisition by acquiring Instasolv in an undisclosed deal. Vedantu had invested {{currency|2|USD}} million in Instasolv in July 2020.{{Cite web|title=Vedantu acquires Instasolv, a doubt-solving app – the latest in buzzing edtech acquisitions in India|url=https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/vedantu-acquires-instasolv-a-doubt-solving-app-the-latest-in-buzzing-edtech-acquisitions-in-india/articleshow/81151506.cms|access-date=2021-07-16|website=Business Insider}}
In July 2021, it invested in AI-enabled learning platform Pedagogy.{{Cite news|title=Edtech startup Vedantu acquires majority stake in Pedagogy|work=The Economic Times|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/startups/edtech-startup-vedantu-acquires-majority-stake-in-pedagogy/articleshow/84442331.cms|access-date=2021-07-16}}