Education Markets and Deals Roundup — 20th Edition
In February 2025, Global Education showed mixed performance as Chegg struggled against AI competition while Udemy grew 8% year-over-year. Strategic partnerships formed between Lancaster University and 2U, plus Wiley’s agreement with India’s subscription initiative.
Indian education stocks declined amid market corrections, though Jetking remained stable through bitcoin investments. Innovation continued with AI tools from Navneet, Aptech, and others, while private funding remained strong across multiple EdTech startups. These developments are expected to deliver strong results in the upcoming months for the Education sector
I. Public Markets
Market Multiples Snapshot — Global and Indian Education (Source: Koyfin)Global Education
In February 2025, global education companies reported mixed quarterly results, impacting stock prices variably. Chegg experienced continued stock decline due to competition from AI platforms like ChatGPT, subscriber losses, and negative market sentiment across the education technology sector
Global Listed Education Player Comps
Rapid Round-up
Lancaster University has partnered with education technology pioneer 2U to deliver 15 new online postgraduate degrees over three years, expanding their existing digital learning offerings. This significant milestone in the University Global Lancaster programme will launch five initial MSc programs combining with 2U’s transformative education expertise to meet growing demand for career-relevant learning while maintaining quality student experiencesUdemy reported an 8% year-over-year revenue , with Enterprise segment growing 18% while Consumer segment decreased 5% to $292.1 million. The company added eight million new learners and 1,400 new Enterprise customers, strengthening its strategic focus on upmarket large enterprise customers through product innovation including AI-powered Skills Mapping, while expanding global presence with a new Mexico City office. This had a positive impact over the stock prices of the Company.Wiley has signed a three-year license agreement with India’s groundbreaking One Nation One Subscription initiative, providing nearly 2,000 journals to approximately 18 million students and researchers across 6,300+ government institutions nationwide. This partnership, aligned with India’s Viksitbharat@2047 vision, aims to democratize access to scholarly resources, support researchers in tier 2 and tier 3 cities
2. Indian Education
Indian stock markets plunged in February 2025 amid slowing earnings forecasts, market correction, significant FII outflows, and economic uncertainty. Jetking remained relatively stable due to bitcoin treasury investments, which have appreciated recently. Majority of the education stocks suffered steep declines but are anticipated to rebound soon.
Indian Listed Education Player Comps
Rapid Round-Up
Navneet Education Limited has launched Navneet AI, an innovative platform empowering teachers with access to 50,000+ educational resources for creating interactive classroom materials like quizzes and presentations. As India’s first custom education model using multi-agent architecture, it focuses specifically on supporting teachers rather than studentsVeranda Learning acquired 40.41% of BB Virtuals and will acquire an additional 10.59% stake in BB Virtuals by June 2025, strengthening its position in commerce education with an expected pro forma EBITDA of Rs 120+ crore for FY25. This partnership, along with Navkar Digital’s offline CA/CS/CMA training presence in Gujarat, will expand Veranda’s resources for commerce students nationwideAptech Limited introduced “Creval,” a pioneering AI-powered creative evaluation tool that combines generative AI with human expertise to provide real-time assessment of visual arts including animation and graphics, offering comprehensive feedback and detailed reports while protecting artists’ work through Amazon Bedrock’s security features
II. Private Markets
Equity Financing and M&A Snapshot — Indian Education (Source: Tracxn)
Indian Education Market Funding and M&A Round-Up
HiWiPay raised $2M seed funding from Unicorn India Ventures and others. This cross-border payments platform will expand trade remittance and education services, targeting 5,000 students on its app and $100M in transaction volume within 18 monthsStudy abroad platform Vidysea secured $1M seed funding led by Zee Learn Limited, with participation from Aarvi Family LLP, founders, and shareholders, to provide personalized academic and career guidanceEdtech platform Bambinos.Live received ₹1 crore from three Shark Tank India investors. With 10x revenue growth over three years and a 4.7 Google rating, they launched AI-powered Bambino’s Doodle for interactive learningEducation loan provider Eduvanz raised $2.9 million in bridge funding co-led by Juvo Ventures and Capria Fund. Funds will support working capital, product development, and marketing, with a post-valuation of ₹551 croreEducation-focused NBFC Auxilo raised $5.7 million debt from Motilal Oswal to provide comprehensive education loans covering course expenses for higher studies in India and abroadWorkforce skilling platform NextLeap acquired PM School, strengthening its product management training. The Bengaluru-based startup has helped 15,000+ learners transition to tech roles through AI-driven, affordable fellowship programs
Overall Private Market Rapid Round-Up
Imarticus Learning partnered with SRMIST to launch a Master’s in FinTech covering blockchain, digital currencies, AI, and risk management through theoretical learning and practical applicationLaunch of CodeMonkey’s Digital Literacy Curriculum for K-8 featuring 130+ lessons on digital safety and 100+ typing exercises, teaching computer basics, online privacy, and media literacy through gamified learningPolymath raised $1M to expand its adaptive math platform that transforms screen time into productive learning. The app engages elementary students for 30 minutes per session, accelerating learning ratesPathify secured $25M from Five Elms Capital to advance its higher education digital engagement platform. Funds will enhance technology, integration, and workforce growth while helping institutions improve student experiencesSwivl secured growth funding from Decathlon Capital for its Mirror and MirrorTalk tools, which promote learning and social-emotional development through reflectionVahan.ai received investment from Persol Group to scale its AI-powered blue-collar hiring platform, which has facilitated 260,000 job placements and saved 20,000 hours of recruiter effortBorderPlus raised $7M to support global workforce mobility, providing training, visa processing, employment opportunities, and cultural integration for skilled blue-collar workersEdTech startup Hiveclass raised $1.5M for its K-12 fitness and wellness platform featuring short-form videos, quizzes, and PE credit opportunities aligned with SHAPE America standardsBeanstack secured $1.5M to expand its reading culture platform, which has helped readers log seven billion minutes across 15,000 libraries and schools worldwideSaudi EdTech UpLevel raised pre-seed funding for its platform connecting companies with professional coaches, offering executive, leadership, and career development coaching programs
LoEstro Advisors is an investment banking firm specializing in sell-side fundraise and M&A advisory, along with a strong consulting arm
Over the last four years, we have grown to be one of India’s largest (in terms of M&A transactions) homegrown boutique investment banks, with $1billion + worth of combined deals closed across education, healthcare, consumer, and technology sectors
