Indian edtech raises $8m to expand professional learning courses
Indian edtech firm Eruditus Executive Education has raised $8.6m in a series B funding round led by Bertelsmann India Investments. The funds will be used to extend the firm’s programme offering, as well as to connect with university partners and to expand its coverage to China, Europe and Latin America. Eruditus offers classroom, online and mixed-environment learning and has developed its programmes in collaboration with the likes of Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan and Columbia Business School.

Edtech startup Eruditus Executive Education has secured about $8.16 Mn (INR 53 Cr) in a Series B round led by Bertelsmann India Investments.

Officially launched in 2012, Bertelsmann India Investments is an early-stage as well as growth-focussed investment arm of Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA in India. Their core focus areas include digital, education, media, and services sectors.

The freshly infused funds will be used to add new programmes, university partners and to expand geographical presence to China, Latin America, and Europe.

Commenting on the development, Pankaj Makkar, Managing Director, Bertelsmann India Investments said, “Demand for high quality educational services, particularly in the business sector, is growing fast in India and Southeast Asia. Eruditus meets this demand with classroom, online and blended-learning offers, giving more people access to global business education. Its collaboration with top Ivy League universities guarantees the highest quality.”

Founded in 2010 by Chaitanya Kalipatnapu and Ashwin Damera, Mumbai-based Eruditus offers working professionals of India, Singapore, Dubai and other locations a development programmes in collaboration with INSEAD, Harvard Business School, Wharton, MIT Sloan, and Columbia Business School. Company delivers these programmes either online or through classrooms located globally.

“Our team of 100 people is based across Singapore, Dubai, India and the United States. Bertelsmann is a great partner given its global footprint, its expertise in education and its success in scaling business by working closely with the founding team,” said Chaitanya Kalipatnapu, co-founder and Director of Eruditus.

To provide online courses to mid level executive, Eruditus has also partnered with the Emeritus Institute of Management. Emeritus follows the SPOC (small, private, online courses) model to provide six to eight week online courses which cost between $30K – $40K. They have more than 20 programmes, of which the most opted programmes are on design thinking, personal leadership, and digital business offerings.

As per Chaitanya Kalipatnapu, over 5,000 students from over 50 countries have enrolled for their programmes.

According to an Inc42 report, around 125 Startups were funded between 2014 and 2016, with a total investment of $256 Mn. Startups that raised more than $10 Mn in edtech sector are, Toppr, BYJU’s, and EduPristine.

Earlier in April 2015, Bengaluru-based Simplilearn had raised $15 Mn in Series C funding led by Mayfield, with participation from Kalaari Capital and Helion Venture Partners

In March 2017, Hyderabad-based INSOFE (International School of Engineering), a professional skills training firm had raised an undisclosed amount from Kaizen Management Advisors Pvt. Ltd. Some other startups in the professional course learning space include Flipclass, iProf, Embibe, Sigrid Education, and more.