Lok Capital leads under $1M in Series A funding in education startup Everest Edusys

Chennai-headquartered Everest Edusys & Solutions Pvt Ltd, which provides interactive exhibit centres for science learning for the K-12 segment under the brand name  QED (Quest Explore Discover), has bagged Rs 5.7 crore (under $1 million) in Series A round of funding led by Lok Capital, with participation from Chennai Angels. The capital will be used to ramp up its sales and marketing activities across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.

Everest Edusys was founded in 2011 by husband-wife duo Krishna Srinivasan (chairman) and Chokanath Hymavath (director-product research). Srinivasan had earlier founded ISGN, a platform-based KPO mortgage solutions company. In the past, he had worked with the family business of KK Birla and private equity investor NEA. His wife Hymavath had earlier co-founded Neptune Technologies, which was later acquired by 3i Ventures. Prior to founding Neptune, she led the implementation of enterprise resource planning application at Orbit Semiconductor California.

Everest Edusys sets up interactive exhibit centres, called QED Labs, at schools to provide experiment-based hands-on science learning for students.

"Currently, we are focusing on the Class VI-VIII students with our products, and have partnered with around 80 schools in Tamil Nadu. We also have clients in Karnataka and Kerala," said Adarsh Kamath, VP (corporate development).

According to Kamath, the company is also planning to launch digital learning. "The foundation has been laid, and we have enough capital to expand the business to other verticals, including digital learning," Kamath noted.

Recently, Bangalore-based Skyfi Labs Pvt Ltd, an education products and services startup focusing on Indian engineering students, received an undisclosed amount in funding from Chennai Angels, with participation from Spark Capital.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)