Winter Capital Doubles Down On CollegeDekho Investment, Pumps In $9 Mn

Higher education services platform CollegeDekho has raised $9 Mn (INR 73.3 Cr) as part of an ongoing funding round from its existing investor Winter Capital Partners.

The startup plans to use the funds to scale its operations and to keep moving towards its ‘vision of creating a globally trusted student guidance ecosystem’.

Founded in 2015 by Ruchir Arora, Saurabh Jain, Rohit Saha, and Rajiv Singh, CollegeDekho provides a gamut of services in the higher education segment including test preparation, college selection, application assistance and financial assistance. 

“Having built a solid foundation, and with the backing of a fantastic team and our investors, we are aiming to double our revenue in the coming fiscal year. CollegeDekho started with a vision of building a globally-trusted education ecosystem and today we are more confident than ever that we are well on our path to do so,” CollegeDekho CEO and cofounder Arora said.

The startup last raised $35 Mn funding in a Series B funding round in November last year from a clutch of investors including Winter Capital Partners, ETS Strategic Capital, Calega, and Man Capital. In total, the startup has raised $54 Mn in funding from investors till date.

After its last fundraise, the startup went on a purchasing spree and acquired edtech platforms Getmyuni and IELTSMaterial at around INR 50 Cr. Later, it also acquired upskilling PrepBytes in a cash and equity deal to scale up its offerings. 

CollegeDekho competes with other major players such as CollegeDunia, Careers360 and Shiksha in the highly competitive higher education services space. 

Since its inception, CollegeDekho claims to have counselled more than 70 Lakh students so far and worked with close to 1,500 colleges to scale their student recruitment. The startup also claims to have more than 16 Cr visitors on its multiple higher education discoverability platforms.

CollegeDekho claims to have reported revenue of nearly INR 100 Cr in the financial year 2021-22 (FY22). It plans to double it in the upcoming financial year, while also turning EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) positive.

CollegeDekho’s fundraise comes when the edtech startups are passing through a tumultuous phase. The ongoing funding winter has dried up funding and macroeconomic pressures and opening up of schools has weakened the demand and flattened revenues. 

The edtech space was also responsible for a major chunk of startup retrenchments this year at around 8,000+. 

Despite this, edtech continues to be a lucrative proposition and is projected to further grow in the coming years. Inc42 estimates the Indian edtech industry to grow to a market size of $10.4 Bn by 2025.