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Online K–12 Education, Student Progress and Assessment Platform Meritnation, has received another fund infusion of Rs. 10 Crores (US$ 1.6 Million) from its long–term investor Info Edge (India) Ltd.
This latest round of funding, which comes at the end of 2013, was preceded by another round in the beginning of 2013 that valued Rs. 30 Crores (US$ 5 Million). In all, Venture Capital (VC) firm Info Edge has so far parked Rs. 71.5 Crores (US$ 11.74 Million) within the online education endeavor. Info Edge appears very optimistic about Meritnation since now it owns 55.81% stake within the internet based business.
Meritnation has confirmed that the funds will be utilized to bolster the core functions of the business, including updating content, strengthening brand presence / awareness and augmenting sales team to bag larger accounts with long-term perspective, explained Pavan Chauhan, Co-Founder & CEO, Meritnation.com,
“In line with our expansion plans to foray into international geographies and to add state boards we will use this capital for improving product and content. Also though we have a solid top management team but we would be looking at adding more resources at the medium and junior levels. With the digital landscape witnessing a rapid change in the manner in which students are consuming content, the company is looking at an aggressive growth in its revenues this year too. The company hopes to break-even in a few months.”
Based on the clarifications offered by Chauhan, it is amply clear that there are three clear and present objectives for Meritnation: international expansion, addition of the diverse educational platforms (Boards) that Indian educational institutes seem to prefer and follow and push the company towards financial stability and growth.
Why is Info Edge so eager to invest in Meritnation?
As a VC firm, Info Edge has successfully picked out winners in the online business and web-companies. Interestingly, the company doesn’t flinch when it is time to cash-out too. But Meritnation seems to hold a special interest for the company, though this time, it appears Meritnation has shown the commercial drive that InfoEdge, or for that matter any VC firm, is keen to witness and feel within any business they have invested in.
Meritnation presently claims to have a healthy user-base of 5.6 million, which it hopes to enhance to 7 million even before the current academic year (usually June–May) is out. With e–education gaining rapid prominence and acceptance, Meritnation might have actually set a very realistic and achievable target. What do you think?
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