Meet the startups that pitched their ideas at VCCircle Education Investment Summit 2018

The 2018 edition of the News Corp VCCircle Education Investment Summit saw three entrepreneurs make a pitch to a select jury of investors during a showcase session. The forum was an opportunity for the startups to attract investor attention.

The jury comprised Prachi Jain Windlass, director of India programmes at Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, and Sarvesh Kanodia of Omidyar Network's investments arm.

Here are the startups that participated in the showcase session:

SchoolDeck Infotech Pvt. Ltd: Founded in February by former IT professional Neena Shekharan, SchoolDeck aims to improve the quality of schools in India by improving access to resources and funds.

The startup aims to connect parents, school staff, schools and vendors dealing with products and services needed in schools. It also works with funding organisations, NGOs, government departments and philanthropists. It combines all the stakeholders by providing a digital platform.

University Living Accommodation Pvt. Ltd: Started in 2015 by Saurabh Arora and Mayank Maheshwari, University Living is a global student housing marketplace offering 500,000 beds in more than 110 international cities in the UK, US, Europe, Australia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. 

This August, the company raised an undisclosed amount in a pre-Series A round led by the Indian Angel Network and LetsVenture. The lead investors include Ishan Singh, Bikky Khosla and Nitin Singhal. Others who participated in the round include Manipal Group and Sunil Kant Munjal, chairman of Hero Enterprise.

With the recent fund-raising, the startup aims to expand its business globally. It offers services such as loans and foreign exchange services along with rooms and room-replacement services.

Gunakar Pvt. Ltd: The company was incorporated in May 2016 by Amol Subhash Palshikar and is led by directors Mahesh Shivanand Desai and Girish Ramesh Mujumdar. Pune-based Gunakar offers wireless devices under the Plemzo brand. The company also offers coding application software to learn and play for kids. It provides speakers, display, button, bulb, a range of sensors, wrist band and charging clip as part of the entire package.