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HCL invests $20 Mn in edtech firm Educational Initiatives via secondary

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
HCL invests $20 Mn in edtech firm Educational Initiatives via secondary
Medial

Education software company Educational Initiatives (Ei) has raised Rs 166 crore (approximately $20 million) in a secondary round from the HCL Group. The IT company will also acquire a minority stake in the Bengaluru-based company from private equity firm Gaja Capital. According to an ET report, Ei plans to expand to new markets like South Africa, Kenya, Ghana and Saudi Arabia. It currently operates in India, South Africa, Singapore, and the UAE. The firm is also looking to acquire edtech product companies focused on improving learning outcomes. Founded in 2001, Ei is a B2B company that provides schools with a suite of assessment and adaptive learning products for teachers and students to help improve learning outcomes. Ei, which claims to have over a million paid users, has tied up with several schools, state governments in India, international organisations, non for profit organisations and CSR initiatives. Led by Pranav Kothari, Ei registered a more than 56% jump in its revenue from operations to Rs 97 crore in FY23 from Rs 62 crore in FY22. During the period, the company’s profit saw a minor increase from Rs 4.2 crore to Rs 5.5 crore. India’s third largest IT services company HCL also invested in edtech company Guvi in September 2022. Guvi raised $1.9 million from Vama Sundari Investments, which is a promoter of HCL. It’s worth highlighting that HCL Technologies rebranded itself as HCLTech in 2022.

Chaos at Saarthi.ai: Mass layoffs, unpaid salaries, and CEO's passport theft

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Chaos at Saarthi.ai: Mass layoffs, unpaid salaries, and CEO's passport theft
Medial

Deeptech startup Saarthi.ai has been going through troubles over the past year as it failed to pay long due salaries of past and current employees. At the same time, the firm also reduced its workforce by more than 70%. As per Entrackr sources, Saarthi.ai reduced its workforce to 40 from 140 since March 2023 and most of these employees are waiting for their salary. Moreover, the firm has not remitted the tax deducted at source (TDS) to the government for the last two fiscal years. In July 2023, a PTI report highlighted the layoffs at the company and long pending dues of the employees without divulging much details. Saarthi.ai’s chief executive Vishwa Nath Jha also said that pending salaries will be cleared in three months. “The firm has been holding salaries of more than 50 employees for over a year now and even didn’t reply to legal notices. ​​The founder has been unresponsive and even mentioned that he doesn’t owe us any explanation on multiple occasions,” said a former employee requesting anonymity. Entrackr talked to about a dozen employees who were associated with Saarthi.ai and are yet to receive their pending salaries. Responding to Entrackr’s queries, Jha confirmed that Saarthi.ai reduced its workforce to 40 due to pressure from investors. However, he claims that these layoffs were carried out before September last year. Jha also admitted that Saarthi.ai didn’t deposit TDS on behalf of employees for the last two fiscal years. “The startup is still not generating surplus cash to clear long-standing dues. We have been transparent in our communications with the concerned ex-team members. We are working hard to become operationally cash flow positive by Q2 of 2024 to sustain company operations and support our current team members. Additionally, Saarthi.ai is actively in talks with investors to raise fresh capital to address outstanding debts and liabilities,” said Jha. Launched by Jha, Sameer Sinhaa, and Sangram Sabat in 2017, Saarthi.ai specializes in conversational AI for low resource and global languages for Indic, South Asian, Arabic, and European users. The Bangalore-based startup was funded by Kunal Shah’s QED Innovation Labs, Capri Global Capital, Lead Angels Network, among others. Notably, the firm is facing a crunch at a time when AI startups saw an upsurge in funding. A former employee of the company added that the firm is still operational with paying clients and has been clearing its loans to banks but not prioritizing the dues of employees. Sharing screenshots, the person added that Saarthi.ai has also been looking for new hirings as he got messages from freshers for referrals at the company. Commenting on allegations of deliberately delaying salaries, Jha said that these claims are untrue and seems to be a plot to defame and harm Saarthi. “We’re planning to fill key positions as it negotiates deals [business] with several banks and NBFCs,” he added. Jha also claimed that a former senior employee stole his passport with a US visa, attempting to prevent him from traveling to the country to raise fresh capital. “While I managed to reissue a new passport, I am yet to get the US visa again. It’s a long queue,” said Jha.

Vedantu raises $11 Mn from internal investors in ongoing round

EntrackrEntrackr · 1m ago
Vedantu raises $11 Mn from internal investors in ongoing round
Medial

Vedantu raises $11 Mn from internal investors in ongoing round Edtech company Vedantu has raised $11 million in fresh funding from internal investors as part of a larger ongoing round led by ABC World Asia with participation from Accel India and Omidyar. The round is structured as a convertible one and also includes discussions for a secondary component aimed at providing exits to some early investors including Chinese and legacy shareholders. The new funds will be used for category expansion through both organic and inorganic opportunities along with investments in technology, artificial intelligence, and adaptive content to improve personalization and learning outcomes, Vedantu said in a press release. The notable funding comes after a gap of four years for the Bengaluru based company. Last year, it raised $2.3 million in debt and equity from Stride Ventures. Its $100 million unicorn round took place in September 2021. “This internal round is a strong vote of confidence from our investors as we prepare for the next chapter of Vedantu’s journey. Over the last 18 months, we have demonstrated disciplined growth and a clear path to profitability. The upcoming external round and secondary process will further strengthen our balance sheet, align our shareholder base and set us up for a potential public market listing in calendar year 2027,” said Vamsi Krishna, co-founder and chief executive officer of Vedantu. According to Vedantu, it turned profitable in the fourth quarter of FY25, posting collections of Rs 90 crore, a 67% year on year increase, and generating over Rs 6 crore in free cash flow. The company added that it recorded Rs 110 crore in collections during April to June 2025 and has remained cash flow positive for the past six months. For FY25, total collections grew 55% to Rs 284 crore while cash burn was reduced by 30%. While Vedantu has not yet filed its FY25 results, it had reported a loss of Rs 157 crore in FY24. Vedantu has also expanded its hybrid learning model with more than 100 offline centres and the onboarding of franchise partners. It serves more than two lakh paid students with a network of 1,200 teachers. Its platform attracts more than 10 million monthly users while its YouTube channel garners more than one billion annual views, the second highest in India’s K12 segment.

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