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COVID drives e-learning growth

Health & Education

It is well documented that learning providers must now deliver courses online. According to a report by Future Market Insights (FMI), demand for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) has risen significantly and is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 16.5% by 2030 with enrolments soaring across the whole spectrum, from school-age pupils, college students, and older learners alike.

The research firm Markets and Markets predicts that the Global Digital Education market will grow at a CAGR of 31.4% to US$33.2Bn by 2025 as the demand for digital training or continuing professional development programmes significantly rises. There are many factors that support and drive the predicted growth including:

  • Technology advancements (e.g. cloud computing) – infrastructure costs to deliver e-learning solutions remotely are reducing, meaning that individuals have greater access to content than ever before. Where historically learning providers were constraint by a maximum classroom size, the digital e-learning platforms provides true scalability
  • Private equity investment – according to market intelligence consultancy HolonIQ, global investment of venture capital in Edtech more than doubled from $7bn in 2019 to a record $16.1bn in 2020
  • Increasing use of technology in education institutions – Covid has accelerated schools to adopt, roll out and use more of the functionality of Edtech tools that allows remote working using digital platforms with the help of the UK government that has facilitated Big Tech’s expansion in education. In late April 2020, it announced a scheme to provide free technical support and training in Google and Microsoft education digital tools
  • Retaining talent – career development and training opportunities can be a key driver for employee retention. There is an increasing acceptance of learning through digital means as a cost effective solution to upskill, train and retain staff.

At Polestar, we have and are advising a number of businesses in the educational sector. With the rapid market growth, this could be a good time to explore your options for raising funding or securing a valuable exit.  As ever we would be more than happy to provide some insight – please do get in touch.  

The pandemic has accelerated the world’s digital transition, increasing appetites for online learning

By Bhavik Borkhatria on 29/01/2021