Edtech platform for tutors, Classplus, has raised $65 million as a part of its Series C round led by US investment firm, Tiger Global Management.
GSV Ventures, along with existing investors Alpha Wave Incubation (AWI), Blume Ventures, and RTP Global also participated as a part of this round.
The total valuation of the startup now stands at $250 million, according to an individual aware of the discussion.
The Series C round is the fourth institutional funding round in the past 15 months alone for the Noida-based startup, which has raised funds from Sequoia Capital’s Surge and Times Internet in the past.
“We are on a mission to ensure that every educator can go online and connect with their students across the world. The power of educators has historically been confined to their local neighbourhoods. With Classplus, educators have been able to build and expand their online presence and monetize their content without any major investment and effort,” said Mukul Rustagi, chief executive and co-founder, Classplus.
Educators use the startup, which was founded by Rustagi and Bhaswat Agarwal in 2018, to streamline their communication, launch cohort-based live courses, and manage student communities via the platform. The Shopify-like solution also helps them deliver their live lessons, automate their daily tasks, run student engagement programmes along with building and marketing their online courses. This helps educators to invest more time in creating high-quality content and building an enduring business for themselves.
“When lockdowns struck India, Classplus emerged as the critical infrastructure software for the $30 billion offline tutoring industry. With the platform growing nearly 10x in the last 12 months, GSV views it as a ‘Weapon of Mass Instruction’. Co-founders Mukul and Bhaswat are empowering tutors in India to go online, enabling them to build bigger and stronger businesses while also expanding access to localized education,” said Deborah Quazzo, managing partner, GSV Ventures.
GSV Ventures recently backed Mumbai-based edtech LEAD School, which marked its first Indian investment in the sector.
Classplus claims that educators have used its platform to serve more than 20 million students and provide them with a new-age digital learning experience. The startup has digitized more than 100,000 tutors across 1,500 cities so far. Board of Control for Cricket in India president Sourav Ganguly also has invested in the company and serves as the brand ambassador for it.
