Super30 alumni-led edtech gets backing from US investors

InstaPreps by 7Classes, a confidence diagnosis-based AI edtech, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding in a seed round from heads of a few top global universities, CXOs and top executives at the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
 
Some of the lead investors include Sanjay Nawlakha, University of Massachusetts; Soumitra Dutta, founder of Global Innovation Index, Dean at University of Oxford & INSEAD; Manish Bharti, CRO at CoreStack; and Venkatesh Sarvasiddhi, Head Partnerships & CSR at NSDC, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

Founded in 2019 by a team of IIT-Bombay, NIT & Super30 alumni - Anup Raaj (IITB alumnus, ex-CTO PSTakeCare and a student of Super30 fame Anand Kumar), Arun Kumar Gupta, Ranjan Kumar Soni and Arvind Patel (IITB alumnus) - InstaPreps by 7Classes calls itself an innovative educational framework wherein only seven students are allowed in one batch. Further, its two-teacher model of teaching, and confidence diagnosis-driven learning is designed to solve issues like crowded classes and low confidence among students.

The start-up plans to utilise the funds to expand its app InstaPreps, ramp up its marketing activities, enhance its technology and add new features for an out-of-box approach towards education for the 1.3 billion young minds of the world.

Currently it has its downloads in 2500+ cities across the globe from India, UAE, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Philippines, Myanmar, Africa, United States, Iraq and Iran.

The start-up says it is a fully digitised edtech platform to rectify confidence issues for STEM students to learn and prepare for entrance exams (Olympiads, SAT, USMLE, IITJEE, NEET & Basics) for K-12 learners. The platform is flexible enough for future options like GMAT, GRE, SSC, UPSC, CAT, placement tests and upskilling programs.

It offers low-cost diagnosis, self-preparation, confidence session products on subscription model, micro confidence courses as well as on-demand and full stack options on subscription model.

"Last year we were able to reach & teach in every state. In order to get closer to the vision to connect and help all the 30 crore Indian students, this year our focus is to scale deeper in 700+ districts with our low-cost offerings and Super30 like selection based free programme for only girls in the name of #GoGirls. This year we are planning to launch courses in Hindi on financial literacy for women/girls to highlight the importance of investment in education," said Anup Raaj, co-founder, InstaPreps by 7Classes.

Incidentally, hailing from small towns themselves, the founders are also working towards democratising education in small and rural markets.

"We are keen to have an early move in the emerging markets of rural areas which will be unlocked in the immediate future due to advances in generation, energy options, internet connectivity and smartphone penetration," added Raaj.

Also read: Amazon launches entrepreneurship challenge for Indian start-ups

Also read: As markets turn jittery, so do start-ups and their plans to go public; here's why