Knoctowl Technologies Pvt Ltd, which operates education-technology firm Pariksha, has raised capital in a Series A round that has vaulted its valuation to nearly Rs 100 crore ($13.6 million), according to a report.
Pune-based Pariksha has raised around Rs 13.16 crore ($1.8 million) in a round led by Bharat Inclusive Technology Fund, Entrackr reported, citing regulatory filings.
Other participants include angel investment platform LetsVenture, Venture Catalysts accelerator fund 9Unicorns, Innercircle One Consulting, and Sixth Sense Ventures founder and CEO Nikhil Vora.
The company has allotted 31,885 preference shares and 30 equity shares at a price of Rs 4,122.65 per share.
VCCircle has reached out to Pariksha on the details of this fundraise and will update this report accordingly.
Pariksha was founded in 2015 by Deepak Choudhary, Karanvir Singh Shekhawat, Utkarsh Bagri, and Vikram Shekhawat. According to its website, the company operates a vernacular test-preparation platform that focusses on examinations across 11 states.
It claims to have more than three million users and says over 34 million tests have been taken via its platform. It says it has partnered with over 100 coaching institutes.
Prior to this reported Series A fundraise, Pariksha in April raised an undisclosed sum as part of a pre-Series A extension round. That exercise was led by INSEAD Angels, with participation from Vora and Sixth Sense’s Swati Mehra, Temasek India director Saahil Bhatia and Bain principal Sitanshu Shah.
That development came after the Pune-based edtech startup raised Rs 4 crore (around $580,260) in July last year from Venture Catalysts.
Deals in edtech
The reported investment comes as the latest example of investor commitment to the edtech space, which has seen an explosion in dealmaking this year owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Also on Tuesday, ICICI Bank said it had signed an agreement to acquire a 9.09% stake in edtech company Myclassboard Educational Solutions Pvt. Ltd for Rs 4.5 crore (about $613,460) in cash.
This month, mathematics-focussed Countingwell raised $1 million (around Rs 7.36 crore) in a pre-Series A funding round. Participating investors in this round included UAE-based Delhi Private School and education management company Interstar.
In the same category, math learning startup Cuemath raised $40 million in a Series C funding round led by impact investor Lightstone Fund and Falcon Edge’s Alpha Wave Incubation.
Last month, Unacademy added two more marquee names to its investor list – Tiger Global Management and Dragoneer Investment Group – in a fresh funding round that valued the startup at $2 billion.
