College Dekho, a college admissions and higher education services platform, announced that it has raised an additional $8.5 million as part of a $35 million (INR 260 Crore) Series B funding round.
The round was led by Winter Capital, ETS Strategic Capital, Calega, and existing investor Man Capital.
According to the company, it is planning to use the funds to further improve its offerings for students and colleges both within India and abroad by investing in products and technology while growing new verticals like ed-fin-tech, student accommodation, and coaching for higher education.
Founded in 2015 by Ruchir Arora and Saurabh Jain, CollegeDekho connects prospective students with colleges using its proprietary technology and conversation bot and offers services like profile building, test preparation, application assistance, university selection, and visa assistance.
CollegeDekho is on a mission to institutionalise students’ counselling in India. Its Common Application Form platform enables students to apply to multiple colleges with a single click.
Commenting on the funding, Ruchir Arora, Founder & CEO of CollegeDekho, said,
“Following the fruitful completion of Series B funding, we will be expanding our team, and platforms to serve a larger number of students and colleges. We will also increase our investment in products and technologies while fuelling our growth in our new verticals such as education loans, student accommodation, and coaching for higher ed. Even as we double down on our efforts to increase our reach in the Indian market, we will also consider expanding our presence abroad.”
CollegeDekho has recently launched zero per cent EMI-based education financing and insurance products to enable more and more students to get access to an education of their choice. The platform helps colleges by making their admissions more efficient and predictable.
Anton Farlenkov, Managing Director of Winter Capital Advisors, said,
“We are happy to welcome ADQ and QIC along with ETS Strategic Capital as our co-investor in CollegeDekho. We are convinced that partners as solid as these joining the pool of investors further strengthens the prospects of success for CollegeDekho and proves the value of investment in EdTech, which is poised to reach $10 billion in size in the next 5-10 years, from about $2.5 billion today. We see our investment in CollegeDekho as promising and well-aligned with our strategy to expand our investment portfolio via dynamic, high-quality assets.”
With the latest round of funding, the company will increase its investment in products and technology while growing new verticals like Ed-Fin-Tech, student accommodation, and coaching for higher education. It is also considering expanding its study abroad services in global markets. The startup will also use the funds raised for acquisitions and consolidation that make strategic sense.
In the near future, the Gurugram-based startup plans to build services to help students with higher education coaching as well as student accommodation services.
Earlier in September, CollegeDekho had raised $26.5 million (about Rs 200 crore) in its ongoing Series B funding round led by Winter Capital Partners, ETS Strategic Capital, and Calega. Prior to that, it had raised $8 million in May 2019 led by existing investors GirnarSoft, London-based Man Capital, and others.
