WestBridge Capital leads $28 mln investment in Sunstone Eduversity

Sunstone Eduversity, owned by Sunstone Education Tech, on Wednesday said it has raised USD 28 million (about Rs 208.8 crore) in funding, led by WestBridge Capital. The series B round also saw participation from existing investors, Saama Capital and Alteria Capital as well as Work10m — a work-focussed fund by Pankaj Bansal, Group-CEO PeopleStrong, a statement said.

The company will use the fresh capital to invest in cutting-edge learning and technology assets, building a network of colleges across multiple cities, and hiring across different functions, it added. Sunstone has over 300 employees and is planning to hire across technology, growth, product, and learning functions.

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Sunstone – an edtech startup offering higher education programs – said it is currently the third largest B-school in the country, and in the next five years aims to be the largest higher education provider in India. Sunstone, in partnership with various universities, has added three new programs — BBA, MCA, and Online MBA — this year and will be introducing various undergraduate programs such as BCA, B Com and BSc in the next 12 months, the statement said.

It will be enrolling over 25,000 students across 35 cities by the end of 2022, it added. The institute is registering a 4X growth over student enrollments in 2020. It has expanded its presence in 24 campuses across 18 cities which includes institutions such as GD Goenka University, JECRC University, Noida Institute of Engineering and Technology and others.

Sunstone works closely with corporates to develop industry-ready programs for both postgraduate and the undergraduate students with a special focus on BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance), business analytics, logistics, sales management, retail, digital marketing and others. “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 realise their dreams,” Sunstone Eduversity co-founder Ashish Munjal said.