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Eruditus' journey: From being rejected by 20 investors to becoming a unicorn

Money Control · 1y

Watch the full podcast by clicking on source button below. Founded by Ashwin Damera and Chaitanya Kalipatnapu in 2010, executive education startup Eruditus started out with offline classes with faculty from Europe’s INSEAD and the Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad), teaching a 10-day classroom programme in a 5-star hotel for 10-15 people, mostly working professionals. From 2015 onwards, it started an online teaching model and raised venture capital from investors such as Bertelsmann and Sequoia Capital India. Today, Eruditus and Emeritus, its online wing, make Ivy League education accessible and affordable to those who seek it, having tied up with the likes of MIT, Harvard, Columbia, Berkeley and INSEAD. In this episode of Bits to Billions, second-time entrepreneur Ashwin Damera spoke about the state of ed tech in India, how the idea of Eruditus came about, the initial struggle and his plans to give back to the ecosystem through Damera Ventures.