How brands can take a page from the booming EdTech scene in Pakistan to elevate consumer experiences.
Imagine a scene from a household where a 9th-grade student revises her physics lesson on a phone at the dining table. While her older brother watches a short course on YouTube to prep for a sales role. Their mother, a schoolteacher, swaps lesson plans with her colleagues on WhatsApp and is about to upload course material on Google Classroom. This is not unusual anymore. It is now the way people approach learning and education.
Education has slipped out of fixed timetables and made its way into pockets. It has spread out across various times of the day, on screens and phones. While this may sound like the only benefactors are the educators (or educative content creators) themselves.
Others also have the potential to benefit from this shift in behaviour. The way I see it, it is opening a real, near-term opportunity for non-academic businesses. One that can help people learn better, faster and on a large scale – all while integrating their brand in various ways.
Education in today’s day and age is unbundling. Content and delivery are being reassembled across apps, telecom bundles, creator channels and corporate platforms. If you run a brand, an agency or a start-up, you are suddenly much closer to education than you think.
Ed-Tech is booming
The demand for Ed-Tech is reflected in the way the industry is growing. Pakistan’s online education market was valued at USD 327.79 million in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 2.34 billion by 2033, a rapid trajectory at 24.43% CAGR. Such growth suggests two things: learners are comfortable on screens, and investors believe the habit will stick.
This surge is most likely driven by three practical factors: more affordable smartphones, wider mobile internet, and a preference for flexible, skill-focused study that fits real life. Pakistan’s telecom infrastructure and its upgradation to 4G and FTTH have widened access, while asynchronous lessons and test-prep libraries make studying possible for people who are juggling work and studies.
This is not just about classrooms or exams. Pakistan’s EdTech market stretches far wider; it serves schools and universities, but also companies and even government departments. Some providers focus on creating content, others on delivering services, and the tools range from mobile apps and virtual classrooms to full-scale learning platforms. In simple terms, EdTech has many doors: from digital curriculum and skills training to teacher support, corporate upskilling, and beyond.
Platforms like Taleemabad demonstrate an example of one of the possibilities: using Urdu and regional-language content delivered through mobile-first, interactive lessons to reach students. Backed by venture funding and partnerships with schools and government programmes, it proves that demand exists well beyond elite classrooms. When you combine such models with rising investor interest and digital-skills initiatives. Pakistan’s EdTech market becomes both rich in demand and partnership-friendly.
The Opportunity for Brands
Businesses do not need to be spectators to the EdTech wave. The way people are learning has changed, and that opens up multiple touchpoints where brands can insert themselves as enablers of knowledge.
Take Jazz, which launched Jazz Parho during the pandemic, an Android app bundled with affordable data aimed at helping students continue learning during lockdowns. A smart integration of network access and educational support.
Similarly, DigiSkills.pk, backed by the government through Ignite and Virtual University, has empowered over a million Pakistanis with freelancing and digital marketing skills via a fully online model. However, these are examples of developing whole new platforms. There are instances where brands engaged in partnerships to reinforce education and learning.
A historic collaboration between MIT’s Media Lab and Lego Education turned academic research into hands-on learning tools back in 1998. The partnership produced Lego Mindstorms, these interactive kits that make programming and robotics accessible to children by blending play with problem-solving.
In another instance, Duolingo partnered with Uber last year to provide drivers access to its language certification programme, equipping drivers with better communication skills and, in turn, enhancing the rider experience in non-English speaking markets.
Corporate learning is another door, as companies scramble to upskill their workforce, branded academies or white-labelled LMS platforms are becoming viable investments. Imagine a retail chain offering its employees a mobile-first learning app with modules not only on operations, but also on soft skills and career growth. That is EdTech, just under a corporate banner. Several brands in Pakistan and globally have built their own learning platforms for functions ranging from employee onboarding to regulatory training.
The underlying opportunity is this: when learning becomes fluid and accessible, it becomes brandable. Businesses that help people learn something valuable, whether it is a new skill, a health habit, or a life hack, can move from being sellers to being partners in growth.
Integrating with Existing Systems
Not every brand needs to reinvent the game – sometimes the smarter play is to plug into what already exists. This could be a brand developing a specialised module that becomes part of an accredited certification or a university’s degree programme.
The institution gains fresh, industry-relevant content; the course itself gains credibility; and the brand secures a place in the learning journey of students long before they join the workforce.
This is more than product placement – it is thought leadership in action. A financial services company, for instance, could co-create a module on digital banking as part of a business degree. A health brand might collaborate with medical schools to design short courses within the degree programme.
Students receive practical knowledge tied directly to industry needs, while institutions keep curricula current. At the same time, it is an early seat at the table for the brand. Establishing trust, visibility, and authority in the minds of future professionals.
Beyond sales, towards impact
Brands today have the chance to influence how people actually learn, not just how they consume. This goes far beyond sponsoring a campaign or ticking the CSR box. The real opportunity lies in deeper integration, co-developing modules with universities, embedding expertise into existing EdTech platforms, or creating skills programmes that continue to deliver value long after a marketing cycle ends.
The payoff is twofold. On one hand, brands gain visibility and trust by showing up in the moments that truly matter. When someone is learning to earn, to grow, or to change their future. On the other hand, they help strengthen an ecosystem that desperately needs more hands on deck to scale quality education. That balance of business benefit and social impact is rare – but EdTech offers it in abundance.
The question for businesses now is not whether to get involved. It is how quickly they can find their entry point into Pakistan’s learning revolution.
