India Educational Investment Fund (IEIF), an early-stage impact fund established by the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation (MSDF), has invested undisclosed amounts in ed-tech firm ChipperSage and job portal Select Jobs.
ChipperSage Education Pvt Ltd, founded in 2009 by ex-HCL techie Latha Srinivasan, offers English proficiency solutions that aim to improve school students' comprehension and communication.
Select Jobs, run by Select Jobs Pvt Ltd, is a job placement company for candidates at the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid, such as delivery boys, electricians, plumbers, etc.
With these two investments, IEIF’s investments in India have crossed $2 million (nearly Rs 13 crore) across five companies. In 2015, IEIF invested an undisclosed amount in two Indian education technology startups: Report Bee Edusys Pvt Ltd, a cloud-based deep learning platform, and Guru-G Learning Labs (India) Pvt. Ltd, a gamified platform for teachers.
“The two new investments align perfectly with our focus on identifying and working with high-impact, early-stage companies in the education and skill-training sector...Tapping synergies within the portfolio multiplies the chances of success manifold,†said Vishal Bharat, director at Corporate Business Advisors, the investment manager for IEIF, in a statement on Monday.
Since 2014, MSDF has made investments in Unitus Seed Fund and Menterra Social Impact Fund and, since 2006, the foundation claims to have invested over Rs 1,079 crore in non-profits and social enterprises in India.
Last year, MSDF had earmarked an additional $50 million (about Rs 333 crore) for investments in India.
Some of MSDF’s education sector-related investments in India include Bengaluru-based Oliveboard Comptech Pvt Ltd, which operates online test preparation platform Oliveboard, and Delhi-based test prep startup Avanti Learning Centres. Last year, MSDF had led a Rs 33.1-crore (around $5 million) funding round in Avanti Learning.
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