India’s Flex Class raises $2.5m for sponsored MOOC platform

India’s Flex Class has raised $2.5m in its latest fundraising round, at a $60m valuation, on top of the $500,000 it raised last year and $10m in pledges from employers across the country. The company provides professional skills-building classes such as English Speaking and Accounts Management, with students paying around $30 for the course which is then refunded by sponsoring employees. According to a Flex Class spokesman: “a student pays his fee at the beginning of the course and the sponsor who is the employer himself refunds the fee at the end of the course and immediately offers a job or a paid internship. A student can either accept or politely deny the opportunity without any liability.”

FLEX CLASS has raised a ₹16.70 crore ($2.5 million) round at a ₹402 crore ($60 million) valuation. The New Delhi-based company raised $500,000 in August 2015 and scored commitments worth $10 million from employers across India in December 2015, according to a press release. The company makes professional skills-building classes such as English Speaking, Accounts Management. Learners pay ₹2010 ($30) for the courses and are refunded by their sponsoring employees.

Ravi Mohan, President and Director of Business Development at Flex Class, said, "Our platform is very unique, a student pays his fee at the beginning of the course and the sponsor who is the employer himself refunds the fee at the end of the course and immediately offers a job or a paid internship. A student can either accept or politely deny the opportunity without any liability. In today's world it's not the degree but the skill that sells.