Byju's Crisis To Help Clean Up Indian Startup Ecosystem, Says Bellwether Edtech Investor GSV
Among the various subsets within edtech, Moe said the corporate learning and upskilling segment is a great opportunity.
The Indian edtech ecosystem continues to be the "best in the world" and crises such as Byju's will prove to be healthy in the longer run, according to GSV Ventures' Michael Moe.
"The situation (at Byju's) is obviously very challenging, but in a way, the ecosystem is evolving and maturing. This kind of an experience is healthy in the long run...it will clean out some people that weren't going to be all in. We've learned some lessons," Moe, the founding partner and CEO of the U.S.-based venture capital firm, told NDTV Profit on the sidelines of the ASU+GSV and Emeritus Summit in Gurugram.
GSV invests in global edtech startups and manages around $800 million in assets. In India, it has invested in at least 11 edtech companies and counts unicorns such as Classplus, PhysicsWallah and LEAD in its portfolio.
"There's definitely a winter type of environment today, but companies like PhysicsWallah and Classplus, they're doing very well and so our philosophy is you buy swimsuits in the winter. I think this is a good time to be looking to invest because spring is going to happen and ultimately the sun's going to come up and that's what we want to be positioned for," he said.
Globally, apart from edtech, GSV has invested in businesses such as Facebook, Twitter, Snap and Spotify. Moe said India is a "fantastic" market in terms of the talent it has to offer, as well as the energy around technology and edtech. "We're looking for the next Facebook, the next Twitter, the next Spotify and undoubtedly there could be a bunch of them here."
Among the various subsets within edtech, Moe said the corporate learning and upskilling segment is a great opportunity. "Other than that, higher education is going to be a growth market for a long time to come. The K-12 system right now is one that might be a little colder than the others but long term, it will be a great opportunity."
This year, GSV is also hoping to make fresh and follow on investments going ahead. "We have great companies here that we'd like to support and love to put more capital in. We're also looking for fresh new ideas, we're here, we're bullish and we're open for business," Moe said.
