Edtech Startup Classplus Raises $65 Mn In Series C Round From Tiger Global Coaching centres use Classplus to streamline communication, launch cohort-based live courses, and manage student communities via the platform. It also helps them deliver live lessons, automate daily tasks, run student engagement programmes and with building and marketing online courses
By Prabhjeet Bhatla •
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E-commerce enablement platform Classplus for coaching centers, solo tutors and online content creators, on Thursday, announced to have raised $65 million in a Series C round led by Tiger Global. GSV Ventures, edtech-focused fund, along with existing investors Alpha Wave Incubation (AWI), which is backed by DisruptAD and managed by Falcon Edge, Blume Ventures and RTP Global also participated in the round.
Founded by Mukul Rustagi and Bhaswat Agarwal in 2018, the new round of financing is a testimony of Classplus' undisputed market leadership and strong growth trajectory. This is the fourth round of funding raised by the company in the last 15 months. Sequoia Capital's Surge and Times Internet are also the early backers of Classplus.
"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. We feel fortunate to partner with marquee investors who believe in serving the global edtech market from an educator-first angle. With this growth financing, we aim to build the best-in-class products for educators, build great engineering teams, and grow geographically. We are hiring aggressively across engineering, product, and business roles," commented Mukul Rustagi, chief executive officer and co-founder, Classplus.
Educators use Classplus to streamline all 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 programs along with building and marketing their online courses. All this enables educators to invest more time in creating high-quality content and build 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 tenfold 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," added Deborah Quazzo, managing partner, GSV Ventures.
Thousands of academic and non-academic content creators ranging from Maths to Astronomy to Science to Photography have used Classplus to serve over 20 million students and provide them with a new-age digital learning experience. A typical educator is able to grow its student base from 100 to 1200 students within 8-10 months of using Classplus. The platform has seen massive success stories of educators generating fivefold of their usual incomes within a year of starting up.
The overall profitability of educators also increases by threefold within 6 months of getting onto the platform. With over 80 per cent of the user base coming from tier-II India and beyond, the platform has been nothing short of a lifeline for educators throughout the pandemic. BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has also invested in the company and also serves as the brand ambassador for them, the company shared.
