[Funding alert] Edtech startup Oliveboard raises Rs 23 Cr led by IAN Fund

Oliveboard, an edtech platform in the government exam preparation space, has raised a pre-Series A funding of Rs 23 crore. The round was led by IAN Fund with participation from Education Catalyst Fund (ECF) and Yukti Securities.

This funding will enable Oliveboard to expand its number of national-level courses and exams, and to add state-level categories. The Bengaluru-based startup will further focus on investing in technology for interactive data-driven products, which will lead to customised learning at a more granular level for individuals.

“Our key focus area is to provide data-driven personalised coaching to each learner based on their preparation levels for an exam. Given our success in the banking and insurance exam category, we are well-positioned to expand our offerings seamlessly into other newer and lesser served exam categories,” said Co-founder Abhishek Patil.

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According to founders Abhishek Patil and V Satish Kumar, they identified a huge gap in the accessibility of quality coaching and test preparation for government and quasi-government jobs in Tier-II and III cities, which led them to start the company in 2015.

The edtech platform focusses on the aspirational student base and provides access to affordable coaching to graduates preparing for jobs in the government sector. Oliveboard’s adaptive platform uses a data-driven approach for learning and offers live classes, practice tests, live practice sessions, remedial material, and other forms of interactive content to aspirants.

Today, the startup has over 8 million users spanning across 2,500+ cities and towns in India.

Further adding, Sudipta Gautam, Managing Partner, IAN Fund, said, 

“The market size of the government job entrance exam preparation industry in India is estimated to be nearly Rs 400 billion. Before March 2020, a large portion of this market was dominated by offline coaching institutes and the pandemic has been a catalyst in the adoption of online solutions. This market is bound to grow as the demand for test preparation has been stimulated by the increasing internet penetration in tier-II and tier-III cities in the country.”

The edtech startup currently supports 50 government exams.

In the coming years, Oliveboard is planning to add 100+ various national and state-level exams to its bouquet of offerings.