Wise Raises $5 Mn In Fresh Funding To Help Educators Reach Out To Global Audiences

Edtech startup, Wise, has raised $5 Mn in fresh funding from James Beshara and a clutch of other institutional investors.

The funding round also saw participation of VC funds including Weekend Fund, Shrug Capital, RemoteFirst Capital, Taurus VC, Operators Partners as well as other individual investors.

The funding will be used by the startup to expand its footprint globally. Wise will also use the investment to build B2B solutions for tutoring academies who are already using its platform.

Founded in 2020 by IIT-Bombay graduates, Bilal Abidi and Mubeen Masudi, Wise allows educators to set up their online classrooms effortlessly. The platform, which also works on 2G, combines the functionality of Zoom with essential modules for automated attendance, assessment, evaluation and communication making the entire classroom experience available inside a single interface.

The platform has so far amassed over 2 Mn users with more than 7 Lakh monthly active users.

Commenting on the fund raise, Wise CEO Bilal Abidi said, “Covid removed the inertia from live online learning for a huge segment of the market accelerating a trend which was already in motion. We are building a premium classroom and business management experience for educators who will ride this trend.”

Covid-19 has led to a marked shift in the edtech sector. The edtech market was largely disregarded prior to 2020, but, pandemic changed the fortune of the space in a big way. This was reflected when Indian edtech startups raised over $4.7 Bn in 165 deals in 2021. BYJU’s alone raised close to $1.9 Bn last year.

Not just this, three new edtech unicorns were also minted in 2021 namely Eruditus which was valued at $3.2 Bn, upGrad which raised $185 Mn valuing it at $1.2 Bn and Vedantu which saw its valuation rise to $1 Bn.

The story continues in 2022. Earlier today, live learning platform, Growth School, raised $5 Mn in funding led by Sequoia India. Earlier this month, edtech startup, Super Scholar, raised $400k from a clutch of investors led by Magic Fund. 

In January of 2022, LEAD became the first edtech unicorn of the year with a $100 Mn funding round led by Westbridge Capital. This was followed by Odisha-based edtech startup LectureNotes acquiring Kolkata-based CollegeShala for an undisclosed amount. 

And such developments are in plenty! Bengaluru-based edtech startup MyCaptain also raised $3 Mn in its Pre Series-A funding round, earlier this month.

Even as the edtech market continues its great run, questions have emerged about the regulation of the sector. In January of 2022, the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) announced the formation of India EdTech Consortium (IEC), a self-regulatory body to ensure code of conduct for its member edtech companies. 

The members of the Consortium include: BYJU’s, Careers 360, Great Learning, Harappa, Times Edutech & Events Ltd, Scalar, Simplilearn, Toppr, Unacademy, upGrad, Vedantu and WhiteHat Jr.

The edtech sector continues to headline the Indian startup space. With hefty users in Wise’s kitty and new investment, the startup looks all geared up to be the next big player in the Indian edtech space.