Vedantu Innovations Pvt Ltd is an Indian edtech company that offers live online tutoring for students from grade 6 to 12 for CBSE, ICSE, State Boards, JEE and NEET. The company was founded in 2011 by Vamsi Krishna, Pulkit Jain, Anand Prakash and Saurabh Saxena. Vedantu uses a combination of live lectures, doubt clearing sessions, tests and analysis to enable students to learn interactively. The company is headquartered in Bangalore, India.
Vedantu’s Founding
Vedantu was founded in 2011 by four engineers Vamsi Krishna, Pulkit Jain, Anand Prakash and Saurabh Saxena who were alumni of IIT Bombay. The founders aimed to leverage technology to simulate personalized learning and provide affordable education. Prior to starting Vedantu, Vamsi Krishna and Anand Prakash had co-founded educational technology company Lakshya Institute in 2009. However, they pivoted to focus on live online tutoring with the founding of Vedantu.
The name ‘Vedantu’ was inspired by the Upnishadic philosophy ‘Vedantu’ which means the end of knowledge. The founders aimed to make Vedantu the final destination for learning requirements of students in India. Vedantu started offering its online tutoring services in 2014 after running extensive trails and testing different technologies, pedagogies and price points.
Leadership at Vedantu
Vamsi Krishna is the CEO and Co-Founder of Vedantu Innovations Pvt Ltd. As CEO, Krishna is responsible for the overall strategic direction and growth of the company. He also oversees key functions including product development, marketing, finance and HR at Vedantu.
Some key highlights about Vamsi Krishna:
- Vamsi Krishna holds a B.Tech degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT Bombay and an MBA from IIM Calcutta.
- Prior to starting Vedantu, Krishna worked at brands like Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and Dell in various roles.
- Krishna co-founded Lakshya Institute, an educational technology company, along with Anand Prakash in 2009.
- He has experience across technology, product development, marketing and content development.
- Under his leadership as CEO, Vedantu has grown to over 27 million users and 200,000+ paying students.
- The company has raised over $200 million in funding from investors like Tiger Global, Accel, Omidyar Network, TAL and WestBridge Capital.
- Vedantu was named among the top 100 startups to work for in India in 2019 by LinkedIn.
In addition to Vamsi Krishna as CEO, the other founders are part of the leadership team at Vedantu:
- Pulkit Jain is the Co-Founder and Product Head.
- Anand Prakash is the Co-Founder and Academics Head.
- Saurabh Saxena is the Co-Founder and Head of Marketing and Sales.
Vedantu’s Growth and Funding
Since its founding in 2011, Vedantu has emerged as one of the leading edtech companies in India. Some key milestones in Vedantu’s growth journey:
- 2014 – Vedantu started offering online tutoring for students from grade 6-12.
- 2015 – The company raised its Series A funding of $5 million from Accel Partners and Tiger Global.
- 2017 – Vedantu expanded into test preparation for competitive exams like JEE, NEET etc.
- 2018 – The company raised its Series C funding of $11 million led by Omidyar Network.
- 2019 – Vedantu turned profitable on an operational basis.
- 2020 – Vedantu became the second Indian edtech unicorn with a $100 million fundraise led by Coatue.
- 2021 – The company raised its Series E funding of $100 million led by Singapore’s ABC World Asia.
- 2022 – Vedantu acquired a majority stake in digital reading platform Instasolv.
In total, Vedantu has raised over $200 million in funding so far from investors including Tiger Global, Accel Partners, Omidyar Network, WestBridge Capital, Coatue Management and GGV Capital.
Vedantu’s Products and Offerings
Vedantu offers the following range of educational offerings targeted at K-12 students and test prep aspirants:
- LIVE Tutoring – Vedantu’s flagship product that provides personalized online tutoring sessions across subjects like Math, Science, Social Studies etc. for CBSE and ICSE students from grade 6-10.
- Wave – AI-enabled practice product for students to practice questions, take mock tests and get personalized improvement suggestions.
- Vedantu Pro – For students of grades 11-12, provides LIVE coaching for JEE, NEET and preparation for boards.
- Vedantu SuperKids – After school live classes combined with games, ebooks and other tools for students in Nursery to grade 5.
- Vedantu Study Material – Digital study material including NCERT solutions, previous year papers, mock tests etc.
By using technology like AI and ML, big data analytics and adaptive assessments, Vedantu aims to provide a personalized learning experience for students at affordable pricing. It combines the best aspects of offline and online tutoring.
Vedantu’s Impact
Vedantu has had a significant impact on K12 learning and test prep in India. Some key stats about Vedantu’s scale and impact:
- Over 27 million students have used Vedantu’s platform till date.
- The platform has over 200,000 paying students.
- 70,000+ hours of live classes are conducted on Vedantu every month.
- Vedantu claims a 97% month-on-month retention for its paying students.
- The company conducts over 100,000 mock tests daily.
- Vedantu students achieve 10-15% higher scores on average.
- The company has 500+ expert teachers working with it.
By using technology effectively to enable personalized teaching, Vedantu has helped democratize education and made quality tutoring affordable. It is one of the pioneers in live online tutoring in India.
Conclusion
Vamsi Krishna, an IIT Bombay and IIM Calcutta alumnus, is the CEO and Co-Founder of Vedantu Innovations Pvt Ltd. He founded Vedantu along with Pulkit Jain, Anand Prakash and Saurabh Saxena in 2011 with the mission to leverage technology to provide personalized learning. Under Krishna’s leadership as CEO, Vedantu has emerged as one of the leading edtech companies in India with over 27 million users. The company has raised over $200 million in funding to date. Vedantu provides live online tutoring and test preparation for students from grade 6-12 for boards like CBSE and competitive exams like JEE and NEET. The platform combines live classes, doubt solving, tests and analytics to deliver a personalized learning experience to students at affordable pricing. Vedantu has been able to drive significant positive impact on learning outcomes for students in India.
