Sunstone Eduversity, a Gurugam-based EdTech company that offers higher education programs, has raised $28 million as a part of its Series B funding round led by WestBridge Capital.
The round also saw participation from existing investors Saama Capital, Alteria Capital, and Work10m – a work-focused fund by Pankaj Bansal, Group CEO of HR tech solutions provider PeopleStrong.
According to a press statement, the company plans to use the fresh capital to enhance its cutting-edge learning & technology assets, building a network of colleges across multiple cities, and hiring across different functions.
Sunstone Eduversity is on a mission to bring about a paradigm shift in the present higher education system by equipping the students with various skill sets so that they are ready for real-world job opportunities and easily absorbed by recruitment companies. The company offers higher education programs in BFSI, logistics, operations, sales management, digital marketing, human resource, business research and analytics, and others.
Founded in 2015 by IMT-Ghaziabad alumnus Ashish Munjal and Piyush Nangru, the company’s vision of higher education addresses not only the needs of millions of students but also thousands of employers and colleges. It has over 300 employees and is planning to hire across technology, growth, product, and learning functions. Sunstone said it is currently the third-largest B-school in the country and aims to become the “largest higher education provider” in the next five years.
Speaking about the capital raised, Ashish Munjal, Co-founder of Sunstone Eduversity, said,
“We are building Sunstone to become the de facto choice for pursuing higher education for Indian youth. Education experience for a majority of students is still archaic, input-driven, with zero focus on outcomes. Sunstone flips the norm, by putting outcomes at the forefront, and arms each student with tools they need to realize their dreams.”
Munjal said the current funding is an endorsement of Sunstone’s unique model of working with reputed colleges and corporates and using technology to bring quality education to millions of students.
Thousands of students have joined Sunstone this year with the institute registering a 4X growth over student enrollments in 2020. It has also expanded its presence in 24 campuses across 18 cities which include some of the prominent institutions such as GD Goenka University, JECRC University, Noida Institute of Engineering and Technology, and several others.
The company claims to have delivered a 150% placement rate for its 2019-21 MBA batch where 252 students received 380 job offers.
Sandeep Singhal, Managing Director of WestBridge Capital, said,
“Sunstone’s higher education programs have the potential to bring in the much-awaited transformation in the Indian education system where students will now have access to a high-quality education product in all corners of the country. We are excited by Sunstone’s growth and the innovation in technology and learning systems so far and look forward to the next phase of growth.”
Kiranbir Nag, Partner at Saama Capital, added,
“The team at Sunstone has continued to have a lot of success in proving their model of making best-in-class outcome-based education available across the country with a high degree of accountability with respect to the student’s aspirations. We continue to be excited and impressed with the growth in the product offering, team, and student signups and believe that the additional capital will afford the company the opportunity to scale even more rapidly from hereon.”
Sunstone’s approach is to work with educational institutions on four fronts including – relevant curriculum, measurable learning, better student experience, and career readiness of the student. These four aspects are integrated through a technology layer which makes Sunstone a superior product as compared to other alternatives.
Sunstone, in partnership with various universities, added three new programs this year- BBA, MCA, and Online MBA. The company plans to introduce various undergraduate programs such as BCA, B.Com, and BSc in the next 12 months. It also plans to enroll over 25,000 students across 35 cities by the end of 2022.
