The Hero Group, whose flagship firm is two-wheeler manufacturer Hero MotoCorp, is making its invade into the edtech space. This week, the company began hiring for various key positions for a soon-to-be-launched edtech stage. 

“As part of our continuous efforts to reach out to more and more students across the country, we are in the process of building a new edtech platform. Our vision is to offer uniquely designed programs across domains and functions that are mapped to real roles and industry-demand,” reads a job posting on iimjobs for ‘Head – Human Resource’ at the new startup. 

“The focus will be on disrupting and reimagining university education and skilling for working professionals by offering high-impact online certification and degree programs. It’s time to put the fun back into learning!” reads the posting. 

One more job posting for a UI/UX designer at the Hero-owned edtech startup was found on LinkedIn.Inc42 couldn’t separately verify whether these job postings are genuine. 

Queries sent to Hero Group’s corporate communications personnel didn’t draw out a response. 

Initiating its own edtech startup would be a logical step for the company, given its foothold in the education space for years. The Munjal family, which founded the Hero Group with Hero Cycles in 1956, is also the promoter of BML Munjal University, in addition several other colleges and schools across the country. 

Amid startups such as BYJU’S and Unacademy posting unicorn valuations and steady growth in users and revenue, the Indian edtech sector has boomed of late. This has forced the big business houses to take note of the growth potential in the segment and find a point of entry. 

Reliance owns AI-based edtech startup Embibe and has over the last year, launched several offerings under the Jio umbrella such as JioMeet, which could be used by educational institutions. In 2019, Amazon launched an app called JEE Ready, which as the name recommends, lets users take mock tests for India’s engineering entrance exam IIT-JEE. 

In November last year, Amazon rebranded the app to ‘Amazon Academy’. The app is currently in beta testing mode. 

Indian Edtech Sector: A $10 Bn Opportunity

With a market size of $2.8 Bn in 2020, the Indian edtech segment is likely to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 39% to reach a market size of $10.4 Bn by 2025, highlights an Inc42Plus report, “The Future Of Edtech In India: Decoding the $10 Bn market Opportunity”. Some of the major factors lashing the adoption of edtech apps in India will be convenience and cost-efficiency of the products and services, a rush in out-of-pocket expenditure on education and a rise in course fees. 

Test training or preparation, K12 learning, online certification and skill expansion are expected to be the major drivers of demand for Indian edtech startups in the upcoming years.