Edtech startup Inzpira, on Thursday, raised Rs 2.3 crore (around $300,000) in a seed funding round led by angel investors Raj Nair, chairman of Avalon Consulting, and Gopinath Latpate, executive director of JLL, the company said in a statement.
The round also witnessed the participation of Arvind Kapil, country head – retail lending at HDFC Bank, Yash Chamria, joint VP at Piramal Capital, Naveen Raju, executive director at TIE Mumbai, and Ajay Nayar, associate partner at IBM, among others.
The startup said it has plans to use the fresh funds to improve its technology platform, enhance its brand presence and expand the customer base, the statement said.
Operated by Inzpira Edu Solutions, the firm has earlier raised Rs 25 lakh as part of its pre-seed round from 100X.VC in March 2021 , and was part of their class 04 cohort. The startup has raised Rs 2.55 crore to date.
Founded in 2020, Inzpira helps adults learn English and soft skills through its AI-enabled platform, wherein the users can choose a convenient time to learn and get connected with a trainer.
“Working professionals, despite realising the importance of attaining English language proficiency to advance in their career, simply cannot find time to join a programme due to their busy work schedule and other commitments,” Rohith Namboothiri, co-founder and CEO of Inzpira said in the statement.
Similar deals in edtech
The edtech market has witnessed frenetic funding and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in India since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic last year.
This week, VCCircle reported that Amsterdam-based Global University Systems has acquired 100% stake in Indian education firm Edvancer Eduventures Ltd that offers online certification courses in data sciences.
Vernacular edtech platform Vidyakul raised an undisclosed amount in a financing round from Dholakia Ventures and other angel investors. Similarly, Bengaluru-based ForeignAdmits raised Rs 3.5 crore in a seed funding round led by Unicorn India Ventures.
Earlier this month, Unacademy Group-owned Graphy acquired edtech platform Spayee for $25 million.
In July, Teachmint Technologies Pvt Ltd, focused on tutor-student connectivity, had raised $20 million (Rs 149.4 crore) in a pre-Series B funding round led by global edtech-focused VC firm Learn Capital.
According to a report by BLinC Investment Management, India’s edtech sector is expected to grow at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of over 15%, from $2.8 billion in 2020 to $30 billion in 2030.
With over 9,000 edtech startups, of which 750 have raised about $8.5 billion to date, India is the third-largest economy to attract private investors during 2021.
