[Funding Alert] Sunstone Eduversity Raises Rs 24 Cr in Series A investment led by Saama Capital

Sunstone Eduversity Pvt. Ltd. has raised Rs 24 crore in Series A funding round led by Saama Capital. The round also saw participation from Ashish Gupta, MD, Helion Advisors; and Pankaj Bansal, Co-founder and CEO, PPeopleStrong.Prime Venture Partners, Rajul Garg, and Purvi Capital also participated in the round.

The funding will be used for hiring, curriculum building, and building of its tech platform. It will also be used to strengthen Sunstone's efforts to create industry-ready professionals. The platform aims to build a deeper network of colleges across different cities.

Speaking on the funding, Ashish Munjal, Co-Founder, Sunstone Eduversity said in a press statement, "Sunstone Eduversity is fixing the problem of large-scale skill gaps in students by adopting one simple principle: accountability. By collecting fees only after our students get jobs, we make sure that all the cogs in our system are working towards the success of our students."

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He explained that one of the challenges faced by freshers is the lack of industry-relevant skills that reduce their chances of getting hired by reputed companies.

"We focus on imparting practical skills training instead of outdated theory and remote learning methods. For the batch of 2019-21, we generated more than 450 internship offers even during the pandemic," stated Ashish.

Sunstone focuses on students' careers and operates on the 'pay-after-placement' model. The students initially pay a nominal registration fee and the rest is paid after placement at the completion of a two-year programme. The startup stated that it has received over 10,000 applications this year, and has enrolled over 1,000 students, witnessing a 3x growth.

The press statement said that Sunstone works closely with corporates to develop industry-ready specialisations such as BFSI, logistics, analytics, sales management, digital marketing, and others. The programmes are designed to equip the students with the required expertise to tackle everyday business problems and build competencies across industry verticals.

"Sunstone Eduversity graduates of the batch of 2018-20 secured 100 percent placements. Some of the prominent recruiters were Axis Bank, HDFC, WNS, Genpact, Amazon, TCS, Karvy, BYJU'S, Reliance Retail, PolicyBazaar, and Swiggy among others," said the press statement.

The startup was founded by IMT-Ghaziabad alumni Ashish and Piyush Nangru. Sunstone is currently present in six cities, with eight institutions as its partners.

Kiranbir Nag, Partner, Saama Capital said in a press statement, “Increasingly, the need for education to be outcome-oriented is dominating the minds of both students and the industry. With its technology-focused, data-centric approach and alignment with the students, we believe Sunstone is well placed to bring about a shift in the present higher education system by equipping the students with the latest tools that would make them ready for real-world job opportunities. We are excited to partner with the founders and other investors of Sunstone and believe that the company’s vision has the potential for tremendous impact.”