Eruditus, an online executive EdTech company that offers professional education courses through collaboration with leading universities, has raised $650 million as a part of its latest Series E funding round led by Softbank Vision Fund II and Accel.
The fresh financing round, which includes both primary and secondary transactions, values the Indian startup at $3.2 billion, becoming the fourth Indian EdTech startup to join the unicorn club. The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board also participated in the new round.
The funds raised will be used to develop new courses in conjunction with university partners, create new products and industry verticals, expand the company’s business serving governments and enterprises, double down on new geographical markets, and fund acquisitions.
Founded in 2010 by Chaitanya Kalipatnapu and Ashwini Ashwin Damera, Eruditus is a global leader in the $280 billion global professional education market. Using technology and curriculum innovation, the company enables working professionals who cannot enroll in full-time courses to access a top-tier, affordable education that will give them the skills needed to be the business leaders of tomorrow. Eruditus group’s global team includes more than 1,400 employees and has offices in Mumbai, New Delhi, Shanghai, Singapore, Palo Alto, Mexico City, Boston, New York, London, and Dubai.
The executive education firm claims to witness more than 50,000 student enrolments over the last 12 months.
Speaking about the fundraise, Co-founder and CEO of Eruditus, Ashwin Damera, said,
“Eruditus’ mission is to make high-quality education accessible and affordable to learners across the world. With this fundraise, we’re excited to scale our unique business model, continue to deliver strong learning outcomes, and grow our global impact at a rapid rate.”
Eruditus along with its partnered universities work to develop courses that are aimed at offering higher education to students. Its courses cost anything between $5,000 to $40,000. The company has partnered with more than 30 universities to date, including MIT, Columbia, Harvard, Cambridge, INSEAD, Wharton, UC Berkeley, INCAE, IIT, IIM, NUS, and HKUST.
Sumer Juneja, Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, said in a statement,
“With the rapid rate of technological disruption, continuous upskilling is necessary for today’s job market. The company’s partnerships with elite universities, and use of technology and data to create and deliver high-quality courses positions Eruditus to lead in this space.”
Eruditus pioneered Small Private Online Courses (SPOCs), creating industry-driven certification programs, professional certificates, and workforce leadership development initiatives in collaboration with its university partners around the world.
The company’s programs are defined by personal engagement between faculty and students, course customization, mentoring and coaching, and career counseling. The results are evident in course completion rates of 85% for their professional learners.
Anand Daniel, Partner at Accel, added,
“The unbundling of higher education and continued learning has only just started. We have known Ashwin and the team at Eruditus for a number of years and have always been impressed by their approach and execution. We believe that the platform and deep partnerships with the world’s best universities put Eruditus and its partner universities at the forefront of this revolution in higher education. Their products are helping bring the best quality education to students around the world at affordable prices.”
In the last twelve months, Eruditus has grown rapidly around the globe with more than 100% year-on-year growth. The company is on track to realize more than $500 million in bookings this year, making it the fastest-growing EdTech skilling platform.
In May 2021, the Eruditus group acquired iD Tech, the world leader in youth STEM education, which marked their expansion into K12 education.
Last year in September, Eruditus had raised its Series D round worth $113 million from Leeds Illuminate, Prosus Ventures, and others. With the latest funding, the EdTech startup’s total fundraise to date stands at $813 million.
