Online tutoring firm Genext Students raises $200K from crowdfunding platform 1Crowd

Mumbai-based online tutoring platform Genext Students Pvt. Ltd said on Wednesday it has raised $200,000 (Rs 1.4 crore) from crowdfunding platform 1Crowd.

Genext said in a statement it will use the funds to strengthen its technology backbone and for marketing. The funding is part of a targeted larger round of $1 million, it said.

Co-founder Ali Asgar Kagzi said Genext also plans to strengthen its core team.

Genext was started by London School of Economics alumni Kagzi and Asad Daud. Though founded in 2011, the company launched its services in 2013. It claims to have 6 lakh users and 700 tutors on its platform.

The company says it is a hybrid tutoring platform for school students. This means it connects students with private tutors and also offers digital content including study material, sample question papers, videos and e-books. It also offers assessment and performance analysis tools.

Mumbai-based 1Crowd, operated by Zeva Capsol Pvt. Ltd, was founded in May 2015 by Anil Gudibande, Amit Arvind Ratanpal, Anup Kuruvilla and Natasha Shah Kothari. It connects investors with early-stage startups. It also co-invests in startups raising money through its platform.

"1Crowd has not only raised capital but more importantly worked closely with the founders in shaping the business model and providing strategic guidance," said Gudibande.

The ed-tech segment has elicited a lot of investor interest recently. Online talent discovery platform for students MySuperBrain and Uolo Technology Pvt. Ltd, which runs an app that allows schools and parents to communicate with each other, raised funding in June.

Ed-tech venture Byju's secured the biggest investment in this segment, having raised $75 million (about Rs 500 crore) from Sequoia India and Belgian investment firm Sofina in March. In July, the startup said it was close to raising an additional $50 million.

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