Classplus buys Matrix, Pivot Ventures’ stake in Testbook as maiden investment

B2B edtech startup Classplus has made its maiden investment by acquiring a minority stake in Testbook via a secondary transaction.

With this deal, Classplus has bought the shares of the Mumbai-based company’s current investors Matrix Partners India and Pivot Ventures.

According to MCA filings, Classplus has passed a special resolution to allot 1,695 Series E preference shares to Matrix Partners and Pivot Ventures at an issue price of Rs 4,00,013 per share, aggregating up to Rs 67.80 crore against 7,867 shares of Testbook held by them.

“Classplus will evaluate to acquire more stakes in Testbook if the company demonstrates desired performance. It’s also likely to put some primary capital in Testbook in the coming months,” a source in the know of the matter told Entrackr.

Testbook is in need of primary capital as it has been having a difficult time trying to raise external capital, the report added.

In June 2022, the startup announced its partnership with former cricketer Sourav Ganguly and launched a new initiative called '#dadasupports'. 

The initiative allows educators and content creators to create a video ad and submit it on the Classplus platform. The submitted ads would then feature Ganguly, the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), as their brand ambassador.

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Started in 2018 by Mukul Rustagi and Bhaswat Agarwal, Noida-based Classplus is a mobile-first SaaS (software-as-a-service) platform that enables private coaching institutes and their tutors to streamline their content distribution, payments, communication, and online assessments through the app.

In March 2022, the edtech startup had raised $70 million in a Series D round co-led by Alpha Wave Global and Tiger Global Management, which put Classplus at a valuation of $570 million. 

In the last few months, the edtech sector seems to have lost its mojo after the pandemic high. Apart from funding challenges, the sector has also witnessed massive layoffs in the last few months, across companies such as BYJU’S-owned WhiteHat Jr, Unacademy, Vedantu, and Lido Learning. Last week, Ronnie Screwvala-backed edtech startup Lido Learning filed for insolvency and bankruptcy with the Mumbai bench of National Company Law Tribunal due to a cash crunch.