B2B edtech platform Classplus bags $9m in series A funding

India’s Classplus, an edtech firm that enables offline coaching institutes to take their businesses online, said it has raised US$9 million in a series A round led by early-stage VC firm RTP Global.

Existing investors Blume Ventures, Spiral Ventures, Strive, and Sequoia Capital India’s accelerator, Surge, also participated in the round, according to a statement.

Classplus co-founders Bhaswat Agarwal (left) and Mukul Rustagi / Photo credit: Classplus

Hundreds of thousands of offline tutoring units in India, commonly called coaching centers, act as the primary source of academic support for more than 70 million students taking private lessons in the country every year.

Classplus aims to digitize this market by helping tutors run all their communications, payments, assessments, and learning programs online on their smartphones.

Its mobile-centric solution also acts as a digital distribution platform for educational content and products, enabling tutors to set up ecommerce channels to make video content and online assessments available to students.

The startup said it plans to use the new funds to improve its technology and expand its product offerings. It also looks to bolster its product, engineering, and business teams as well as make strategic hires for some leadership roles to drive its expansion.

According to Mukul Rustagi, the co-founder and CEO of Classplus, India is home to the largest after-school tuition market globally. “As national examinations move online, so must after-school tuition practices […],” he added.

Rustagi, along with co-founder Bhaswat Agarwal, launched Classplus in 2018. Since then, the startup has served over 1 million students across more than 70 Indian cities, with upward of 3,500 coaching centers using its technology.