Yoga Ed. is raising a Crowd SAFE at a $6 million valuation with 20% discount. This price is appropriate, given Yoga Ed.’s depth of proprietary content and the discount offered. However, the price isn’t exactly a bargain at the company’s last-recorded annual revenue of roughly $400,000. Therefore, Yoga Ed.’s price rating is moderate.

In 2019, there were approximately 35,000 yoga studios in the U.S. — up 5% over the previous five years. The Yoga in America Survey estimated that Americans spend $16.8 billion dollars on yoga classes and related products each year, up more than $6 billion since 2012. 

Of course, the vast majority of that market is focused on yoga for adults. Yoga for children is increasing in popularity, though. In 2017, 8% of children practiced yoga, up from 3% in 2012. There are roughly 75 million children in the U.S., so we can estimate that approximately 6 million children have practiced or are currently practicing yoga. 

This is a small market size for Yoga Ed. to attack, especially because the company is not targeting children’s parents directly. The company seems to be more focused on offering classes for teachers and counselors. Therefore, Yoga Ed.’s market rating is very low. 

Yoga Ed. was originally founded in 1999 by Tara Gruber, a yoga instructor who conducted live, in-person yoga classes for children. Brynne Caleda was a yoga instructor in Yoga Ed.’s early days and ultimately purchased the company in 2013 to begin a pivot to digital instruction. 

These days, Caleda is Yoga Ed.’s CEO. Caleda has founded three companies and boasts over 15 years of experience in yoga and education. She previously ran a children’s yoga non-profit in Hawaii. Caleda holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Michigan State University and a Masters of Education from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. 

Julia Bond is Yoga Ed.’s Chief Revenue Officer. Bond holds a B.S. in Human Biology from Brown University. After graduation, she joined Caleda’s childrens’ yoga non-profit as a Program Director and followed Caleda to Yoga Ed. in 2013. 

Caleda and Bond are deeply experienced in yoga instruction and education. They also leverage long-term entrepreneurial experience and a relationship as previous collaborators in an entrepreneurial setting. Therefore, Yoga Ed.’s team score is its highest. 

Yoga Ed.’s trainings and courses are rooted in years of experience teaching yoga to children and adhere to strict educational best practices. The company’s curriculum has been credentialed by the strict New York City Department of Education. Additionally, the programs’ efficacy in improving physical and mental health has been proven by academic studies. 

The depth and effectiveness of Yoga Ed.’s programming is its chief differentiator. The company’s educational credentials make it a market leader among yoga curriculum vendors for schools. However, that is a small market. Among a larger target audience — parents looking to teach yoga to their children and teachers incorporating yoga into their curriculum without resources from schools or districts — Yoga Ed. faces stiff competition from free resources on YouTube or internet blogs. 

It’s undeniable that Yoga Ed.’s programming is significantly more educationally robust than that found in free online forums. However, many buyers may not find those credentials important enough to pay money for. Thus, Yoga Ed.’s differentiation score is relatively low.

Yoga Ed. generated $418,468 in revenue in 2019 and posted a net loss of roughly $23,000. Revenue growth has been steady over the last several years, with 15% growth and 17% growth for 2017 and 2018 respectively. In 2020, though, Yoga Ed. has really taken off.

The company is on track to grow revenue by more than 100% for this year, given online yoga classes’ spike in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yoga Ed. has already generated $623,000 in revenue as of August 2020 and projects hitting $965,000 by the end of the year. 

Yoga Ed.’s revenue growth is strong, and the company is nearing profitability. Therefore, Yoga Ed.’s performance rating is strong.

Yoga Ed. has carved out a successful stream of revenue providing yoga content to schools and other educational facilities looking to teach yoga to children. However, it’s not clear that Yoga Ed. will be able to dramatically expand revenue within this narrow market segment. For parents and teachers casually looking to introduce yoga to their children or students, Yoga Ed.’s offerings may not be able to compete with the wealth of free information available on YouTube and blogs. 

While Yoga Ed.’s substantial revenue growth this year does signal potential, bearish investors might wonder whether this growth was due solely to the unique needs of the COVID-19 pandemic — and whether demand for Yoga Ed.’s offerings will decline once the world returns to normal. Yoga Ed. was uniquely suited to meet the needs of a high-stress, virtual learning environment. However, if parents and teachers stop relying heavily on virtual yoga classes in years to come, Yoga Ed. might be left with smaller revenues from B2B partnerships.

Online education is exploding, and so is parents’ and teachers’ interest in promoting wellness among children. While it’s easy to find yoga resources — including for children — for free on the internet, Yoga Ed.’s offerings are distinctly more thoughtful and educationally robust than your average blog post about kids’ yoga. 

While we are all eager to leave many of the necessities of the COVID-19 era behind, many societal shifts may well persist even after the pandemic subsides. Parents and teachers who have introduced yoga in their homes and classrooms might continue to practice for years to come. The number of children who practice yoga may increase as its positive benefits become more widely known. Yoga Ed. is well-positioned to capitalize on this newfound interest in yoga and a newfound appreciation for online classes, potentially becoming the leader in kids’ yoga. 

Yoga Ed. produces high-quality, well-credentialed training materials that help parents and teachers introduce children to yoga. The company has grown steadily year-over-year, with a particular spike in revenue thanks to COVID-19. Yoga Ed.’s executives are deeply experienced in yoga and education. The company may be poised to expand Yoga Ed.’s brand to become a household name in kids’ yoga. 

On the other hand, Yoga Ed. serves a market that is currently quite small and competes against a tremendous amount of free resources on YouTube and blogs. The company may have more promise as a B2B vendor selling yoga curriculums to schools and educational centers, limiting its long-term revenue potential. Therefore, Yoga Ed. has been rated a Neutral Deal. 

For questions regarding the KingsCrowd staff pick or ratings for this company, please reach out to [email protected]. 

Analysis written by Katy Dolan.