RTP Global leads $9 mn funding round in edtech platform Classplus

New Delhi-based Bunch Microtechnologies, which owns business-to-business (B2B) edtech startup Classplus, has raised $9 million in a Series A funding round led by venture capital firm RTP Global, formerly known as ru-Net Enterprises. 

Returning investors, including venture capital firms Blume Ventures, Spiral Ventures and Strive, along with Sequoia Capital India-owned accelerator Surge, also participated in the round, according to a statement.

The company will use the fresh capital to expand its product offerings and scale its technology stack, it said. It is also working with content publishers to provide its clients access to online assessments, it added.

The capital infusion comes after three months since its last round, when Classplus raised $2.5 million in a seed funding round from Blume Ventures and Sequoia Surge, with angel investors Kunal Shah, Alvin Tse and Eric Kwan. 

In May last year, it raised $1.6 million in a round led by Times Internet and Strive (then known as GREE Ventures), with participation from Spiral Ventures and Rising Stars Fund.

Classplus offers technology solutions to private coaching centres and independent tutors. The solutions enable them to manage payments, practice tests, schedules and offer online learning sessions. Classplus was in the second cohort of Sequoia Capital India’s accelerator programme Surge. 

“Classplus is empowering tutors with full-stack mobile solutions... We are happy to have Classplus as our first ed-tech bet in India,” Kirill Kozhevnikov, partner at RTP Global, said. 

The company, founded in 2015 by Mukul Rustagi and Bhaswat Agarwal, claims the platform is currently used by over 3,500 coaching centres across 70 cities, with most of its customers based in tier-II and tier-III towns. 

“The new fundraise will help us to serve more teachers with a world-class product experience. India is home to the largest after-school tuition market in the world and delivery models keep evolving as we speak. As national examinations move online, so must after-school tuition practices,” co-founder Rustagi, also the CEO of Classplus, said. 

The Classplus fundraise follows a string of fundraises in the edtech space in April, during the nationwide lockdown and subsequent clamp on social interaction due to Covid-19. Some significant deals in the space include Vedantu, Lido Learning, Embibe and Camp K12.

Lead investor RTP Global was founded in 2000 by Leonid Boguslavsky, and has offices in New York, Moscow and Bengaluru. It has invested in several Indian startups such as cloud kitchen chain Rebel Foods, credit card reward points aggregator Cred, fintechs MoneyTap and Khatabook. Earlier this month, B2B agritech platform Bijak raised $11.8 million (around Rs 90.8 crore) in a Series A round led by RTP Global.