Michael Moe’s On Indian EdTech Ecosystem, Byju's & More | NDTV Profit - video Dailymotion

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India a fantastic market in terms of the talent and energy around #edtech, says Michael Moe. The GSV CEO shares his views on India edtech potential, Byju's debacle and more, in conversation with Rishabh Bhatnagar. For the latest news and updates, visit ndtvprofit.com

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00:00 I'm joined by Michael Moe.

00:01 He's the co-founder and CEO of GSB,

00:04 which is one of the world's leading investment firms,

00:08 especially in ed tech.

00:09 Michael, thanks so much for taking the time out.

00:11 My pleasure.

00:13 My first question would be, given

00:15 that you're a lead investor, a major investor,

00:18 in so many Indian ed tech startups,

00:20 and not just Indian, around the world,

00:22 you've seen the Indian ed tech ecosystem shape itself

00:27 over the years.

00:28 With the recent developments that have happened,

00:30 there's Byjus, and there's a couple more.

00:33 How do you see the ed tech system going ahead?

00:38 Well, the education technology system in India

00:41 is, I think, the best in the world.

00:44 The situation with Byju is obviously very challenging.

00:48 But in a way, as you look at an ecosystem evolving

00:52 and maturing, this kind of experience

00:55 actually is healthy in the long run.

00:57 So it will clean out some people that

01:02 weren't going to be all in.

01:04 You learn some lessons.

01:06 But as things mature, I think what is important,

01:09 not just ed tech in India.

01:11 But 10 years ago, there were just 350 startups in India.

01:15 Today, there's over 110,000.

01:16 So just in that 10 short years, you've had all this activity.

01:19 So lessons learned about that's all very good.

01:22 And the fundamentals long term here are fantastic.

01:27 Are there ripples being felt across your portfolio?

01:30 You have PhysicsValley, you have ClassPlus, you have LEED.

01:33 You have all these unicorns, right?

01:35 Are there ripples from what happened, from the implosion?

01:39 Are they being felt across your portfolio?

01:42 Well, there's definitely a winter type of environment

01:46 that's involved today.

01:49 But you mentioned these companies,

01:51 like PhysicsValley and ClassPlus.

01:53 And they're doing very, very well.

01:56 And so our philosophy is you buy swimsuits in the winter.

01:59 And I think this is a good time to be looking to--

02:04 because spring is going to happen,

02:05 and ultimately summer, and the sun's going to come up.

02:08 And that's what we want to be positioned for.

02:11 Interesting.

02:12 Apart from ed tech, Michael, GSB has spotted Meta, Facebook,

02:18 Google--

02:19 not Google, sorry, Spotify.

02:21 So these large tech companies that

02:23 have just gone on to revolutionize

02:26 how the world works.

02:27 What are you seeing in India in terms of tech as well as ed

02:30 tech?

02:32 India is just a fantastic market in terms

02:36 of the talent and the energy around technology and ed tech.

02:41 So many smart things have happened.

02:43 I think Prime Minister Modi sort of creates

02:46 an overall passion and excitement about the future.

02:50 And that transcends into the entrepreneurship

02:53 that's going on.

02:54 So no, we love it.

02:55 We're looking for the next Facebook, the next Twitter,

02:59 the next Spotify.

03:01 And undoubtedly, there's going to be a bunch of them here.

03:05 Coming to ed tech, within ed tech,

03:07 what do you see picking up in India?

03:09 Is it maybe K-12?

03:12 Or are you seeing pre-K or higher education?

03:15 What segment within ed tech are you the most bullish on?

03:19 Well, I think that the corporate learning, lifelong learning,

03:23 the upskilling is a great opportunity.

03:27 Higher ed is going to be a growth market for a long time

03:31 to come.

03:31 In K-12, there's huge needs.

03:33 Needs create opportunities.

03:35 I think the K-12 system right now

03:38 is maybe one that there's a little bit more of a--

03:42 if we're in winter, it might be a little colder in that space

03:45 than the others.

03:47 But long term, it will be great opportunities too.

03:51 Fair enough.

03:53 From GSV in India, what can we expect?

03:55 Are we seeing a follow-on investments happening this year?

03:58 Or are we seeing some new, fresher investments coming in?

04:02 Hopefully both.

04:03 So we have great companies here that we like to support,

04:06 love to put more capital in.

04:08 We also are looking for fresh new ideas.

04:10 And we're here, and we're bullish.

04:13 And so we're open for business.

04:16 Excellent.

04:16 Thank you.

04:17 Thank you so much.

04:19 (dramatic music)

04:21 [music]

Michael Moe’s On Indian EdTech Ecosystem, Byju's & More | NDTV Profit

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