Edtech startup Scaler Academy bags $55 million in funding led by Lightrock India

ET was the
first to report the company’s plan of a new funding round on September 15 last year.

The company, whose valuation has increased to $710 million after the funding, will use the capital for expansion, inorganic growth and to beef up its technology platform, said Abhimanyu Saxena, cofounder of Scaler.

The company’s existing investors Sequoia Capital India and Tiger Global also participated in the funding round, after which the total capital raised by Scaler since January 2020 stands at $76.5 million.

“This is entirely primary capital raise to create a war chest for the inorganic growth opportunities we see in newer markets such as the US,” Saxena told ET. “In 2022, we will focus on India as well as the US market and then will look at other markets, such as Latin America and South East Asia,” he said.

Scaler was launched in April 2019 by Anshuman Singh and Abhimanyu Saxena. The company claims that under the parent company, InterviewBit, it has grown manifold during the pandemic, with revenue jumping 200% over the pre-Covid level and is operationally profitable.

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“We don’t need capital for runway (operational expenses) as we are operationally profitable,” said Saxena.

Scaler helps working professionals upgrade their skills. So far, more than 7,500 people have joined Scaler’s educational programmes. It has 50 instructors.

“The failure of legacy institutions in India’s higher education sector, particularly in the IT space, has opened up opportunities for avowed status-quo disruptors like Scaler to push a new kind of thinking that looks beyond cost arbitrage-based success,” said Saxena.

Divya Venkatavaraghavan, principal investor, Lightrock India, said, “The team at Scaler Academy (and InterviewBit) are transforming higher education in India by democratising the privilege of working in technology for millions of Indians. They are building a learning community that is accountable for outcomes and designed for the future of work.”

Shailendra J Singh, managing director, Sequoia Capital, said, “To us, the most distinctive part of Scaler’s strategy is that they are super focused on extremely high-quality computer science education, delivered with their own unique approach that makes their programmes practical and useful in the work environment. This is resulting in outstanding student NPS and exceptional job placements for Scaler students.”

John Curtius, partner at Tiger Global, said, “As an experienced investor in India’s startup ecosystem, we are particularly bullish about the country’s edtech companies. Scaler’s relatively young age (since April 2019) is more than made up for by the vision and maturity of its founders and the 800-plus member team that is on a mission to disrupt India’s tech education space.”