Eduvanz acquires edtech platform Klarity, Kitchens Centre raises fresh funds

Mumbai-based Eduvanz Financing, which operates a student loan-focused non-banking financial company (NBFC), has acquired personalised career coaching platform Klarity. 

The acquisition will offer Eduvanz access to a network of mentors and 300 education institutions, a statement said. 

“Joining forces with Eduvanz will help us amplify our reach, and intensify the impact of our work in the careers of students," Manmeet Singh Akali, CEO of Mumbai-based Klarity, said. 

“We are equipped with a mentor network of more than 200 industry experts from some of the best companies of the world such as the Big Four consulting firms, Amazon, JP Morgan, Uber who graduated from institutes such as the IIMs, Carnegie Mellon, Georgia Tech and so on,” he said. 

The Unitus Ventures and Sequoia-backed firm has raised $6 million in equity capital to date. 

Eduvanz, founded in 2016 by Varun Chopra, Raheel Shah and Atul Sahittal, currently has a presence in 250 cities. With a disbursal of nearly Rs 200 crore, Eduvanz, through its AI-enabled  platform, offers low cost, zero interest loans to students who are unable to pay their annual fees. 

Village Global backs Kitchens Centre 

Cloud Retail Solutions, which runs shared kitchen solution and infrastructure provider Kitchens Centre, has raised an undisclosed amount in a bridge funding round, dubbed a pre-Series A round, from early stage venture capital firm Village Global.

The latest fundraise comes months after the Delhi-based company raised $500,000 seed capital from AngelList. 

The cloud kitchen services provider said it will utilise the fresh capital to drive expansion and hiring, at a time when food delivery is set to outpace dining and at-restaurant sales in the next 9-12 months. 

The company, started in 2019 by Lakshay Jain, has a presence across 15 cities in over 35 locations across India. It plans to expand its footprint to over 90 locations by next year. 

“Kitchens Centre’s data-driven approach to property acquisition and sales management ensures maximisation of occupancy and unit economics,” Erik Torenberg, co-founder of Village Global, said.

“They consider various idiosyncratic factors such as cuisine share/gap, composition of user cohorts and associated Average Order Value to target a specific location within a city,” he said, adding that India was the fastest growing F&B market.