Inflection Point Ventures led the Pre-Series A round for Geekster, along with MyNavi Corporation and others; Existing investors We Founder Circle and Ah Ventures also participated in the round.
New Delhi: Career-focused Edtech Platform Geekster has raised USD 1.30 Mn (INR 10 CR) in a Pre-Series A round led by Inflection Point Ventures with participation from MyNavi Corporation, Japan. Existing investors We Founder Circle and Ah Ventures also participated in the round. The brand has raised a total of USD 1.5 mn, including the current round.
The fund raised will be primarily utilised towards expanding the team. A part of the raised investment will also be exhausted in expanding the portfolio of offerings, adding new programs, and building scalable learning & hiring platforms.
Geekster, an upskilling platform, focuses on developing programming skills in students and making them work-ready for aspirational tech jobs. The startup does not charge any fee from the student until they land a well-paying job, and this value proposition makes it unique, especially among the students from tier 2 & tier 3 cities in the country.
Talking about Geekster, Ankur Mittal, Co-Founder, Inflection Point Ventures, says, “Gone are the days where a graduate certificate would be more than enough to secure a job in your respective field. With the growing competition, job seekers are expected to be more skilled to be a cut above the rest. Geekster has successfully designed a tech education platform with its unique skilling model, allowing tech graduates to hone their skills at zero cost until they get a paying job. And at the same time, it engages industry professionals as educators on the platform keeping the content relevant and practical. The company has won the trust of leading companies to hire a highly skilled tech workforce. IPV looks forward to further scaling this platform and creating a pool of talented and top-notch industry-ready professionals.”
“We are glad to be participating in another round in Geekster. It is weaved around a unique model solving problems on two sides- corporates and students. Thus, it has bridged the skill gap in the industry. The platform has been performing well over the period, which motivated us to participate again in the fundraise. With its USP, strong team, and market scope in place, the brand is poised for splendid growth,” said Mr. Saurabh Deo, Co-founder, We Founder Circle.
On the fundraise, Ankit Maggu, Co-Founder of Geekster, affirmed, “We are on a mission to democratise quality education & career opportunities; aiming to make a million graduates work ready in next few years. Our offering has witnessed great response from the Students & Employer Partners alike, and we shall be working aggressively to scale our operations in the next few months. We are fortunate to have associated with marquee investors who are equally excited about the opportunity and are aligned with our vision for Geekster.”
On the investment in Indian startup Hidekazu Ito, MyNavi Corporation expressed, “With an aim to contribute towards the upliftment of India’s Education and Human Resource space, we identified that many university students face economic difficulties in paying tuition fees, living costs, and other financial obligations, which is challenging for their careers. Geekster is addressing the challenge very well, and by supporting Geekster, we together will be able to achieve our common goals.”
With a more significant emphasis on the holistic development of the students, the company also aims to focus on fundamentals, specialised and advanced curriculum along with soft skill training. Geekster is currently helping more than 300 companies hire the right tech talent for their teams, including some top product-based companies, MNCs, and well-funded startups. The platform has been able to achieve 10x growth in the last eight months.
With this fundraise, Geekster aims to move another step ahead toward its mission of making a million students work-ready in the next five years.
