India has witnessed an evolution in the education sector over the past decade, as tutoring has branched out from the classroom and coaching institutes to include online, self-paced, and phygital (physical-digital) formats. 

While the pandemic has contributed to this shift, it is also reflective of a broader trend, as India has always had a deep-rooted culture of supplementary education, exam coaching, and vocational training, which modern companies are now capitalizing on in a digital-first environment. 

Here are the top education companies in India, including those offering IT and professional training courses, tutoring classes for competitive exams, and other services.

Quick Comparison

Rank	Company	Founded	Owner / Founders	Headquarters	Core Services
1	NIIT Limited	1981	Rajendra S. Pawar & Vijay K. Thadani	Gurugram	IT Training, Vocational Education
2	upGrad	2015	Ronnie Screwvala, Mayank Kumar, Phalgun Kompalli	Mumbai	Higher Education, Upskilling
3	PhysicsWallah (PW)	2020 (as a company; content since 2016)	Alakh Pandey & Prateek Maheshwari	Noida	Test Prep, K-12 Tutoring
4	Unacademy	2015	Gaurav Munjal, Roman Saini, Hemesh Singh	Bengaluru	Competitive Exam Prep, Live Classes
5	Vedantu	2014	Vamsi Krishna, Pulkit Jain, Saurabh Saxena, Anand Prakash	Bengaluru	K-12 Live Online Tutoring
6	Great Learning	2013	Mohan Krishna Lakhamraju (Founder)	Bengaluru	Professional & Higher Education
7	Simplilearn	2010	Krishna Kumar (Founder & CEO)	Bengaluru	Professional Certification Courses
8	Aakash Educational Services	1988	Founded by J.C. Chaudhry; Manipal Education and Medical Group (majority stakeholder)	New Delhi	JEE/NEET Coaching
9	Extramarks Education	2007	Atul Kulshrestha (Founder)	Noida	K-12 Digital Learning Content
10	Eruditus	2010	Ashwin Damera & Chaitanya Kalipatnapu	Mumbai	Executive & University-Partnered Education

NIIT Limited – The Original Architect of India’s IT Training Industry

 Image Courtesy: NIIT Official Website

• Founded: 1981 
• Owner: Rajendra S. Pawar (Chairman) and Vijay K. Thadani (Vice Chairman & MD); publicly listed 
• HQ: Gurugram, Haryana

NIIT was founded by Rajendra S. Pawar and Vijay K. Thadani in 1981, at a time when India’s nascent IT sector needed skilled manpower, and it served as a training ground for many before the services boom. 

It has been able to build a successful franchise-based model of training, which has enabled the company to scale across India and over 30+ countries.

What NIIT does: Offers IT and professional skills training to individuals, enterprises, and academia. Its services are focused on empowering individuals and businesses with the right skill sets for industry-ready performance.

Services offered: IT and programming skills training; corporate training and development; banking and finance training; and vocational and career training.

upGrad – A Leader in Online Higher Education and Upskilling

 Image Courtesy: upGrad Official Website

• Founded: 2015 
• Owner: Co-founded by Ronnie Screwvala, Mayank Kumar, Phalgun Kompalli, and Ravijot Chugh 
• HQ: Mumbai, Maharashtra

Founded in 2015 by media moguls Ronnie Screwvala and Phalgun Kompalli, and Mayank Kumar, upGrad is a higher education and upskilling platform that has acquired a number of firms in the edtech space, including those focused on test preparations and study abroad consultancy, to offer a comprehensive education ecosystem.

What upGrad does: Offers online degrees, certifications, and upskilling in collaboration with universities and institutions.

Services offered: Executive education and degrees; data science and technology certifications; study abroad consultancy and career coaching; and online management degrees.

PhysicsWallah (PW) – Edtech Unicorn Founded on YouTube

 Image Courtesy: PhysicsWallah Official Website

• Founded: 2020 (as a company; content creation began in 2016) 
• Owner: Co-founded by Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari 
• HQ: Noida, Uttar Pradesh

Physics Wallah started as a YouTube Channel on Physics run by Alakh Pandey, which provided free lectures for competitive exams before being formalized as a company in 2020 with the founding partner Prateek Maheshwari. 

It has since positioned itself as a more affordable alternative to edtech tutoring companies, while also branching out into offline coaching.

What Physics Wallah does: Offers affordable online and offline coaching for competitive exams and school-level education.

Services offered: Video-based lectures and test series; doubt-solving sessions; and offline coaching centers for exams like JEE, NEET, and school-level board exams.

Unacademy – A Major Player in India’s Competitive Exam Prep Space

 Image Courtesy: Unacademy Official Website

• Founded: 2015 
• Owner: Co-founded by Gaurav Munjal, Roman Saini, and Hemesh Singh 
• HQ: Bengaluru, Karnataka

Unacademy was started by Gaurav Munjal, Roman Saini, and Hemesh Singh as a YouTube channel before transforming into an edtech startup, which aims to provide education to all by enabling peer-to-peer learning, wherein anyone can teach and learn a topic of their choice.

What Unacademy does: Offers live classes and test series for competitive exams as well as skill-based learning.

Services offered: Live video-based classes; learning subscriptions; mock tests; and teaching by educators.

Vedantu – Pioneering Live Online Classes for Students

 Image Courtesy: Vedantu Official Website

• Founded: 2014 
• Owner: Co-founded by Vamsi Krishna, Pulkit Jain, Saurabh Saxena, and Anand Prakash 
• HQ: Bengaluru, Karnataka

Vedantu was co-founded in 2014 by ex-teachers and educators Vamsi Krishna, Pulkit Jain, Saurabh Saxena, and Anand Prakash, who wanted to provide a platform for students to access high-quality education via live online classes. It has since expanded its services to include exam preparations as well.

What Vedantu does: Provides live online classes and tutoring sessions to students.

Services offered: Live online classes and tutorials; video libraries for lectures; and test series for school-level and competitive exams.

Great Learning – A Professional Upskilling Platform Focused on Outcomes

 Image Courtesy: Great Learning Official Website

• Founded: 2203 
• Owner: Mohan Krishna Lakhamraju (Founder); Lakhamraju regained ownership of Great Learning in India in 2025 after its initial placement under a different corporate entity. 
• HQ: Bengaluru, Karnataka

Great Learning was founded in 2013 by Mohan Krishna Lakhamraju, who serves as the Chancellor of the Great Lakes Institute of Management, as an outcome-driven online professional skills training provider that offers courses in data science, AI/ML, and management. In 2025, Lakhamraju regained ownership of Great Learning in India.

What Great Learning does: Offers online professional and hybrid-certified education in technology, data, and management, often in collaboration with universities.

Services offered: Executive and postgraduate certificate programs; data science and AI courses; management training programs; and university-accredited postgraduate certifications.

Simplilearn – A Global Professional Certification Edtech Company

 Image Courtesy: Simplilearn Official Website

• Founded: 2010 
• Owner: Krishna Kumar (Founder & CEO) 
• HQ: Bengaluru, Karnataka (with offices in San Francisco, USA)

Simplilearn was founded by entrepreneur Krishna Kumar in 2010 as an online certification training provider targeting working professionals. 

As one of the world’s leading providers of professional certificate courses, Simplilearn offers a wide range of programs, from AI and cybersecurity to project management, in collaboration with universities and other organizations.

What Simplilearn does: Offers online certification and bootcamp-style professional training programs for working professionals.

Services offered: Professional certification programs in data science, cloud computing, and cybersecurity; project management courses; corporate training programs; and university-certified bootcamps.

Aakash Educational Services – A Legacy Coaching Company for Competitive Exams

 Image Courtesy: Aakash Educational Services Official Website

• Founded: 1988 
• Owner: Founded by J.C. Chaudhry; Manipal Education and Medical Group (majority owned by Ranjan Pai). 
• HQ: New Delhi

Aakash Educational Services was founded in 1988 by J.C. Chaudhry and provides coaching to students for medical and engineering entrance examinations, primarily through its network of physical coaching centers.

What Aakash does: Provides classroom and digital coaching for medical and engineering entrance exam preparations.

Services offered: Classroom coaching; digital test series and study materials; hybrid coaching; and foundation courses for younger students.

Extramarks Education – A Digital Learning Services Company

 Image Courtesy: Extramarks Education Official Website

• Founded: 2007 
• Owner: Atul Kulshrestha (Founder) 
• HQ: Noida, Uttar Pradesh

Extramarks was founded in 2007 by Atul Kulshrestha as a digital education services company, offering online-based content solutions to schools and students in India. Extramarks works with both schools and students, offering learning content as well as assessments.

What Extramarks does: Offers curriculum-based content and smart education solutions to schools and students.

Services offered: Curriculum-based learning modules; smart classrooms; assessments; and test-prep content for school- and competitive-level exams.

Eruditus – A Company That Brings Executive Education From Top Universities To Students

 Image Courtesy: Eruditus Official Website

• Founded: 2010 
• Owner: Co-founded by Ashwin Damera and Chaitanya Kalipatnapu 
• HQ: Mumbai, Maharashtra

Eruditus was founded in 2010 by Ashwin Damera and Chaitanya Kalipatnapu as an executive education platform, offering online programs from premier global universities. The company operates across a range of verticals, targeting both individual consumers as well as large enterprises.

What Eruditus does: Offers executive education and professional certificate programs from top universities.

Services offered: University-led executive education programs; corporate learning solutions; senior leadership programs; and technology certificate programs.

FAQs

Which is the oldest education company on this list? 

NIIT Limited, founded in 1981, is the oldest company on this list, followed by Aakash Educational Services, which was founded in 1988.

Which companies on this list focus on competitive exam preparation? 

PhysicsWallah, Unacademy, and Aakash Educational Services are primarily focused on providing education and coaching for competitive exams, such as JEE, NEET, and UPSC.

Which companies focus on professional upskilling rather than school-level education? 

upGrad, Great Learning, Simplilearn, and Eruditus focus on professional upskilling, higher education, executive education, certificates, and other similar services.

What happened to Byju’s, and why isn’t it on this list? 

Byju’s, once India’s most valuable edtech startup, filed for bankruptcy in 2024, and a number of its subsidiaries, including Aakash Educational Services and Great Learning, have since been sold by its promoters.

Who currently owns Aakash Educational Services? 

Aakash Educational Services, which was founded by J.C. Chaudhry, is currently majority-owned by Manipal Education and Medical Group, led by Runjan Pai.

Which company is best known for making test preparation affordable? 

Physics Wallah is best known for having positioned itself as an edtech company that offers affordable test-prep services compared to other similar companies in India.

Which of these companies started as a YouTube channel? 

Physics Wallah and Unacademy both started as YouTube channels before transforming themselves into education companies.

Are any of these companies focused on school curriculum content? 

Extramarks is focused on providing school curriculum-based content and solutions.

Which companies on this list partner directly with global universities? 

Eruditus and upGrad partner directly with global universities, while other companies collaborate with Indian universities.

Conclusion

India’s top education companies reflect a sector that has matured considerably — from NIIT’s decades-old foundation in IT training to newer platforms like PhysicsWallah and Unacademy that reimagined competitive exam preparation, alongside upskilling and executive education leaders like upGrad, Simplilearn, and Eruditus. 

The sector has also been shaped by real setbacks, including the well-publicised troubles at Byju’s, which pushed several strong underlying businesses like Aakash Educational Services and Great Learning toward new, more stable ownership structures.

As India’s demand for accessible, outcome-driven education continues to grow, these ten companies — each built around a distinct niche, from school tutoring to executive education — are well positioned to remain central to how the country learns, regardless of which particular year someone happens to be reading this list.