GSV leads $30 mn Series C round in edtech firm Classplus

Noida headquartered Bunch Microtechnologies, which operates edtech platform Classplus, has raised Rs 220 crore ($30 million) in an ongoing Series C round, led by GSV Ventures Fund. 

Classplus has allotted 17,762 Series C1 Preference shares at an issue price of Rs 1,23,706 to raise the sum, regulatory filings show.  

The company helps coaching centres set up an online presence.  

Venture capital firm GSV has invested Rs 98.5 crore while existing investors Alpha Wave Incubation and RTP Global have bet Rs 73 crore and Rs 26 crore respectively.   

Early investor Blume Ventures also participated in the round with Rs 22 crore.  

Classplus last raised Rs 75 crore (a little over $10 million) for its Series C round in September 2020.  

Prior to that, the company had raised Rs 73 crore as part of its Series B from RTP Global, Blume Ventures, Surge Ventures II and others.  

According to an Entrackr report, Classplus is now valued around Rs 1,000-1,030 crore ($140 million).  

Media queries sent to Classplus regarding the valuation, shareholding pattern and plans to deploy the funds did not elicit a response at the time of publishing this report. 

Per company’s valuation report dated April 6, 2021, the projected cash flow from operating activities for FY2021-22 is at Rs 51.89 crore.  

Classplus is also in talks with Tiger Global to raise $25-30 million for the current round, multiple media reports have said. 

Founded in 2015 by Mukul Rustagi and Bhaswat Agarwal, Classplus has developed a mobile operating system that enables coaching institutes to take their brick and mortar setups online. The company aims to streamline the market by helping tutors run their communication, payments, assessments and online learning programmes on a full-stack mobile solution. 

The edtech sector continues to ride the Covid-19 wave as schools and tutoring centres continue to operate online due to lockdowns across the country.  

Japanese conglomerate SoftBank has also risen to the occasion and decided to have a second edtech unicorn in its portfolio along with Bengaluru-based Unacademy. SoftBank Vision Fund 2 is in talks to to lead a $250-$300 million primary capital round in Eruditus Learning Solutions, a Singapore based edtech platform. The round is expected to value Eruditus at $2.5 billion.