Vertical SaaS Startup CollPoll Secures Funds To Help Educational Institutions Transform Digitally

Bengaluru-based vertical SaaS platform CollPoll that caters to premier educational institutions has raised INR 16 Cr from Prime Venture Partners. Focussing on to cater to 8K premier educational institutions, CollPoll has so far partnered with over 40 educational institutions with more than 100K users and is planning to add 300 more institutions with over half a million users by the end of 2022.

Speaking to Inc42, founder and CEO Hemant Sahal stated that though its customers are spread across India, Middle East, Africa, and South-East Asia, India remains the key focus market amongst all. On fund utilisation, Sahal added that Increasing the team size, product development and product marketing are the key areas where the fresh funding will be spent.

Founded by Sahal, in 2013, CollPoll has been offering web and mobile-based campus automation, digital learning and analytics platform to higher education institutions. The company has currently over 40 employees and has raised around INR 26 Cr so far.

Bringing One-Stop SaaS Solution For Edtech Institutions

There are hundreds of CRM, ERP and other SaaS service providers across the country. However, none of them are meeting the educational institutions’ requirements fully, says Sahal. The educational institutions have specific demands such as the integration of examination management, scholarships, fee structure and so on.

Amid the lack of adequate products, educational institutions opting for generic products shows the growing demand in the market. CollPoll has come up with a suite of solutions including LMS with video conferencing integration, AI-proctored examinations, workflow automation for contactless and paperless campuses, and CSN for digital engagement, Sahal adds.

Currently, numerous institutions such as O.P. Jindal Global University, Ashoka University, Manipal Dubai & Malaysia, Chitkara University, and Jagran Lakecity University, among others have opted for CollPoll SaaS solutions.

Covid Triggered Upsurge

Since the pandemic, edtech sector has recorded massive growth in terms of funding, transformation in operations as well as teaching & learning processes. However, institutions continue to face administrative challenges of resource optimisation, student retention and recruitment. As everyone has been forced to go virtual, educational processes are being automated to reduce risks, errors and turnaround times for all aspects of the institution, be it admissions, student finance, academic processes, teaching-learning, examinations, hostels or career services.

Covid has fortunately or unfortunately given an unprecedented push to the company’s growth with huge traction towards a host of products like online fee management, examination management system, admission automation and so on, says Sahal.

Commenting on the investment, Amit Somani, managing partner, CollPoll said, “We are very bullish on edtech. We are also very bullish on SaaS. Those have been two big areas of focus for Prime. CollPoll, positioned at the  intersection, is naturally a right fit investment for us.”