New Delhi (India) : Devalaya eLearn, India’s most affordable skill education company reportedly raised its first funding at a capitalization of 240 million. The funding round was arranged by Alternate Investment Fund Zero-to-One. The startup has reportedly fundraised to meet the company’s growth in the early traction stage. As per the senior officer of investment firm Zero-to-One ‘after receiving regulatory body SEBI’s approval to set up an INR 300 Crore Category-I Alternative Investment Fund (AIF), the firm raised the fund for Devalaya eLearn in the unbelievably shortest time frame with the 100 percent successful ratio of contributor’s commitment’.
Devalaya eLearn was founded by a Chartered Accountant turned entrepreneur Dr. Dheeraj KS Sharma along with former Director General of Income Tax Mr. A K Tewary (who also served as Director in the office of Prime Minister of India for a long period) and other prominent former bureaucrats and renowned professionals. Devalaya eLearn has focused on skill education at an affordable price so that the gap between the young population and skilled youth can be addressed.
India has the largest young population in the world (580million+ aged between 5-24 years) but there are not sufficient Skill Development platforms and Innovative Education Techniques which can offer demographic leverage to India. To address these issues Govt. of India came up with National Education Policy 2020 which will make a drastic change in education patterns across the country. The online and offline options available so far are mostly engaged in curriculum-based teaching only and are still insufficient to address the need for innovation in education, technology-driven resource development, skill development etc.
Devalaya eLearn, has launched a unique product ‘The skill Enrichment Program’ that addresses the need of students and schools together. Whereas this program offers skill education and hobby education to students integrated with their academics, it offers capacity-building measurements to the school management too. Devalaya eLearn seems to enjoy the market advantages of its most affordable hybrid learning solutions with a wide range of learning options. Co-founder and CEO of the startup CA Dheeraj KS Sharma told “We are more focused on serving maximum students through the Skill Enrichment Program to ensure our contribution towards the national vision of ‘Kuashal Bharat-Kushal Bharat’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’.” The fundraising of Devalaya eLearn occurred at a time when other early-age ed-tech startups are finding it difficult to close the funding rounds as compared to the previous year due to uncertain economic conditions.
“We, at Zero-to-One, believe that the capacity building measurements at the school level is a revolutionary offering in the school education segment and have the potential to bring a revolution in skill education at an early age. While complying with the recommendations as per National Education Policy the Skill Enrichment Program offered by Devalaya eLearn will play a significant role in the successful implementation of NEP 2020 at a wide level. With the unique value proposition and an exceptional mixture of academicians, professionals, and bureaucrats in the management team, Devalaya eLearn is expected to achieve new heights of exponential growth very soon”, said Praveen Kaushik, Director of Zero-to-One fund. “The fundraising round of Devalaya eLearn was closed very quickly and with a hundred percent success ratio because of a clear route map and plan to cover masses with the accessible, flexible, and affordable skill education integrated with academics and NEP 2020 recommendations,” said angel investor Vipin Sharma, an executive member of Northern India Regional Council of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.
The company will set up Schools of Excellence across the country to offer extraordinary advantages to the students, teachers, and school management. The company will offer skill education, counseling programs, teachers’ training, digital platform support, exam-oriented guidance programs, etc. in a hybrid mode. Besides these, the Devalaya eLearn will offer a School Leadership Program for the principals and directors of the school to ensure synergy at the school management level. “We are providing scholarships to the meritorious as well as needy students. Also, we have the plan to sponsor highly skilled students to support them in their journey to become an artist or a sportsman,” said another co-founder CA Mohit Joshi.
Devalaya eLearn expects to onboard around one million students in the very first year of operation. Within a few months of launching its IT-enabled education platforms, the company recorded more than two lakh mobile application subscriptions. One of the early-stage promoters of the startup CA Sanjay Panwar, a Singapore-returned top professional has cited that the company is very much excited to see an extraordinarily positive response from the schools since the launch of the Skill Enrichment Program.
Covid 19 has impacted the education sector at a great pace. It resulted in an increase in the scope of online education and continuously growing. Students who become habitual of the online mode of education will be more comfortable with the hybrid mode of higher education and skill-based learning programs. The New Education Policy has a goal to ensure vocational skills to 50% of students by the year 2025. This vocational training will be started at the school level and will continue in higher education depending on the interest & requirements of individual students. ‘Education in hybrid mode’ is booming day by day with the virtues of accessibility, cost-efficient, flexibility, and innovation. Choice-based customization of learning programs made online education more preferred.
Devalaya eLearn is a revolutionary Ed-tech startup offering hybrid learning solutions to schools and students. To extend the skill education integrated with academics, the company collaborates with schools and provides them a platform where skill education, teachers training, digital strengthening, best quality study material, and many more services are available with a commitment to being accessible, flexible, and affordable.
