18 Nov 2020, 11:38 AM IST
Covid-19 changed the way the world functioned. We were suddenly asked to stay indoors at all times. Businesses both small and big took a huge beating and for most recovery still is a distant dream. In this gloomy scenario where many companies shut down and most are limping back to normal, there are some which thrived. Here’s a look at these companies and how they emerged as winners in this pandemic.
iStock
When the Covid-19 led to schools being shut, edtech players witnessed a spike in their business. According to Divya Gokulnath, Co-Founder, Byju’s the company added 20 million new users in less than four months as against the first 40 million which had taken four years to come by. The company observed a steady graph during the last six months. The average time spent on the platform increased from 71 min/day to 100mins/day during the lockdown period. Edtech companies also noticed a significant behavioural shift in parents’ mindset towards learning online, with more acceptances of such modes of education.
iStock
3/6
Education for all ages
Not just school, several other online courses also saw a spike in their admissions. upGrad saw its MBA vertical grow by 63% in terms of revenue and 82% in the learner base. People in the age of 45-54 also enrolled for their courses. Arjun Mohan, CEO-India, upGrad feels that the virus outbreak made online learning take a front seat which was otherwise playing a second fiddle to the offline model.
iStock
4/6
Stay ‘connected’ with your doctor
Tele consultation with doctors grew significantly during the lockdown. Telemedicine platform Practo observed a 10x growth during the lockdown. In the pre-Covid era, Practo saw close to 70% of the online consults from metros but that changed and now the ratio stands at 50:50 with a greater access to verified doctors even in smaller cities. After the initial hiccups like shortage of medicines the business is going strong for online pharmacy companies.
iStock
Insurance aggregators like Policybazaar saw its health insurance business grow by 50%. A lot of younger buyers started evaluating health products. Corona Kavach and Corona Rakshak policies, which insurance companies started selling from July, found many first-time buyers come forward. It was the largest segment for the first time in the general insurance industry, beating the motor insurance sector.
iStock
People started checking the various online gaming platforms during this pandemic. Fantasy Akhada grew their user base 6-7 times. Casual games and esports also found traction on mobile gaming platform Mobile Premier League (MPL). With users growing to over 6 crore as against 4 crore previously, there is a clear slant towards people experimenting on varied games and formats. Social gaming platform WinZO Games noticed a 30% surge in average traffic in the first week of lockdown in March.
iStock
No comments: