After completing Pedagogy acquisition, Vedantu raises debt from Stride Ventures
The edtech unicorn Vedantu has raised debt and equity capital from Stride Ventures totaling Rs 19.25 crore, or $2.3 million. This is probably the first round of funding the Bengaluru-based company has received since its $100 million funding round, which gave it a valuation of approximately $1.1 billion.
Stride Ventures Debt Fund II has contributed Rs 19.25 Cr to Vedantu, according to regulatory filings obtained by Registrar of Companies. A resolution was approved by the board of the company to issue 1,750 non-convertible debentures in order to raise Rs 17.5 crore and Rs 1.75 crore in equity.
Although the amount raised is not significant, it will give Vedantu—which, like other edtechs, is going through a difficult period—more time. The company reportedly had cash and bank balances of Rs 39 crore as of March 2023, bringing its net current asset to Rs 299 crore.
Not only Vedantu, but Unacademy, Byju’s, and Cuemath have had difficulty raising funds in recent years.
Furthermore, Vedantu has offered to buy Pedagogy, a company based in Ahmedabad, outright by purchasing the remaining 9.32% of the business through a share exchange agreement. Following the agreement, Vedantu is giving Pedagogy’s co-founders, Archin Shah and Ritesh Gandhi, 87,198 equity shares, valued at Rs 1.53 crore.
With Pedagogy, users can access well-known books and online courses from reliable publishers and coaching facilities all around the nation for entrance exams like JEE, NEET, NET, and CTET.
In keeping with other edtech companies, Vedantu launched six learning centers for higher secondary schools in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and partnered with Vignan Institute to enter the offline market.
Vedantu’s operating revenue decreased 7.8% to Rs 153 crore in FY23, however the company has not yet released FY24 numbers. The media reports that in FY23, the company backed by Tiger Global reduced its losses by 46.4% to Rs 373 crore.
