Taran Singh, CEO Melvano: Indian Edtech Space to grow 8x in 5 years

Taran Singh

The Indian edtech sector has grown at a rapid pace during the nationwide lockdown because of the seismic transformation in the educational field. Due to the huge demand for online learning, the platform has attracted funding of $2 billion in 2020 up from $553 million in 2019, and is expected to gain more in upcoming years. The easy-to-use digital tools have attracted the global/VC funds to invest more to expand the online learning space and make it a dominant player in the market. The current market size of Indian edtech space is standing at a figure of almost $700-800 million & will witness a growth of 8 times over the next five years, says Taran Singh, CEO of Melvano.

Melvano is an AI-driven learning app providing an adaptive practice interface for entrance examinations. Since the pandemic, Melvano has witnessed a 6x growth in the number of users and a 2x increase in the time spent by the learners on the app. According to Taran, students are getting more involved in e-learning because its easy-to-use study tools are helping them to continue their studies during current circumstances.

Taran Singh, who is also an IIT Madras alumnus said, "The pandemic fueled hyper-growth in edtech sector has led to an exponential increase in adoption in Tier 2 & Tier 3 cities. There will be 8-10x growth in the next 5 years, wherein Test preparation will be the fastest-growing segment. This fast-paced growth will be led by the digitization of coaching centers & mushrooming startups to cater to the growing need. Having solid differentiation will act as leverage for startups. For example, the Melvano app uses a blended approach as opposed to complete self-paced online apps, which helps students get a clear path to crack exams. This has helped us achieve excellent results in JEE."

Melvano, born out of Nirmaan Labs, IIT Madras, was awarded the prestigious Sri Chinmay Deodhar Award by IIT Madras for ‘Innovative Project'. The startup has raised seed funding of 1 Cr and is currently looking to raise another round of investment to expand into new segments. This year, more than 10 students from Melvano have scored 99 percentile and above in JEE Mains 2021. CEO of Melvano, Taran Singh has also declared a 100 percent scholarship for JEE & NEET aspirants who belong to low-income families or those who have been affected by COVID-19.