The Edtech market earned 31 billion rubles in the third quarter

According to the results of the third quarter, the market for educational services increased by 38% year-on-year – the revenue of the top 100 services, according to Smart Ranking, amounted to 31.4 billion rubles. For the first time, the assessment included a segment of higher education – online courses from Synergy. At the same time, edtech companies are not afraid of competition with universities: in their opinion, universities are still more focused on scientific activities.

“Kommersant” got acquainted with the research of the market of educational online services in July-September by the Smart Ranking agency. According to him, the Russian edtech market in the third quarter grew in value by 38% year-on-year. The agency estimates the revenue of the 100 largest edtech companies for the period at 31.4 billion rubles. At the same time, in the third quarter, the higher education segment was included in the assessment for the first time, “provided that the company is completely private and the training is carried out in an online format.” Thus, the agency added online courses from the Synergy University to the assessment. Without taking into account higher education under the previous system, the volume of the edtech market was about 28 billion rubles. As Smart Ranking clarified, last time the online education market showed high quarterly growth in the first quarter of last year – 54%.

Revenue from the segment of additional vocational education (CPE) in the third quarter increased by 38.6%, to 10.9 billion rubles, noted Smart Ranking. Revenue in the children’s education segment increased by 44%, to RUB 9.3 billion, while the business education segment decreased by 9.47%, to RUB 1.9 billion.

The dynamics of the children’s education segment is still ahead of adult education, the agency clarified to Kommersant: “Children’s schools note the growing maturity of the market and increasing involvement from the state.” But there are also negative factors. In the third quarter, there was a decrease in consumer demand in the edtech market, notes EDPRO CEO Sergei Astafiev. This, according to him, was influenced by an increase in the key rate and a decrease in the share of approved loans from banks. A further rise in marketing costs is also predicted, notes Alexey Starikov, CEO of the Aktion group.

The strong results of the third quarter are partly seasonal – the beginning of the academic year in the higher education system marks the peak of payments, according to Smart Ranking. Thus, Skillbox again became the market leader, surpassing Skyeng: the platform’s revenue in the third quarter increased by 20%, to 3.5 billion rubles. Synergy took third place.

The market remains in high demand for applied programs, including those with the opportunity to obtain a profession and further employment, noted Pavel Moseikin, CEO of Ultimate Education (which unites six schools: Bang Bang Education, XYZ School, MAED, etc.). “We are also seeing increased demand for long-term educational programs,” he added. Ultimate Education’s revenue in the third quarter increased by 72.6% year-on-year, to RUB 561 million, the company added.

At the same time, edtech companies are not afraid of competition from online university courses. According to Netology, universities and edtech platforms have a different portrait of the audience that is looking for additional education, says platform development director Olga Sokhneva. Therefore, even if a “wide network” of additional vocational training appears at universities, there will be no direct competition, she believes.

High competition in the edtech market has already led to the fact that marketing alone is not enough and companies compete on product quality, adds Skyeng executive director Rustam Ainetdinov. Therefore, universities will have to “catch up” with existing companies and look for new mechanics that will allow them to retain students until the end of their courses, the top manager believes. Universities will not create their own platforms en masse, because this is not part of their priorities and competencies, says Skillbox founder Dmitry Krutov: “They concentrate their efforts on meaningful and research things, rather than on technological platforms.”

Yulia Yurasova