Sequoia-Backed NBFC Eduvanz Acquires Edtech Klarity

Mumbai-based non-banking finance company (NBFC) Eduvanz has acquired edtech startup Klarity, which is an online one-on-one platform that connects students with professionals in the areas of their interest to provide video-based mentoring.

The acquisition of Klarity will help Eduvanz reach a network of industry mentors and more than 300 educational institutes. “Klarity has impacted more than 5,000 careers via one-on-one mentoring. The team can help Eduvanz users to not only finance their courses but also get help in choosing the right course,” said Eduvanz’s CEO and cofounder Varun Chopra.

Commenting on the same, Klarity’s CEO and founder Manmeet Singh Akali, said, “Joining forces with Eduvanz will help us amplify our reach, and intensify the impact of our work in the careers of students with whom we are working. Our biggest strength is the motivation of these mentors to spare a few hours on weekends just to see the impact that their knowledge and experience can have on somebody else’s career.”

Klarity was founded in 2017 in Mumbai and has grown to a team of five full-time employees, 21 interns and over 200 coaches. These 200 couches work with top companies like JP Morgan, Amazon, Uber, Jio and more. The company has developed an analytics-driven assessment, similar to the algorithm used by big companies to understand their employees, in partnership with experts from IIM Lucknow and IIT Roorkee

Founded in 2016 by Varun Chopra, Raheel Shah and Atul Sashittal, Eduvanz Financing is a NBFC and private finance company that offers low-interest loans to students for education, career and skill development. It uses technology to assign credit scores to loan-seeking students, based on their socio-economic and demographic background.

It has partnered with more than 80 institutes such as Imarticus, K-11, and ISBM to boost its value proposition beyond loans to offer placement and scholarship support for students.

Eduvanz had received its NBFC license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in 2017, after which it raised $500K funding in a round led by Blinc Advisors. Last April, Eduvanz Financing had also raised $2 Mn funding from Unitus Ventures and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation to expand its lending operations.

In August, the company was also raising $5 Mn in Series A round led by Sequoia’s SCI Investment VI fund along with Redwood Trust, Vistra ITCL on behalf of Unitus Seed Fund India II and QED Innovation Labs. The regulatory filings accessed by Inc42 highlighted that Eduvanz will be allocating 77,067 Series A shares at a face value of INR 100 ($100.31) and premium of INR 2891.31 ($38.54) each share leading to INR 23,05,32,287($3 Mn).