iDreamCareer, a leading education technology startup delivering a one-stop personalized career navigation solution, announced that it has received INR 12.5 Crore in a funding round led by Menterra Social Impact Fund.
The round was also joined by Swiss-based Artha Impact and follow-on participation from existing investors Atlanta, US based Gray Matters Capital (GMC).
The New-Delhi-based startup will use the funds to add features like a one-stop university application, scholarship & financing to its offering, expand the leadership team and implement advanced technology interventions which, supported by a best-in-class counselling program will widen and deepen the impact of its work.
Founded in 2012 by Ayush Bansal, iDreamCareer (iDC) works with high school and undergrad college students via its full-stack career and college guidance product that includes 1,000+ hours of content on careers, colleges, exams, scholarships, reliable and validated psychometric assessment tools, and personalised counselling. The platform claims to be India’s first multilingual career guidance platform, which is now available in five regional languages.
iDreamCareer is on a mission to make career guidance accessible to all students; all in a fun, interactive, and guided way.
Commenting on the funding, Founder and CEO of iDreamCareer (iDC), said:
“Over the last 10 years we have partnered several multilateral organizations, governments agencies and corporates to deliver career counselling solutions to 20+ million students. This investment will help us build a leading career navigation solution focused on the future of work and studies.”
iDreamCareer charges the private school students on a per-student-per-year basis for a four-year retention from Class IX to XII. When it comes to government schools, either the government or the companies providing CSR activity will pay iDreamCareer for its services. For B2C (online counselling), the startup charges Rs 6,000 to Rs 15,000 depending on the package.
Adding about the latest funding, Mukesh Sharma, Head of Investments of Menterra, said:
“This investment in iDC is to address the disparity faced by students, especially from poorer families and smaller towns to access quality information and counselling while making their education and career choices.”
The startup claims that it’s patrons have helped them in achieving the feat of being nominated among the top 200 EdTech startups of the world and empowering the career decisions of over 4.2 million students.
Indian students even now depend on peers and family for their career decisions with career guidance & counselling not available to most. 93% of Indian schools don’t have any counsellors impacting better higher education & career choices, particularly less privileged students. iDC’s solutions address this gap and help students make better, informed career choices.
Chief Executive Officer of GMC, Smita Sircar, commented on the recent fundraise, saying,
“We’re delighted to make a follow-on investment in iDC. It continues to be a compelling impact investment for GMC, as 85% of the career counsellors are women and the B2C offering enables girls to pursue a path towards meaningful employment of their choice.”
In 2019, iDreamCareer had raised an undisclosed amount in pre-Series A funding from US-based education and skilling sector focused impact investor Gray Matters Capital.
