Leetu Education Pvt. Ltd, which operates the software engineering-focussed education technology startup AttainU, has raised angel funding from a clutch of high-profile investors.
The investors included former Google India head Shailesh Rao and former Intuit India head Nikhil Rungta, Bengaluru-based AttainU said in a statement.
Anil Gelra, the founder of financial technology firm SnapMint; and Manish Kumar, the founder of invoice discounting startup KredX as well as angel investing platform LetsVenture; also took part in the funding round.
AttainU didn't disclose the amount it raised.
AttainU said it will use the capital to strengthen the faculty on its service, course development and counselling teams. It will also use the funding to build a semi-automated platform to cater to the demand it is receiving from students.
Co-founder Divyam Goel said AttainU’s goal involved solving problems of higher education in a scalable way, and that it was receiving thousands of applications every month. “Over the last 10 months, we have been able to figure out many processes, complementing human psychology, to facilitate deep-rooted learning,” Goel said.
Rungta said AttainU had identified a gap in the education system and that it was trying to address it in a technology-oriented way. He added that AttainU had received in-principle hiring commitments from technology companies such as Delhivery, Grofers, 1mg, Housing.com and MakeMyTrip.
“AttainU has the potential to be one of the biggest players in the area of industry-ready skill development and employment generation,” Rungta added.
The company was founded by Goel and Vaibhav Bajpai last year. It offers full-time, seven month-long online courses in software engineering for students looking to enter the field.
AttainU also provides career counselling as part of its student assessment process and connects graduates to companies in several industries for placements upon course completion.
The startup says it targets students who have a college education, but are either unemployed or in an unsatisfactory job. Candidates do not need to have prior experience in coding to apply for its courses. According to its website, it provides its course for free and takes payment in the form of installments when students get hired.
Ed-tech funding deals
The online learning and education technology segment has attracted considerable investor interest over the past couple of years.
The most heavily funded company in this segment is Byju's, whose valuation crossed $5 billion after it raised $31.3 million in March from investors led by General Atlantic and Tencent Holdings Ltd. In December last year, Byju’s had secured $540 million in a round led by South African tech conglomerate Naspers.
In August this year, ed-tech startup Vedantu Innovations Pvt. Ltd mopped up $42 million in its Series C funding round led by Tiger Global and private equity firm WestBridge Capital. Existing investors Accel, Omidyar India and TAL Education also participated in the round. The same month, AdmitKard secured $1 million.
Unacademy, an ed-tech platform for competitive exams, raised $50 million in a Series D funding round from Steadview Capital, Sequoia Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, Blume Ventures and others in June.
Tags: AttainU, Leetu Education Pvt Ltd, Divyam Goel, Vaibhav Bajpai, Shailesh Rao, Nikhil Rungta, ed-tech, angel funding, Byju's, Unacademy