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Edtech startup Sunstone has secured around Rs 280 crore in a Series C funding round. The company will use the money to expand into new programmes, with a particular emphasis on undergraduate technology programmes. Sunstone, a higher education startup located in Gurugram, announced on Friday that it has secured $35 million (about Rs 280 crore) in Series C investment led by WestBridge Capital. Sunstone was established in 2019 by Ashish Munjal and Piyush Nangru. It had secured $28 million by October 2021. The firm stated that it will utilise the current capital to grow into additional programmes, with a particular emphasis on undergraduate technology programmes. Munjal, co-founder and CEO, stated, "The Indian higher education sector is about to undergo a long-awaited revolution. Sunstone is in an excellent position to facilitate this transition and influence the lives of millions of kids." Alteria Capital also participated in the most recent fundraising ro...

IT company Info Edge has infused a sum of  Rs 300 crore in Startup Investments. Info Edge is the owner of educational website, Shiksha.com, and other portals. In a regulatory filing on Saturday, Info Edge, has disclosed that it has put Rs 300 crore in its subsidiary Startup Investments. Info Edge owns, an educational website, Shiksha.com , an online employment portal, Naukri.com, a marriage website, Jeevansathi.com, a real estate classifieds platform, 99Acres.com, and a workplace discovery platform, AmbitionBox.com. The corporation owns 100% of Startup Investments (Holding) Ltd (SIHL), a holding and investing organisation. Info Edge said in the filing, "The present investment would aid SIHL in investigating investment opportunities, including participation in AIF(s) handled by Smartweb Internet Services." According to the filing, "The firm has committed to purchase 3 crores of -0.0001 percent Compulsorily Convertible Debentures (CCDs) with a face v...

English learning platform OckyPocky has secured funding that the startup will use to enhance platform distribution, and and include new local languages. English learning platform for kids OckyPockyhas raised funding from Silicon Valley-based Goodwater Capital and Naval Ravikant-backed Quant Fund. This is an extension to the funding the startup had announced in September 2021 fromUdaanco-founder Sujeet Kumar and Hyderabad-headquartered SucSEED Innovation Fund. The startup will use the funds to grow its platform distribution and add more vernacular languages to its platform. Currently, OckyPocky helps students learn English through Hindi and Marathi. It looks to add Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi, Malayalam, and Kannada to its platform. Amit Agrawal, founder OckyPocky , said, “The present funding opens us up to the funds in Silicon Valley and gives us a newer perspective through a new channel of investors. English is the biggest gatekeeper for admissions and jobs for the middle cl...

A boy from Navi Mumbai has cleared the SSC exams at the age of 12. Sahejpreet Singh is now looking to get into BTech from IIT. At the age of 12, Sahejpreet Singh is likely the state's youngest candidate to complete the SSC examinations. He received a 62 percent grade at KPC School in Kharghar. In most cases, a student must be 14 years old to sit for the SSC examinations as a regular or private student. Mumbai divisional board secretary S R Borase said, "Though I have not heard of this student, he may have received special permission from the education department to sit for the examinations." The school supervisor, who did not want to be identified, acknowledged that the youngster had completed SSC at the age of 12. The principal was not available for remark. The tech-savvy boy who wants to pursue the pilot course stated., "I'm going to enter the scientific stream and then attempt to go into BTech from IIT in information technology." Sa...

Even for children who were just starting school, the Covid-19 epidemic introduced the idea of online lessons to the world. A comparable idea to the greatest virtual class section is 21k school. Future and a solid start to the educational journey are every parent's top priorities. During the Covid era, people were more upset about schools being closed for an extended period of time. Meanwhile, even for students who were just starting out in school, the idea of online education became popular. A comparable idea to the greatest virtual class section is the 21k school, which is why we are present today. So, as said, the idea originated in contemporary times, or the year 2020, in the state and culture that values education and technology the most, namely Bangalore, Karnataka. Mr. Santosh Kumar, Joshi Kumar, Dinesh Kumar, and Yeshwanth Raj Parasmal created 21k School. Online colleges that have been recognised and approved include 21K School . The 21K School is a satell...

UpGrad, an edtech company, has merged with Harappa Education. UpGrad is one of the world's few complete life-long learning technology companies. UpGrad, an integrated higher EdTech provider located in India, has announced a $38 million merger with Harappa Education to establish enterprise learning leadership in India. According to UpGrad, Harappa Education will earn roughly $10 million this year. This transaction was completed by UpGrad in collaboration with current Harappa Education shareholders, Bodhi Tree Systems, a newly built platform between James Murdoch and Uday Shankar, and Co Founders Pramath Raj Sinha and Shreyasi Singh. The online learning institution situated in New Delhi offers self-paced courses to address the growing issue of low employability, poor leadership, and an under-equipped workforce. Harappa Education today serves 100 mid-large businesses.  UpGrad, created in 2015, is a pioneer in the online education revolution, devoted to inspiring pr...

OrangeSlates, founded in 2020, trains educators in a variety of pedagogies, instructional methodologies, and technological technologies. It has so far trained over 30,000 instructors. They say that a good education can transform anyone. A excellent teacher, on the other hand, has the power to change everything! Recognizing this maxim, Pradeep Pillai, Sindu Aven, Vishal Singh Khutel, and Vrushali Sheth founded Mumbai-based OrangeSlates in 2020 to improve educational quality. OrangeSlates strives to prepare educators for the future by bringing together teachers from around the world in a community where they may learn various skills, pedagogies, and tactics to maximize learning outcomes. "There was a time when edtech felt that great education was achievable without the teacher," says Pradeep Pillai, Co-Founder and CEO of OrangeSlates. "We realized that this was not a long-term solution to the education challenge. Attempting to centralize curriculum design an...

Creative Galileo has secured $7.5 million in a Series A round of funding. The edtech startup will use the money to scale up and fast-track hiring across the teams in several geographies. Creative Galileo, early learning ed-tech startup, announced on Thursday that it has secured $7.5 million in a Series A funding round. Kalaari Capital, Affirma Capital, East Ventures, Valiant Employee Investment Fund, and angel investors led the investment round. The ed-tech startup has so far secured $10 million, including a $2.5 million pre-series A investment in October of last year. The cash will be used by Creative Galileo to scale up and speed recruiting across teams in several countries. It will also add regional languages and boost the platform's research and development. "In the previous year, we have effectively developed and offered access to high-quality material to millions of youngsters as part of our Digital and Educational Equality objective. We aim to enable...

Ronnie Screwvala-led edtech startup upGrad has initiated a merger and mergers and acquisition strategy.  The company has acquired a recruitment firm Wolves India. In order to acquire diverse businesses in countries like the US and Southeast Asia, upGrad has started an M&A (mergers and acquisitions) strategy. In line with this plan, recruiting and staffing company Wolves India was purchased by upGrad Rekrut, a wholly owned subsidiary of upGrad, for an undisclosed sum. It specializes in assisting in the hiring of IT professionals. According to the sources, upGrad is taking these actions at a time when its valuation has nearly doubled to $2.25 billion after the company secured $225 million in new funding from investors including James Murdoch's Lupa Systems and the family offices of Lakshmi Mittal of ArcelorMittal and Sunil Bharti Mittal of Bharti Airtel. According to Mayank Kumar, co-founder and managing director of upGrad, "geographical expansion is undoubted...

Noida-based PrepInsta assists students with complete placement preparation, skill development, and learning to code for interviews. PrepInsta Prime, like Netflix for entertainment, provides students with ongoing learning and upskilling." Former Google employee Atulya Kaushik discovered a wide gap between academics and industry in India while working at Instamojo in 2016. He believed that learning digital skills was essential for students to be able to obtain relevant employment, so he began creating a blog about job placement preparation. His blog had 100 lakh views per month in roughly a year. Atulya received a job offer from Flipkart, but he declined to pursue his entrepreneurial dreams. He founded PrepInsta in 2017 with his VIT Vellore classmates Aashay Mishra and Manish Agarwal to make the whole placement process simple, accessible, and inclusive for everybody. According to the creators, the primary goal of the firm is to address the current imbalance in...

Manan Khurma, the founder of Cuemath, has always loved mathematics. Find out how he built the edtech startup due to his love for maths. Edtech startup Cuemath's Founder & CEO, Manan Khurma , became fond of mathematics when he was just a child. But, unlike many others, he did not abandon the topic; instead, he became even more committed as he grew older. Manan attributes this to his solid academic basics. Manan explains, "My mathematical background was quite solid. It was partly in my own self-interest. And partially because my parents were university professors and I had access to fantastic books." Manan began tutoring high school pupils in math while in college, and by 2006, his third year, he was assisting students with IIT entrance exam preparation. He soon realized that their early learning experiences influenced how well they comprehended the material as it progressed. By 2007, Manan and Niraj Singh (now the Founder and CEO of Spinny) had aband...

Saarthi Pedagogy, an edtech firm founded in 2018, focuses on mid-sized schools and provides SaaS-based tools for students and teachers.It now works with 1,100 schools in India. Sushil Agrawal, an educationist, recognized a gap in India's education system between the marks earned and the information gained. According to Sushil, "A score of 80% does not always imply a score of 80% education. There is a significant disparity between grades and knowledge, particularly at schools in Tier II and Tier III cities where resources are few." This prompted him to establish Saarthi Pedagogy in 2018. The B2B edtech firm provides tools that integrate school curriculum, technology, teacher training, and pedagogy into a single platform. The Ahmedabad-based firm began by collaborating with five schools in Gujarat and has now expanded to 1,100 schools throughout India for its SaaS (software-as-a-service) solution. "Technology enables the detection of the smalles...

Campus Fund, which was founded in July 2020, engages students as investors who search, assess, and participate in decision-making about investments in student-led enterprises. An investor in student-led startups, Campus Fund has secured $10 million (about Rs 75 crore) from significant institutions, family offices, and general partners of renowned funds for its second fund. The round had the participation of Omidyar Network India, IIFL Wealth, Jaimin Bhatt (CFO, Kotak Mahindra BankNSE 0.36 percent), Bharat Shah (former chairman of HDFCNSE -0.26 percent Securities), Kanwajit Singh (founder, Fireside Ventures), and Shivkumar Janardhanan (former CEO, Essilor India). Campus Fun, which will be launched in July 2020, engages students as investors who search, assess, and participate in decision-making about investments in student-led enterprises. Campus Fund will continue to invest at the pre-seed stage with its second fund. Tanglin Venture Partners, Chiratae Ventures, a...

Campus Fund, which was founded in July 2020, engages students as investors who search, assess, and participate in decision-making about investments in student-led enterprises. An investor in student-led startups, Campus Fund has secured $10 million (about Rs 75 crore) from significant institutions, family offices, and general partners of renowned funds for its second fund. The round had the participation of Omidyar Network India, IIFL Wealth, Jaimin Bhatt (CFO, Kotak Mahindra BankNSE 0.36 percent), Bharat Shah (former chairman of HDFCNSE -0.26 percent Securities), Kanwajit Singh (founder, Fireside Ventures), and Shivkumar Janardhanan (former CEO, Essilor India). Campus Fun, which will be launched in July 2020, engages students as investors who search, assess, and participate in decision-making about investments in student-led enterprises. Campus Fund will continue to invest at the pre-seed stage with its second fund. Tanglin Venture Partners, Chiratae Ventures, a...

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia-based edtech startup AlGooru has secured $1.8 million in a seed funding round. The company will use the money by expanding its offerings as well as growing further in Saudi Arabia. AlGooru , a Saudi edtech business, secured $1.8 million in initial investment from Saudi venture capital companies RAZ Group, RZM Investments, 100 Ventures, and RAY Investments. The firm offers a learning platform that allows students to effortlessly connect with a pool of private teachers. Founding member and head of product, Omer Awad, stated, "Our staff is rapidly expanding, and we understand what the market wants and how we can profit from it owing to the wealth of data we've accumulated." The firm, which was founded in 2021, intends to use the money to broaden its offers and expand further in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. https://timesapplaud.com/?p=13614&feed_id=20486

Skill-Lync, an edtech firm founded in 2018 by Suryanarayanan Paneerselvam and Sarangarajan V Iyengar, assists engineering students in upskilling in accordance with industry demands. Engineering is the fourth most popular undergraduate major in India. There is, however, a mismatch between the curriculum taught at universities and the capabilities required in the workplace. According to an Aspiring Minds poll, while the country generates roughly 15 lakh engineers each year, 80 percent of them lack the requisite skills and are unemployed. Suryanarayanan Paneerselvam (Surya) and Sarangarajan V Iyengar experienced this firsthand when they traveled to study in the United States and had to refocus their learning. In 2018, they founded Chennai-based engineering edtech firm Skill-Lync, which is registered as EpowerX Learning Technologies. It uses technology to provide students with the technical skills they need to thrive in their chosen vocations. Surya realized that wit...

Ganjam Collector Vijay Kulange, known for his people-centric initiatives, defied the obstacles to crack UPSC, become an IAS officer, and fulfill his passion of serving the common man. Stories about people overcoming misfortune strike a chord deep within us. Parts of us hope that our future is determined by our efforts rather than fate. Vijay Kulange, an IAS officer, has an extraordinary narrative of persistence and inspiration. Vijay was up in the small village of Ralegan in Maharashtra's Ahmadnagar district, the son of a tailor and a farm labourer. His parents were continuously concerned about supplying their children with two square meals a day, although earning just approximately Rs 200 per day. Money was constantly scarce, and even the most basic requirements were unthinkable. The one thing Vijay had ever had in excess as a youngster was a burning desire to alleviate his parents' concerns and make them proud. And he did precisely that his entire life....

Leap has secured $75 million in a new funding round. The study-abroad startup raised the funds from Owl Ventures, and others. Leap, a startup that helps students study abroad, has secured $75 million in a round headed by Owl Ventures, with participation from new investors Steadview Capital and Paramark Ventures, as well as current backers Jungle Ventures and Sequoia Capital India. Leap has raised about $150 million in equity funding to far, including the most recent round. The San Francisco and Bengaluru-based business intends to use the capital to grow internationally, such as by releasing goods in Bangladesh and other Southeast Asian countries. In addition, the firm intends to aggressively invest in creative solutions within its present products. Earlier this year, the firm expanded into the Middle East to assist students there with their study abroad plans. Leap is a full-stack international student mobility platform founded in 2019 by IIT-Kharagpur alumni Vaibhav Si...

Ronnie Screwvala’s upGrad secured $225 Mn in a new funding round. With this, the edtech startup's total valuation has soared to $2.25 billion. Ronnie Screwvala's upGrad has secured $225 million in a new round of investment from James Murdoch's Lupa Systems LLC and Educational Testing Service (ETS), a US-based testing and assessment organization that creates standardised examinations such as the TOEFL and Graduate Record Examination (GRE). The round was attended by existing investors such as Temasek Holdings and the family offices of billionaires Lakshmi Mittal (of ArcelorMittal SA) and Sunil Bharti Mittal (of Bharti Airtel). The financing cycle has not yet come to a finish. In the same round, upGrad hopes to raise another $100 million at a higher value. Ronnie Screwvala , Phalgun Kompalli, Mayank Kumar, and Ravijot Chugh founded upGrad in 2015. The aim was to provide higher education courses in conjunction with other universities. After raising $185 milli...

Athena Education, founded by two Princeton graduates, offers individualized mentoring programs to Class 7-12 students in order to ease entrance to colleges overseas. In the previous two years, Athena students have reported an admission rate of more over 95 percent. Poshak Agarwal and Rahul Subramaniam, Princeton grads and friends, returned to India in 2013 after traveling the world and found themselves tutoring the children of friends and acquaintances to make rent and pay expenses. Rahul says, "You're missing out on a massive opportunity because no one is looking into mentorship in a professional, process-driven, tailored way." Poshak and Rahul founded Athena Education in 2013 to assist students in applying to universities overseas, with a particular emphasis on Ivy League schools. They started with "meagre savings" from a room in their Delhi home. Rahul says, "We realized that there are many students in India who want expert assistance ...