Mumbai-based education technology startup Toppr said Wednesday it has raised INR 350 crore (USD 46.8 million) in its Series D round of funding led by Dubai-based strategic investment firm Foundation Holdings. Indian PE fund, Kaizen Private Equity, that only backs ed-tech companies, also participated in this round.
The latest funding would be used to develop an AI-based platform—Toppr School Operating System—for educational institutes that would integrate in-school and after-school learning, which would be a personalized experience for each student. It said 55,000 students have already signed up for the new platform.
According to Crunchbase, the company has raised a total of USD 112 million till date from an array of investors including SAIF Partners, Eight Roads Ventures, Helion Venture Partners, and venture debt fund Alteria Capital, among others.
Co-founded by Zishan Hayath and Hemant Goteti, Seven-year-old Toppr operates in the K-12 space. The company provides pre-recorded lessons in 17 subjects in addition to live sessions.
The company works on a freemium model allowing students to access courses for free on Toppr Learning app, but full access such as live practice and doubt solving requires a membership. Additionally, it recently launched a course on coding for school students. Additionally, it recently launched a course on coding for school students.
“We now have the capability and reach to truly revolutionize the K-12 education experience and ensure that no learner is left behind. We are also excited about the launch of the School OS and believe this will be a ground-breaking initiative empowering teachers and schools across the industry,” Hayath, co-founder of Toppr, said in a statement.
Toppr claims 13 million students on the platform who take daily online classes from a million sessions on different topics.
With this round of investment Toppr joins the likes of Byju’s, Unacademy, and Vedantu, among others that raised money this year due to sudden jump in new user enrollments as schools and tuition centers remained shut during the lockdown.
According to a Venture Intelligence report, the first half of 2020 saw a total investment of USD 795 million in edtech startups compared to USD 108 million in the same period last year. While the y-o-y 636% rise in funding is impressive, the investment saw a few big global investors participate in the round which gives validation to the sector that picked up slowly. Big names such as Facebook, General Atlantic, Tiger Global, GGV Capital, Bond Capital, and Coatue Management wrote checks to Indian online education companies. This is Facebook, Bond Capital, and Coatue Management’s first investment in an Indian edtech company.
