MUMBAI: The education technology sector has a different lesson to narrate in the fund-raising exercise. This sector has seen a rush of capital, about $208 million this year, with deal value increasing 25%, although there has been a fall in the number of deals from 81 last year to 42 in 2016 so far, according to data from . Test Preparation Apps and K-12 Education Service Providers alone have lapped up over $196 million across 15 deals, the data shows. Byju's, which pocketed a chunk of the capital by raising $125 million this year, has put its bets on innovation in learning. The firm uses gamification and 3D to enable innovative learning through its platform. "The kind of engagement that we got is validation of the fact that students like it. If parents don't see improvement, they will never spend again," explains , founder of Classes. Byju's, which has over 3,00,000 users, uses an annual-subscription model and has seen 90% renewal at the end of the last academic year. Experts believe that while content performance and innovation are the key to gauge success, one of the core reasons why investors have taken to education technology in an otherwise slow year of funding, has been its classic counter-cyclical nature. "When the bubble burst in 2015 end, investors who were wary of investing in e-commerce or other areas would have invested in education technology and healthcare because they are counter-cyclical and so by definition, will do well," explains Avnish Bajaj, MD, Matrix Partners India. The story is far from over for the education technology sector as far as investments in the next year are concerned if companies take the global route to success. "Anything that is non-curriculum based in education has global potential. If any startup has cracked the code of skill development in augmented reality or virtual reality, it can undertake (and succeed in) skill development in any part of the world," says Rishi Kapal, CEO of , an accelerator that hones education technology startups in India. Byju's 2017 strategy revolves around cracking the global market as it gears up to enter UK and US this year. But experts believe that investors too have their work cut out for them as education technology is still a sector that they are not too familiar with. "If investors put more focus in education technology rather than supporting general incubators and accelerators, then education in India will be the biggest story that the world will see," says Kapal.
The Indian edtech sector has seen a strong increase in capital , with around $ 208 m injected into edtech companies in 2016 . However , the number of companies in edtech actually fell from 81 in 2015 to 42 this year , with test preparation apps and K-12 education service providers taking the majority of the capital . Edtech company Byju ’s raised $ 125 m , focusing on innovation in learning through 2D and 3D techniques . Investors are keen to fund innovation because the sector is counter - cyclical , doing well in times when e - commerce and other more commercial areas do less well .