Exam-prep app Gradeup raises $7 million from Times Internet
Gradeup, an ed-tech start-up that provides online test preparation courses for various competitive entrance and government exams, has raised $7 million in Series A round of funding from Times Internet. It is the second round of investment for the Noida-based company, which was started in 2015. Here are more details.
Founded by Sanjeev Kumar, Shobhit Bhatnagar, and Vibhu Bhushan, Gradeup hopes to make exam preparations accessible and affordable for students in India. The company offers online test preparation services for competitive exams like JEE, IBPS, UPSC, et al and claims to have helped over 15 million aspirants through its website and app. Notably, it also offers 24x7 mentorship, quizzes, and live-classes to aspiring students.
"Gradeup has been able to build the largest online student communities in India, and we are excited to be partners in their mission to improve education in India," said Gautam Sinha, CEO of Times Internet, while speaking about the conglomerate's latest investment.
Reportedly, Gradeup will deploy the funds to bring more tech to its platform and to diversify its product portfolio, Bhatnagar, who is also the company's CEO, stated. "We are investing fresh funds to further build our live online coaching platform, scale our academic team to 100 faculties and 200 subject matter experts, and to expand further in Tier II, III, and IV towns."
Prior to this round, Gradeup had raised an undisclosed amount from Times Internet. And with the latest investment, its total funding amount is estimated somewhere around $10 million. Going by the traction the company's platform has received so far, it expects to enroll over 60,000 aspirants by the end of FY 2020 and cross 150,000 enrolments by the end of FY 2021.
