Eruditus raises $40 million funding in Series C round led by Sequoia India

The latest fund raise by Eruditus will be used to increase its course offerings in areas such as data science, machine learning blockchain and also expand into newer languages.

Eruditus, a Mumbai based edtech startup raised $40 million in Series C funding led by Sequoia India, with participation from existing investor Bertelsmann India Investments.

According to a statement, the latest funding will allow the company to increase its course offerings in high-demand subject areas such as data science, machine learning, blockchain and cybersecurity and to expand its language offerings to include Portuguese and Mandarin, in addition to English and Spanish.

“Seventy percent of our students are based outside of the United States, and this fund raise will help accelerate our mission of making high-quality professional education more accessible and affordable,” said Ashwin Damera, Co-founder, Eruditus.

G V Ravishankar, Managing Director of Sequoia Capital India Advisors, said, “Sequoia India has been an active investor in the education space over the last several years, and is excited to partner with Eruditus, a startup that is using technology to bring cutting-edge, industry-ratified education programs to consumers at scale.”

Avendus Capital was the exclusive financial advisor for the transaction. Pankaj Naik, Co-head of Digital and Technology Investment Banking, Avendus Capital, said, “Eruditus represents an emerging trend of outstanding entrepreneurs that are building successful international businesses from India. This transaction also validates rapid value creation opportunities in the edtech sector.”

Eruditus partners with top tier American and European universities to provide high-quality executive education and short private online courses to working professionals. The startup claimed that it has achieved a 10x student growth over the last two years.

In the current fiscal year, it plans to enrol 30,000 students from more than 80 countries in courses delivered in collaboration with university partners such as MIT, Columbia, Harvard Business School, INSEAD, Tuck at Dartmouth, Wharton, UC Berkeley and London Business School. It also plans to increase its enrollment by more than 10 times within the next five years across certificate courses and online degrees.