TiE Bangalore and AWS EdStart will co-host regular events and knowledge sharing sessions with EdTech founders and investors sharing their insights and best practices
The EdTech Special Interest Group (SIG) will also identify and nurture select EdTech start-ups and entrepreneurs via AWS resources and support from TiE’s network of charter members
The launch of the EdTech SIG will be inaugurated by Byju Raveendran of BYJU’s, Sunil P P of AWS & Madan Padaki, President of TiE Bangalore on 17th July
Bengaluru, NFAPost: The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Bangalore has launched a Special Interest Group (SIG) for EdTechs to promote, mentor and create new opportunities for entrepreneurs in the EdTech space.
Towards this, TiE Bangalore is collaborating with AWS EdStart, the startup accelerator from Amazon Web Services (AWS) supporting EdTech companies, which joins as the SIG’s Annual Sponsor, with the joint objective of creating a more vibrant EdTech start-up ecosystem. The SIG will be launched on 17th July 2021 at a virtual event, with a fireside chat with Byju Raveendran, Founder & CEO of BYJU’S.
The Covid-19 pandemic has led EdTechs to leapfrog as one of the most favourable sunrise sectors. According to a BARC India and Nielsen report, the number of people downloading EdTech apps has risen by 88%, with a 30% increase in time spent on education apps recorded during the lockdown, leading to over 120% growth in digital ad spends by EdTech apps.
Galvanising this massive scope and potential of EdTech startups in a post-Covid era, TiE Bangalore’s EdTech SIG will enable EdTech start-ups to scale and succeed by leveraging its strengths of mentorship, education, investor connects, and business networks, along with the resources from the AWS EdStart program to help entrepreneurs accelerate innovation even further to make a positive impact to students, educators, and educational institutions.
As part of this collaboration, the Edtech SIG will host an array of new and existing events as an exclusive offering for EdTech start-ups. Together, TiE Bangalore and AWS EdStart will also engage actively with the broader EdTech ecosystem and enable meaningful connections to EdTech start-ups through their networks. The EdTech SIG will also nurture selected 20-30 EdTechs annually from this community via AWS resources and TiE’s Bangalore’s mentoring program, and help these start-ups scale up their impact.
TiE and AWS will also co-host several networking events and knowledge sharing sessions with support from EdTech influencers, kickstarting with the EdTech SIG launch event, featuring a fireside chat between Byju Raveendran, Founder & CEO, BYJU’s, and Srikanth Iyer, TiE Charter Member and Co-founder & CEO, Homelane.
Commenting on this launch, TiE Bangalore President Madan Padaki said Bangalore’s ranking as #7 in the Top 15 in the Global EdTech Index reflects not only its vibrant and successful trajectory in the EdTech space, but also a conducive and thriving environment provided by the State Government to enable a robust startup ecosystem.
“With the Covid-led boom in the EdTech space, now is an opportune moment to harness these tailwinds and enable passionate entrepreneurs to succeed. We are thrilled to garner the support of AWS EdStart, whose mission is aligned with ours at TiE Bangalore, of fostering entrepreneurship and enabling entrepreneurs to succeed,” said Madan Padaki.
Amazon Internet Services Private Limited Lead – Education, Space and Non-Profits, India and South Asia, Sunil P P said AWS collaboration with TiE for the EdTech SIG is testament to the scope the company finds for EdTech and the innovation potential among entrepreneurs in India.
“Over the years, AWS EdStart has helped create a community of like-minded people and companies who seek to solve complex education problems globally. We will draw upon this rich experience and knowledge to enable EdTech entrepreneurs in India build the next-generation of education solutions on the cloud, and provide them access to peer learning, customized trainings, mentoring and technical support to translate their innovative ideas into reality,” said Sunil PP.
As one of India’s first TiE chapters, TiE Bangalore has played a pioneering role in fostering the entrepreneurship ecosystem by actively promoting, mentoring, and helping startups scale and has engaged with 5000+ entrepreneurs over the years through various initiatives.
AWS EdStart, tech giant Amazon Web Services’ EdTech startup accelerator, is a global program designed to help entrepreneurs build the next generation of online learning, analytics, and campus management solutions on AWS Cloud. The program offers EdTech startups specially tailored benefits such as AWS Promotional Credits, technical training and support, access to a global community of EdTech experts, and more.
The launch event of the EdTech Special Interest Group (SIG) will be hosted virtually on 17th July.
