The investment comes in less than three months of Classplus’ US$2.5 million venture round
Indian app-based business-to-business edtech startup Classplus has raised US$9 million in a Series A round led by Russia-based venture capital (VC) firm RTP Global, the VC firm announced in a statement on Monday.
The round also saw participation from Classplus’ existing investors Blume Ventures, Sequoia Capital India’s Surge, Spiral Ventures, and Strive, all of whom are based in the Asia Pacific region, the statement added.
“India was among the top-10 in the world in respecting teachers, though was in the last-10 in paying them. Classplus is liquidating this imbalance by empowering tutors with full-stack mobile solutions, while maintaining and further improving the high reputation of tutors,” RTP Global Partner Kirill Kozhevnikov said in the statement, citing Varkey Foundation’s Global Teacher Status Index 2018.
One in every four students in India takes private after-school tutoring, mainly through offline formats. Classplus helps digitize this landscape by onboarding tutors onto its mobile application, where they can share video lessons, take online assessments, and process payments online.
The statement noted that Classplus’ active user base has grown four times over the last six months. Over 3000 tutoring centers (called coaching centers in India) currently use the startup’s platform, it added.
The statement also said that Classplus will be using the funds to expand its product line and enhance its technology. It is currently growing its product, tech, and business teams, as well as its strategic leadership to support its expansion plans.
“This new round of funding will enable us to serve more teachers and ensure that they have access to effective digital teaching solutions… We believe teachers are real-life superheroes and it is our duty to empower them with a new-age arsenal,” Co-Founder and CEO of Classplus Mukul Rustagi said in the statement, noting that India was the world’s largest after-school tuition market.
The funding comes within three months of Classplus’ pre-Series A, where it raised $2.5 million from Blume Ventures and Surge. The round also attracted angel investors such as Founder of Cred and Freecharge Kunal Shah, Xiaomi Indonesia General Manager Alvin Tse, and Locus Ventures Partner Eric Kwan.
Classplus also raised an earlier venture round of $1.6 million last year. The round was led by Bennet, Coleman and Co. subsidiary Times Internet, and Strive (which was then known as GREE Ventures).
While the education market in India provides vast opportunities for the mobile-first country undergoing a digital revolution, the market is also heavily populated. Several startups are using the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model to capitalize on the possibilities in online education, and the COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdown has only served to boost its appeal, leading to gains for Indian edtech startups.
In early 2020, elearning platform Unacademy raised a $110 million Series F round and subsequently acquired exam prep portal Kreatryx in early April. Similarly, BYJU’S, known as India’s first edtech unicorn, is rumored to be raising as much as $400 million at a $10 billion valuation.
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