Plancess Raises $2 Mn To Compete With Toppr & Embibe In The Online Test Prep Market

Online education is on a steep rise. Along with rise in number of player in the industry the rate at which they expand is also increasing. Mumbai-based Plancess EduSolutions has raised $2 Mn funds from Aarti Group’s Promoters Gogri Family. The company provides an online portal to students with video lectures, study material and test for JEE preparation. Plancess will use new funds for strengthening the resource base, product base by developing cutting edge products, and international expansion.

On the funding  Nitesh Salvi, Director & Co-founder at Plancess EduSolutions, said “India witnesses close to 1.5 MN applicants for the IIT JEE every year, and this is just one of the many entrance tests in India. Education is very highly placed in our social structure – and rightly so. Every parent wants their child to go to the best institute and the best institutes require the student to qualify through an entrance test. It’s not difficult to guess why the test prep sector is one of the fastest growing segments in India’s education industry”

Gogri, Chairman of Aarti Group said, “The team at Plancess is making aggressive inroads into the education industry. It has quickly grown into a structure which has a strong product roadmap and stable business model for its print and digital offerings. We are pleased with the vision, commitment and speed of execution of the founding members. Rarely have we come across an education technology venture in India which has rapidly scaled from a hostel room to a team of 100+ individuals who are brimming with energy to make things happen. ”

Going forward, the company will not limit themselves to IIT and will venture into Medical Entrance Preparation by 2016-17.

The company claims to have successfully catered to more than 10000 IIT aspirants and about a fifth of them have made it to qualifying ranks at IITs and other leading engineering colleges in India.

On increase in competition in the industry Salvi said, “We have done pretty well in last 3 years. Currently we are at 60 lacs sales per month. Our major focus till now was content and brand name in market. And we have fairly achieved that. With this fund we are looking for tech development in coming 6-8 months and definitely take over competition by 2016-17”.

Let’s take a look at other players in this sector:-

Toppr

The company is making rounds because of its latest funding and acquisition. The company raised about $10 Mn in the second round of funding led by Fidelity and its existing investors which includes Saif and Helion. It offers a dedicated online test preparation material for students appearing for engineering and medical entrance examinations. Prior to this funding, Toppr Acquired EasyPrep.

Interestingly, both, Toppr’s founder, Zishaan and Plancess founders are IIT Bombay passouts.

Embibe

The startup provides education analytics which leverages a cross-roads of personalised data analytics and technology to capture exact student weaknesses centered around critical exam performance metrics like speed, accuracy, time management, attempt planning, stamina &  also addresses psychological factor like confidence. The company, recently, acquired 100Marks in a cash plus stock deal.

Testbook

Testbook is another Mumbai-based startup which focuses on bridging the gaps in current coaching models by making quality preparation accessible and affordable to all. The company has over 1.2 lakh registered users growing at the rate of 65-70 % Month on Month, over 60 lakh questions solved on the platform and growing at the rate of 40-45% week on week.

The education space has received over $15 Mn in investments over the last month alone. The industry is valued at $8 Bn in India and the Global Market is set to reach $169 Bn by 2018. According to industry estimates, by 2020, India will have the world’s largest tertiary-age population and second largest graduate talent pipeline.