HCL invests $20 M in edtech startup Educational Initiatives through secondary financing
The HCL Group helped the education software startup Educational Initiatives (Ei) raise Rs 166 crore, or about $20 million, in a secondary round.
The private equity firm Gaja Capital will also sell a minority interest in the Bengaluru-based company to the IT company.
According to a press release from the company, Ei intends to enter new markets like Saudi Arabia, Kenya, Ghana, and South Africa. At the moment, it conducts business in the UAE, Singapore, South Africa, and India.
Additionally, the company is searching for edtech product companies that are concentrated on enhancing learning outcomes.
Ei is a business-to-business (B2B) company that was established in 2001 and offers educators and students in schools a range of assessment and adaptive learning tools to enhance learning outcomes.
With over a million paid users, Ei has partnerships with numerous Indian state governments, educational institutions, nonprofits, international organizations, and corporate social responsibility projects.
Under Pranav Kothari’s direction, Ei’s operating revenue increased by more than 56% to Rs 97 crore in FY23 from Rs 62 crore in FY22. The company’s profit increased marginally from Rs 4.2 crore to Rs 5.5 crore during that time.
September 2022 saw investments in the edtech startup Guvi from HCL, the third-largest IT services provider in India.
Vama Sundari Investments, an HCL promoter, contributed $1.9 million to Guvi. The fact that HCL Technologies changed its name to HCLTech in 2022 is noteworthy.
