CollegeDekho raises $26.5m in Series B funding
Published 13/09/2021
India-based college admissions and education services platform CollegeDekho has raised USD $26.5 million in Series B funding, which it will use to improve its offer, increase investment in product and technology and expand internationally.
The platform will also grow new verticals like ed-fin-tech and student accommodation, it added.
Backers include new investors Winter Capital Partners, ETS Strategic Capital -the private equity investments arm of testing provider ETS, Calega and existing investor Man Capital and Rajeev Chaba. The latest investment adds to the $8m CollegeDekho raised in May 2019.
“CollegeDekho is at an exciting phase of growth in its mission to connect students and colleges across geographies,” the company’s founder & CEO, Ruchir Arora, said.
“We believe that India’s edtech industry is poised to reach $10 billion in size in the next 5-10 years”
The “global experience and precious insights in ed-tech” of the investors will be invaluable in CollegeDekho’s growth journey, Arora continued.
“The tremendous response we are seeing from students, parents and colleges continues to energise us to build world class products and services for them.
“With this fund raise, we plan to invest in making our products and services even more lovable for our students and colleges, as well as expand into new geographies and business verticals.”
Prospective students use CollegeDekho’s proprietary technology and AI-based conversation bot to connect with colleges. The company also claims to own India’s largest Common Application Form platform, allowing students to apply to multiple colleges with one click.
Speaking on behalf of incoming private equity and venture capital investor – with total assets under management exceeding $1 billion – Winter Capital, managing director, Anton Farlenkov, said it is “excited to be making a debut in India with… one of the fastest-growing education service providers” in the country.
“India has about 52,000 colleges, of which around 66% are private educational institutions,” Farlenkov noted.
“We believe that India’s edtech industry is poised to reach $10 billion in size in the next 5-10 years, compared to the current market size of about $2.5bn. We see this investment as promising and well aligned with our strategy to expand our investment portfolio via dynamic, high-quality assets.”
CollegeDekho services include profile building, test preparation, application assistance, university selection and visa assistance. It has also recently launched 0% equated monthly instalment-based education financing and insurance products.
The company’s mission and long-term vision align with that of ETS, managing director of ETS Strategic Capital, Ralph Taylor-Smith, explained.
“We’re pleased to further expand the ETS portfolio with this investment in service of the organisation and focus on making equitable education available to all learners at all stages, globally.”
Returning investor Man Capital said it “continues to believe and support the company’s vision”.
“We are seeing a rise in integrated solutions for college students across the globe”
“CollegeDekho is at the forefront of a rapidly expanding and growing edtech market in India,” Man Capital chairman, Mohamed Mansour, said.
“In addition to the exponential growth in college admission and wider India edtech market, we are also seeing a rise in integrated solutions for college students across the globe. We believe that CollegeDekho is very well positioned to expand its services and reach to become a leading global player over the coming years.”
IBIS Capital and Cilix Capital advised on the Series B funding round.
The announcement comes after a raft of investment in student recruitment and edtech platforms.
Recently, ApplyBoard raised $300m in Series D funding, Leap raised $55m in Series C funding, Cialfo $15m in Series A. Earlier in 2021, Adventus.io raised $8.5m and LeverageEdu also raised $6.5m.
Scandinavia-based student search platform’s Keystone Academic Solutions and Educations Media Group announced a merger in June to form a ‘mega student search business’.
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